The Debate Club at American University of Sharjah (AUS) won declared the First Runner-up in their category at the 11th Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) Public Speaking Competition 2011 held November 29 at Knowledge Village in Dubai. The topic for in its category was: "Recycling does it really matter?"

The AUS team competed with 11 universities to secure second place in their category, trailing the winners by just a few points. Each team comprised five members: one speaker and four researchers. The AUS team included Saad Nasr Haque, Nada Darwish, Noor Zeinni, Nada Ali Obaid and Anna Yazujan. The team was required to prepare a 12-minute presentation on their topic which was judged based on how the issue or problem was addressed and what solutions were provided in the presentation.

"This event proved to be quite insightful and a great learning experience for me. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank the AUS Debate Club and Office of Student Affairs for bestowing upon us the responsibility of representing our institution. I encourage other AUS students to participate in such events in the future," said Saad Haque who was the team speaker for this year's EEG public speaking competition.

The regional event saw the participation of several diverse teams and participants in three different topics and presented a variety of ideas and solutions. This was the third time that the AUS team performed well at the EEG competition after winning the first runner-up position in 2009 and first place in 2007. The students' participation at the event was organized by Student Activities, Office of Student Affairs.