The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society (commonly known as "Jeff Society" or "Jeff Soc") is the oldest continuously existing collegiate debating society in North America. The society was founded on July 14, 1825, in Room Seven, West Lawn at the University of Virginia by 16 disgruntled members of the Patrick Henry Society. Named for the founder of the university, Thomas Jefferson, the society regularly meets on Friday evenings at "The Hall" on the Range.
The society's members have included several presidents of the United States, a British prime minister as well as governors, senators and congresspeople. Its motto, , is taken from Virgil's Aeneid and roughly translates to, "In the future it will be pleasing to remember these things." Its Greek name , initials for (', or "brotherhood, fatherland, divinity"), makes the society the second-oldest Greek-lettered organization in the United States.
thumb|[[Jefferson Hall (University of Virginia)|Jefferson Hall, Hotel C, West Range,<br>University of Virginia]]
History
thumb|300x300px|Members on Founder's Day, April 13, 1867
Membership in the society grew rapidly in the early years after its founding. By 1855, the University of Virginia was the second largest university in the nation after Harvard University, enrolling 645 students. That school year, the society admitted 155 new members: nearly a quarter of the student body of the university.
In the hotheaded antebellum years, the society could become raucous. Its elections were condemned by the faculty for "such turbulence as to degrade the reputation of the University." An especially coveted honor was to be selected as "final orator," a post comparable to that of a valedictorian today.
The society played a key role in establishing student journalism at the university, founding the University Magazine as early as 1856. Later known as the Virginia Spectator, the paper played a major part in university life for a century, with its profile ranging from high seriousness to satire, until being shut down by the president of the university in the late 1950s for obscenity. In 1990, the Virginia Spectator experienced a brief revival which was short-lived due to the lack of sufficient funding. The Jefferson Society sponsored the magazine for many decades.
Also in 1856, the society expressed its approval of the caning of Charles Sumner by sending Preston Brooks a new gold-headed cane to replace his broken one. During the Civil War period (1861–1865), the membership of the society at that time, committed to the defense of the Southern States, decided to donate its entire treasury to the Confederate cause. A number of students withdrew from the university during the War in order to volunteer in this hospital, where both enslaved and free African-Americans also labored.
Continuing to confront the challenges of the past, in 1991, the briefly revived Virginia Spectator publicly defended Brad Ronnell Braxton, a fourth-year African-American undergraduate student and Lawn Resident at the University of Virginia who, after winning a Rhodes Scholarship, received hate mail from a self-professed university alumnus, "Dr. Bill Shepard".
In addition to its traditional meetings in The Hall, Room Seven, West Lawn, is maintained by the Jefferson Society, selecting a fourth-year student to live there.
The society hosts several events throughout the year including its Distinguished Speaker Series, for which it invites prominent scholars and speakers across academic disciplines to address students. The society also hosts formal social events including Wilson's Day, the Restoration Ball, and Founder's Day, first held in 1832.
Symbols
The society's motto is . Its colors are pink, gray, and blue.
Art collection and archive (selected)
- The Sully Portrait is one of the only surviving life portraits of Thomas Jefferson. It was painted by artist Thomas Sully in 1819, and is presently loaned by the society to the University of Virginia for exhibition in the Rotunda. Thomas Sully is also linked to the society in other ways. In 1852, he painted a portrait of Pocahontas / Rebecca Rolfe (née Amonute, Matoaka), whose descendants went on to marry Mary Jefferson, the sister of Thomas Jefferson, and Woodrow Wilson, a notable society member.
- Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States
- Edward Stettinius Jr., secretary of state and ambassador to the United Nations
- Hugh Scott, United States representative and senator from Pennsylvania
- Colgate W. Darden, Governor of Virginia
- John T. Casteen III, University of Virginia president
- James Gilmore III, Governor of Virginia
- Roxane Gilmore, First Lady of Virginia
- Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005
- Jamelle Bouie, political correspondent and journalist
- Wesley L. Harris, Charles Stark Draper Prof. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
- Barbara M.G. Lynn, Chief United States District Judge
Honorary members
- James Madison, 4th President of the United States
- James Monroe, 5th President of the United States