University of St Andrews Union Debating Society

Founding The origins of the University of St Andrews Debating Society can be traced to the formation in 1794 of the university Literary Society. At this stage of its history, the Literary Society operated under a strange mixture of egalitarianism and exclusiveness. Initially, there was no president of the Society and meetings were chaired by each member in rotation, taking place in St Salvator's Quadrangle. However, it soon became apparent that there were simply not enough students at the university to justify the existence of two debating societies and consequently in 1890 the Classical Society and Literary Society merged to form the Union Debating Society. In 1910 the constitution was amended to include the election of an official president of the Society was created, however as World War I began Society membership dropped and no president was elected between 1914 and 1919. This move was supported by treasurer J. B. Torrance and the decision was ratified on 30 October 1925, following which the Union Debating Society was affiliated with the Students' Union, and all male matriculated students of the university would be members. The Parliamentary and Dialectic Society prided itself on allowing female members to speak at debates, and restricting the input of male speakers on sensitive issues, which led to it losing the backing of the Students' Union in 1932. In 1963, the Students' Union, which had up until that point been exclusively for male students voted to merge with the Women's Student Union and when this occurred the Union Debating Society merged its membership with Women's Debating Society. In the 1970s, the move of the Students' Union from its original home to a new purpose built building provided the Union Debating Society with the opportunity to make a move of its own. The Convenor of Debates took the opportunity to move debates to the Union Theater, and then to Lower Parliament Hall in St Mary's Quadrangle. Domestically, the society has performed at the Scottish Mace Championship finals in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as at competitions such as the Oxford Intervarsity (hosted by the Oxford Union). == Notable Controversies and Debates ==

• In 1842 the society, despite being under an Anglican government, voted in favor of Catholic Emancipation and the reintroduction of income tax. • Beginning in 1874, the Society began to run a series of debates using the motion this house has no faith in His/Her Majesty's government. • That same year, Otto Wagener, a Nazi, debated in support of the recent election of the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party. • In 1952 newly elected Union Debating Society President Derek Meteyard (1952-1953) was arrested for unlawful possession of a golf trolley. • Meteyard also hosted a debate on 5 November 1951 debated by LJ Woodward and Professor H. J. Rose on the motion: this house believes it's the same the whole world over, it's the poor as 'as the blame, the rich as 'as the pleasure, and it's all a bleeding shame. The house voted the motion down. • Towards the end of Lamont's term, he proposed the motion this house prefers the Pill to the Pope. During his speech Lamont produced a pill and demanded opposition produce the Pope. They could not and he won the debate. • Both before and after the merge with the Women's Debate Society in 1963, the Union Debate Society hosted a series of controversial debates about the place and role of women. These motions included: • In 1932: the house debated the motion this house deplores the prevalence of the sex motif in literature, following the ban of the book ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' and allowed women to speak. • In 1946: the Society voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion the house believes that a woman's place is in the home. • The most notable of these debates took place in 1979 under the presidency of Chris Graffius (1979-1980) with the motion this house believes that rape is a female fantasy. • The motion was opposed by Tory Club President Giles Bootheway who compared Brons's attack on race relations to Jack the Ripper claiming that laws against murder violated his personal liberty. • In 1987, during a debate on the motion this house would not expect every man to do his duty, fourteen gowned members of the Kate Kennedy Club entered the debate chamber with lit torches prompting the fire department to be called. It was discovered that there was a flaw in the wiring of the alarm system and Lower Parliament Hall was never actually in danger of being burned down. • The presidency of Andrew Burnett (1987) was marked by a series of scandals for the Union Debating Society: • Burnett won the Society a sponsorship by the Norwich Group company which he then used with some of the money the Society received annually from the Student's Union to charter a taxi to ferry him around St Andrews at all times of the day. • The new student newspaper 'The Chronicle' began publishing exposé reports of Burnett's lavish spending, even calling for the Society to be disbanded after one night out cost the university £726. • Burnett was so unpopular a coalition of anti-debaters stole the £1000 worth of historical silverware that was on loan to the Society from a local hotel forcing Burnett to repay the hotel or risk prosecution. • Burnett paid for dinners for anyone coming to the Society's debates that included two free bottles of wine and one free bottle of Port for each attendee. • Burnett hosted a debate calling for the reunification of the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee, with the rector of each university on one side the debate. • Another debate hosted by Burnett was on the motion this house believes that Catholicism promotes the spread of AIDs. • Burnett set a motion during the internal Maidens competition on voluntary euthanasia and was reported on by the student newspaper the 'Chronicle' as being an explicit attack on 'homosexuals and AIDs victims.' • Burnett also organized the Union Debating Society's Ascot Ball, which had its own series of controversies including: • Burnett hired the pop group Mel and Kim to write the song Fun, Love, and Money as the ball's theme song. • Burnett organized the gambling on horse races on the Old Course Country Club's lawn. • Burnett gave away free several free bottles of Dom Perignon champagne to every guest. • Burnett hired a bucking bronco to give rides to guests. • Due to the several thousand pounds the ball cost the Union, as well as Burnett's other extravagant expenditures the Students' Union cut the funding of the Society by 75% and has never restored it to pre-Burnett rates. • In 1990 during the end of year President's Farewell Solatium, which had replaced the Gaudeamas Feast, president Graham Stewart (1990-1991) ended the night tied to a drainpipe in the quadrangle wearing nothing but a monocle. ==Organisation==

