Professor Melvin B. Tolson recruits four students—Samantha Booke, James Farmer Jr., Henry Lowe, and Hamilton Burgess—to form the school's first elite debate team.
The film's "write-up" centers on several recurring motifs that highlight the students' struggle and triumph: subtitle The Great Debaters
The team eventually challenges the national champions at Harvard University (fictionalized from the University of Southern California in real life) in a groundbreaking cross-racial debate. Key Themes and Lessons Professor Melvin B
The story is set at Wiley College, a small black institution in Marshall, Texas, during the Jim Crow era. James Farmer Jr.