DANBURY, CONN. — Whether it’s a row over football or legalizing marijuana, members of Western Connecticut State University’s Roger Sherman Debate Society have proven they can hold their own when it comes to dueling with words.

And they get to prove it once more from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, when the team squares off against the Cambridge Union Society from University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1815, the Cambridge team is the world’s oldest debating society and is famous for its controversial debates. But Associate Professor of History and Non-Western Cultures and team adviser Dr. Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox isn’t worried.

The April debate, “This house believes that ‘futball’ (soccer) is better than ‘football,’” will be held at WestConn’s Midtown campus Student Center Theater, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will be free and the public is invited — and cheers, boos and shout outs are welcome! There also will be a raffle and bake sale.

Classified as a parliamentary debate, the debate will be less intense than a competitive policy debate, and there will be liberal use of wit and humor. The best part of a parliamentary debate, said Wilcox, is that the public votes. Last year’s debate on whether marijuana should be legalized was won by WestConn.

Four team members from WestConn will argue that European soccer is better than American football and four members from the Cambridge team will take the opposing side that football is superior. Wilcox said while the debate topic may seem frivolous, it teaches students about cultural relations between Europe and the United States.

After argument is heard, the crowd will cast its vote through cheers for their favored side — the team with the loudest vote will declare victory. The debate will be broadcast live on the university’s radio station, 91.7 FM WXCI.

Last year the debate was argued before a full house, said WCSU debate team president Priya Aswani. “We had a very active crowd. The entire audience was laughing. We do this just for the audience’s entertainment. It’s a great way to draw in the community.”

The Roger Sherman Debate Society is no stranger to success. The team ranks 12th highest for Masters-Level public universities — beating out traditional debate powerhouses such as Stanford, Iowa, Wellesley and the University of Illinois.

Regionally, in the university’s National Debate Tournament district, WestConn’s debate team comes in at number 11 in New England regardless of size and type of university. “This year we have consistently had teams in the eliminations rounds,” Wilcox said. At California State University at Fullerton Winter Tournament, 108 teams entered and the WCSU team of Derek Thornton and Sean Swanson advanced to the Junior Varsity Quarterfinals. Thornton and Swanson are ranked 52nd nationally among JV teams.

At the University of Southern California “Alan Nichols” tournament, one of the season’s largest and most prestigious tournaments with 102 entries, the JV team of George Babykutty and Ryan Ford reached the Octofinals. Babykutty and Ford are ranked 36th among JV teams.

In individual awards, Ford was awarded as 9th speaker and Novice Matthew Ulman was awarded as 10th speaker. Ford, who was the team’s co-captain and a standout debater, also won speaker awards at CSUF, West Point, USC and the Mid-Atlantic Fall Champs. Swanson was awarded 11th speaker at the CSUF Winter Tournament, while open debater Sara Waterfall was awarded 20th place at the Mid-Atlantic Fall Champs.

Named after early American lawyer and Connecticut politician Roger Sherman, who was renowned for his debate skills, the university’s debate team was started in 2003 with about 10 members. That number has since grown to between 20 and 30 members.

The team meets on Monday and Wednesday evenings for research and practice. There are about 50 competitive dates in the season, which runs September through March, and between 50 and 200 teams turn out to compete.

The policy debate topic this year was that the United States federal government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

Debate competition includes traveling to universities across the nation and competing against peers from almost every university in the country. WestConn faces off against top academic institutions — from Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth to Boston College and the United States Military Academy.

Team members are able to debate a variety of different arguments based on the topic — sometimes finding out what they’re to defend minutes before competition. They meet this challenge by researching and employing speaking and argument formation. Competitive policy debate instills skills used in professional areas such as academia, law and business. Debate team participation has had resulted in improvement in LSAT, GRE, GMAT and other standardized test scores, as well as increased grade-point average for its members. Debaters devote at least 20 hours a week to meetings, research and assignments. They are also required to attend at least three weekend-long tournaments per year.

Typically the policy debates are two people on a team debating for two hours and six rounds — that’s 12 hours of debate. Three arguments are for the affirmative and three are for the negative. “You have to be able to defend the other side of the debate whether or not you believe it,” Wilcox said.

The key skills, especially in policy debate, include learning the basic points of logic, to construct argument, and how to examine sources of and incorporate evidence. “The students at WestConn can accomplish as much as students at Harvard or Cornell. I think the debate team shows that,” Wilcox said. “Knowing you can enter a debate round against students from Cornell or West Point or Columbia and defeat them in intellectual argument gives our students a confidence they may not have had. It’s worth the time for them.”

Wilcox is impressed with the tenacity of some of the team members – who work 40 hours a week with a full class schedule and several also serve in the military.  Wilcox said he sees their minds being trained to develop arguments within seconds of hearing a topic.

One of the biggest benefits of debating, said Wilcox, is that 100 percent of his team has graduated with bachelor’s degrees from WestConn. Some have gone on to graduate school and others are at top-tiered law schools. “All of them credit the skills, research and argument of the debate team,” Wilcox said.