The Union Debating Society consists of the Board of Ten and then the Competitive Debates Subcommittee and the Public Debates Subcommittee. Together these compose the entire Debates Board and are composed solely of St Andrews students. All positions (save the Media, Treasurer and Equity Officers) are elected in the AGM held in Spring. All matriculated students are able to run for any of these positions and equally all are able to vote in the AGM. The Board of Ten is led and chaired by the President and Convener and consists of: President and Convener; the Treasurer; the Chief Whip; the Chair of Ways and Means; the Clerk; the Steward to the House (Social Secretary); the Media Officers (two); the Diversity and Inclusion Officer; the Director of Student Development and Activities; and the Parent(s) of the House. The First Secretary to the House is appointed by the President and Convenor as their deputy. The Board of Ten is responsible for the overarching organisation of the Society and serves as the executive committee of the Union Debating Society. They meet weekly and minutes of these meetings are collected and kept with records dating back almost a century. The Competitive Debates Subcommittee is chaired by the Chief Whip and consists of: the Chief Whip; the Competitions Secretary; the Training Officer; the Schools Competition Officer; the Schools Outreach Officer; the Competitive Equity Officer; and the Freshers' Representative. They are responsible for organising all inter-varsity competitive affairs including competition attendance, internal training sessions, and school outreach. They are responsible for organising the regular training sessions that take place on Wednesday afternoons as well as the advanced training sessions for international competitions. Equally, they organise which inter-varsity competitions are attended and who attends - with the aim to allow every student who shows an interest the ability to attend at least one IV competition a semester. The Schools Outreach program has seen considerable revision in recent years. The annual and prestigious St Andrews Schools Competition is run for any Scottish Schools to send teams to. In recent years, the Union Debating Society has aided First Chances set up regular debate training as part of their offering to underprivileged identified pupils in Fife. The Competitive Debates Subcommittee meet weekly, with the Chief Whip representing the Subcommittee at Board of Ten meetings. The Public Debates Subcommittee is chaired by the Chair of Ways and Means and consists of: the Chair of Ways and Means; the Serjeant-at-Arms; and the Public Debates Secretary. They are responsible for the planning and organising of the wider society interaction with the St Andrews University student community. This consists of organising the weekly public debates - drawing in a wide-range of prominent external speakers - and organising all of the social affairs of the society. The Public Debates Subcommittee meet weekly, with the Chair of Ways and Means representing the Subcommittee at Board of Ten meetings. ==Traditions==

The Society has a number of traditions, many going back decades or even centuries. At the start of a debate the convenor welcomes those gathered to the current session of 'the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society, the oldest and, some might say, the finest of its kind in the world' — this brings a resounding cheer of 'hear hear'. At debates students wear academic gowns including the scarlet gowns of the United College, the black of St Mary's College, the black postgraduate gowns of St Leonard's College, or an appropriate graduate gown. On the basis that the Society has always claimed to have provided good value for money (unlike other student debating societies like the Oxford Union or Durham Union, both membership and attendance at debates are free to all students) when a monetary amount is mentioned in a speech, those attending the debate cry "How much?"; the sum is then repeated, to which the audience responds "That's cheap!". The minutes are read at the beginning of each debate in a caricature style of some relevant figure, but inevitably someone would rather proceed to the main debate, and so raises a point of order, moving that the minutes be taken as read; another member rises in opposition to the motion. At this stage a vote is taken by 'oral acclamation' — the announcement of which is met with a cry of 'Oohh', and after a vote the convenor generally believes to be closer than is apparent to the rest of the House (who nearly always believe that the 'nays' have it, which would result in the minutes being read in full), the minutes are taken as read, and the convenor requested to 'resign' on the basis of having effectively overruled the House. The society's motto is Pro Amicitia Et Litteris — 'for friendship and learning'. The Gaudeamus used to be sung at the end of each debate, as the Board of Ten and speakers process out of the chamber but now they simply rise and leave at the command of the President. The Society also owns a sword, affectionately known as Bessie, which is said to be used by the Sergeant at Arms to protect the authority of the speaker: in practice it symbolises the authority of the House, in the manner of a ceremonial mace. ==Notable presidents==

• 1933-34 George Kennedy Young • 1958-59 John MacGregor • 1973-74 Eamonn F. Butler • 1974-75 Eamonn F. Butler • 1992-93 Ian Duncan ==See also==