Winter 2016 Issue

Row, Row, Row the Raft

Great Debate

By Graham Bryant J.D. ’16

Illustration by Eric Larsen

Dressed in a giant onesie, big baby (and associate professor of psychology) Peter Vishton goo-gooed and gaa-gaaed his way to victory in October, earning himself a one-way ticket off the desert island during William & Mary’s annual Raft Debate. Described as a delicate balance of comedy and lecture, the Raft Debate features four W&M faculty members from diverse disciplines, stranded on an island with only a one-person life raft for escape to civilization. Based on the volume of applause, the audience chooses the sole survivor as the professors plead, pontificate and resort to props and costumes, while the Devil’s Advocate argues sarcastically that none of the academic disciplines are worth saving. The event originated in the mid-1900s and was revived during the 2000s. Faculty participants represent the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural and computational sciences.