Students Emily Cohen and Omar Fairclough, from York’s Debating Society, beat out 70 other university teams from across Canada.

This is the first time York has ever won the CUSID national championships, considered the most prestigious competition on the Canadian debating circuit.

"We are extremely pleased that our debating skills paid off in this extremely challenging competition," said Cohen. "This is an accomplishment that the entire York community can take pride in."

CUSID is a national organization which governs and represents university debating in Canada.

The national competition was held at McGill University March 19 -21.

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