The Government College University Debating Society (GCUDS) has set a new national record by clinching 265 oratory awards at various prestigious national and international competitions during the university's 150th academic year. It was revealed in the GCUDS Annual Report 2013-14, presented to Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman by the GCUDS President Khawaja Yasin on Tuesday at the society's annual meeting.
The report highlighted that the 265 awards include 56 coveted team trophies, 18 runners-up trophies, 92 best speaker awards, 52 second-position awards, 44 third-position and three consolation prizes, which were won at 92 declamation, parliamentary, recitation and poetry competitions in English, Urdu and Punjabi languages at both the national and international levels.
Talking to the shining orators, Vice Chancellor Professor Khaleeq-ur-Rahman said the orators' achievements were particularly laudable since they were not exempted from any academic work or exams as is the norm elsewhere. "Yet, they have beaten all the previous records of GCU and other national level institutions by achieving the highest number of awards ie 265," he added.
He termed the Debating Society to be the crown of university's student clubs on account of its unprecedented accomplishments, adding that competitive debating had been his forte since student days, as it played a crucial role in shaping intellectual landscape of students. The Vice Chancellor especially congratulated Ahmad Chaudhry, Zahid Ali, Khakan Arshad, Hassan Haider Raza, Misbah Mukhtar, Adnan Nawaz, Muhammad Awais, Shahzad Khan, Hafiz Rehmat Ullah, Hassan Virk, Sana Mansoor, Ismail Sharwani and Khawaja Yasin for their commendable contribution.
GCUDS President Khwaja Yasin attributed the momentous victory to the unflinching support and patronage of their Vice Chancellor who not arranged state-of-the-art trainings for them, but also funded their debating trips to represent GCU at the international and national events.