On Wednesday April 8th, 2026 the Monmouth University Debate Hawks officially joined the League! NPDL.org welcomes another great university partner to our amazing network of debate coaches and teams. Monmouth Coach Joe Patten and his squad generously traveled from New Jersey to York Correctional Institution (CI) in Niantic, Connecticut to debate the undefeated women of team Envoy.

The debate was moderated by NPDL volunteer Juliette Salah and the topic centers around whether the United States should adopt the restorative model of justice? What do you think? Does the US correctional system need a paradigm change? To gain some valuable perspective on the topic go here to watch the debate: NPDL YouTube. You will inevitably be educated and inspired by the passionately delivered reasoning of both teams on this complex question. What a classic policy debate! We look forward to many more now that Monmouth has joined the league so stay tuned for future event updates.

The National Prison Debate League (NPDL) operates with an all-volunteer network of educators, coaches, and formerly incarcerated mentors. To sustain our free, college-credit bearing prison programming we need donations to help us properly support our students, staff, and events. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation using this secure link: NPDL Donation Link. Together, we can all feel good about #decarceratingminds on both sides of prison walls.