The University of St Andrews Union Debating Society is a student debating society at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Tracing its origins back to 1794 and established under the current name in 1890, it is the oldest continuously operating debate society of its kind in the English-speaking world (although it is predated by the College Historical Society at Trinity College Dublin which ceased operations for a period beginning in 1794, the Diagnostic Society of Edinburgh who merged with the Dialetic Society and take their founding date from 1787, and the Speculative Society of Edinburgh which was founded in 1764) and the oldest as a whole in the United Kingdom.
It also holds weekly public debates in the Lower Parliament Hall, which are free and open to all students - the only Scottish Debating Society to do this.
In 2015, the society became the first in Scotland to win the European Universities Debating Championship, a competition that they compete at every year.
The society's motto remains "pro amicitia et litteris" meaning "for friendship and learning".
History
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.
thumbnail|The Union Debating Society hold weekly debates in Lower Parliament Hall
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.
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
- Graham Stewart The Union Debating Society 1794–1990: A History of Debating at St Andrews University (D.C. Thomson)