Hollywood is no stranger to the underdog story: audiences have watched the little guy triumph over adversity ad nauseum in sports films such as "Remember the Titans," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Little Giants."
But 13 Brown students have discovered that Denzel Washington wants to bring attention to a different type of underdog story - and they want to help him with his project.
The Oscar-winning actor is starring alongside Oscar winner Forest Whitaker in the movie "The Great Debaters," which is loosely based on the true story of the 1935 debate team at Wiley College, a historically black institution. In the movie, the team upsets Harvard's all-white team to win a national debating championship. Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions, is working with Washington to produce the movie, which is set to open Christmas Day.
The Brown students, led by Jeremiah Kittredge '08 and Shiyin Wang '08, designed a Group Independent Study Project to promote the film for the Weinstein Company, which is distributing it. The students have a loftier goal than box office sales, though - they want to use the movie to gain support for debate programs in Rhode Island.
The message of the film fits well with the students' aims to bolster urban debate across the state, Kittredge said. Kittredge and Wang both debated in high school and have great faith in the power of debate, Wang said.
"It's an incredibly trajectory-changing activity," Kittredge said. "Research has shown that it raises GPAs astronomically, raises literacy scores by multiple grade-levels within a couple of months, makes people more effective citizens and is a pipeline to a lot of very important professional careers for people who wouldn't have access to them." He added that many lawyers and politicians, including two-thirds of Congress, debated at some point.
Kittredge and Wang help coordinate the Rhode Island Urban Debate League - an organization including high schools in Providence, Woonsocket and other cities - in which they set up and coach debate leagues.
The league, a partnership between the Swearer Center for Public Service and the public schools of Rhode Island, is a part of the larger National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, which works to expand debate initiatives in 19 cities across the country.
The duo formed the project because they think they can use the film to advance the causes of the non-profit organization, Kittredge said.
"It's a really excellent movie to do cross-promotion with," he said.
The students are hoping to use the film's media buzz to generate interest in debate and its benefits, Wang said.
"The social mission really compels me," he said.
Though the project is officially overseen by Professor Emeritus of Engineering Barrett Hazeltine, other faculty have provided significant support, Wang said.
Among the GISP's faculty advisors are Danny Warshay, adjunct lecturer in engineering, and Alan Harlam, social entrepreneurship program director, Kittredge said. They have also received help from the NAUDL Deputy Director Eric Tucker '02.
The students split the group into four subcommittees, with one focusing on online promotion, one on writing, one on outreach to lawyers and education networks and the last on media promotion, including YouTube videos.
Michael Morgenstern '08 is in charge of the media committee and is busy obtaining real-life footage of urban high school debaters who have overcome the odds.
"We are following around some Providence debaters and trying to tell their story," Morgenstern said.
The students are currently following 16-year-old Providence resident , who has witnessed the power of debate in his own life. Since becoming involved with debate, the former drug user and gang member has turned his life around, now going from school to basketball, to the library and then home, Morgenstern said.
Through his turnaround, the teen gained the respect of the community, Morgenstern said. "Everyone around him idolizes him," he said.
The YouTube video will include the film's trailer with additional documentary footage.
Though the Rhode Island and National Urban Debate Leagues reap benefits from the project, the relationship is symbiotic, Morgenstern said. The students gain leadership experience in the field, Weinstein and Harpo production companies essentially gain a promotion team and the nonprofit urban debate leagues are able to bring debate to underprivileged students everywhere, Morgenstern said.
The students are trying to recruit Washington to visit campus, but details are still up in the air, Kittredge said. They are primarily hoping the movie performs well at the box office and spreads knowledge about urban debate, he said.
"Debate teaches you how to think," Kittredge said. "For people who are not reading at their grade level and often not going to school, it's really life-changing."
