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More than 500 students and prospective Harvard admits packed Science Center Hall B to watch the Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Republican Club exchange blows over economics, immigration, and higher education during this year’s annual Visitas debate on Sunday night.
The animated debate, which was hosted by the Harvard Political Union and Harvard College Intellectual Vitality Student Advisory Board, sought to demonstrate the nature of political discourse on Harvard’s campus to the incoming freshman visiting campus.
In her opening remarks, co-chair of the Intellectual Vitality Student Advisory Board Ari F. Kohn ’26 said that rising freshmen should aspire to come to Harvard to explore “not just the pursuit of knowledge, but the pursuit of understanding.”
“We seek to promote the values of open discourse, earnest engagement and rigorous discussion at Harvard,” she added.
Kicking off round one, HCD member Pratyush Mallick ’25, the former student president of Harvard’s Institute of Politics, humorously condemned the Trump administration's economic policies.
“Whether it's ChatGPT-ing his tariff formula or starting a trade war with penguins, Trump and his DUI hire administration have created the worst economic uncertainty in decades,” Mallick said, apparently referencing allegations of alcohol abuse against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“Trump calls this chaos America first, but when you undermine NATO, walk away from trade allies, and hand advantages to authoritarian rivals, America is not first. America is alone,” he added.
In his rebuttal, Republican Club representative Elliott J. Detjen ’27 said the tariffs represent short term pain for what ultimately will benefit American labor and productivity.
“To understand the solution to this economy, we must treat it like an addiction to cheap labor, and like any addiction, it requires withdrawal, which requires short term sacrifices for long term prosperity,” Detjen said. “Tariffs are a necessary tool in that process, and America was built on tariffs for most of its history.”
During the debate, prospective students in the audience were given the opportunity to ask questions.
In response to one student’s question about the purpose of higher education, HCD member Jordan Schwartz ’27 said that students go to college to “understand the world around us so that we can change it for the better.”
“Right here in this room, you're looking at future Nobel laureates, founders of multi-billion dollar companies, politicians and public servants,” Schwartz said. “The potential of America is right here, as is the heart of US higher education, which is why it is so important for us to mount a defense of everything higher education stands for right here at Harvard.”
Republican Club member Carter A. Stewart ’25 said that the point of higher education is “not to discover yourself as a person, but rather to become a better person.”
“Frankly, you all need to be better people and I don’t say that to attack any of you, but that’s the real purpose of your four years here,” Stewart said. “I would much prefer you improve yourself morally than found a billion dollar startup or become a public servant or go on to win a Nobel Prize.”
In introductions before beginning the debate, the President of the Harvard Republican Club Leo A. Koerner ’26 urged conservative prospective students to choose Harvard, despite it being a “liberal place.”
“You might think, ‘Oh, Harvard's a place that's totally liberal, and I should go to Hillsdale, or I should go to Notre Dame,’ and those places are great schools,” Kerner said.
“But I actually think being here in the midst of it, is the best way to strengthen your views and to be strong with what you are, but also to build independent institutions, which I think we have done here,” he added.
Mallick said in an interview after the debate that he thought both sides performed “incredibly well.”
“We'll see what the Sidechat discourse is,” Mallick added, referencing the anonymous social media platform for Harvard College students.
