Sep 18, 2024 At 08:00 PM EDT
Wednesday marked the 12th annual Mayors Challenge, a fundraiser for the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) that brings together Twin City mayors, state officials, students and staff from MNUDL, education advocates and members of the community.
The main event featured four high school students from schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul who debated issues related to artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights, the national policy debate topic for the 2024-2025 school year.
The goal of this event is not only to raise funds and showcase the great work MNUDL debaters are doing but to highlight the commitment local and state officials have to Minnesota's education programs.
One of the features of the Mayors Challenge is the presentation of the Champion of Change Award—which honors changemakers in the community who "model courageous leadership and inspire our students," according to the MNUDL website.
Past recipients include Representative Ilhan Omar, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
This year's recipient is Minnesota state Representative Cedrick Frazier. According to the MNUDL, the Champion of Change Award recognizes Frazier's "great commitment and investment in public service" based on his "significant track record of championing change and living out the MNUDL mission to advocate for your community."
Amy Cram Helwich is the executive director of MNUDL, a program of Augsburg University. She said the league presents a Champion of Change award to leaders in the community.
"We honor advocates who our students can look up to," she told Newsweek in an emailed statement. "Rep. Frazier is a tremendous advocate, particularly for education."
Frazier is an attorney who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2020.
He previously served as the director of equity and diversity and later the legal counsel for the Minneapolis Public School District. After nearly a decade working in public education, Frazier joined the legal team of Education Minnesota—the state's largest labor union—where he fought to protect the rights of local educators and students.
He is now the vice chair of the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee and also serves on the Education Policy, Public Safety Finance and Policy, and Workforce Development Finance and Policy committees.
"Whether it is in advocating support for high-impact programs like Urban Debate or Black Men Teach, or championing landmark education reforms to ensure greater equity, Rep. Frazier uses his voice to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed," Cram Helwich told Newsweek. "We are thrilled to be able to present this year's Champion of Change award to Rep. Cedrick Frazier."
In an interview with Newsweek, Frazier said that he is looking forward to celebrating the bright young people in the community.
"I'm a professionally trained lawyer, and I'm always blown away by these young people and the work they put in, the dedication and the fact that they can get up in front of a room full of people and deliver an argument," he said.
Frazier, who grew up in a working-class community on the South Side of Chicago, said the types of opportunities organizations like MNUDL provide for students did not exist when he was younger.
"As I moved through my educational career, I saw the impact that opportunities like this could have for students and how it could provide for them the opportunity to be prepared to be critical thinkers and be able to be engaged in arguments in a thoughtful and persuasive way," he said.
During his time in office, Frazier has been involved in key education policies in the state, including the passage of a $2.2 billion education funding bill to increase resources for local education agencies and school districts.
He has worked on bills to increase teachers of color in classrooms and require ethnic studies courses to explore different cultures and analyze the impacts of race and racism that Frazier said helps "ensure that every one of [Minnesota's] students see themselves in a curriculum that they're learning on a day-to-day basis."
As someone who has worked closely with educators, Frazier understands that the work MNUDL does can have a lasting impact on students. In addition to the research, argumentation and speaking skills, debate can help students become advocates in their communities.
The younger generation can be engaged by finding information, asking questions and learning new ways to develop and present their ideas.
Frazier said some of the "best days" at work are when students, many of whom are debaters, testify in committee about how a certain proposal will impact them.
"The more engaged you are, the more informed you are, the more impactful you can be in your community," he said.
In a time of social media, Frazier said the world is more connected and the ability to think critically and find and fact-check information is crucial. This makes the topic of this year's Mayors Challenge feel particularly relevant.
"I think it's vitally important now that we get our young people engaged because they're growing up with this technology, the way that my generation grew up with computers," Frazier said.
The Mayors Challenge gives both the students and government officials the opportunity to talk about these emerging issues. It gives students the chance to interact directly with their elected officials to ask questions about policy and voice their concerns or perspectives on pressing issues.
This collaboration is the best way to impact the future, Frazier said, as listening to the vision and perspectives of young people helps address upcoming problems.
"Elected officials should spend a lot of time engaging with young people," Frazier said. "They are the future, and if we don't listen to what they're experiencing now, we're going to be in trouble as a society because we will not have prepared a place for them to be successful."
The 2024 Mayors Challenge also featured a conversation between the students and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul and appearances from Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and first lady Gwen Walz.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was recently chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 presidential election, and his wife have been longtime supporters of the debate community.
They are both former high school teachers, with the first lady starting the speech and debate program at her school.
Frazier said having Tim Walz thrusted into the national spotlight has given the country the chance to see the great work being done in his state.
"Minnesota has historically been known as a state that really focuses on education," he said. "We've got some of the largest Fortune 500 companies here because they have access to such an educated populace. It's drawing people into the state, and Governor Walz and Gwen [Walz] have been part of this culture for a long time."
This year's Mayors Challenge took place on Wednesday, September 18, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
