About Us

WHO WE ARE

The society is of course its membership, but the elected officers of the society are the ones who run it from day to day. Their details, along with naff photos, can be found on the committee page.

WHERE WE ARE

UCL Union Debating Society meets in the Old Refectory or in the Jeremy Bentham Room (see maps) on Monday evenings at 7pm, before retiring to the Marlborough Arms Pub around the corner after the debate. On Tuesdays at 7pm, we meet at the CSC to do some debating and public speaking workshops. However, we can be contacted at any time through our pigeon hole in the Clubs and Societies Centre in the Bloomsbury Building. Our postal address is:

UCL Union Debating Society
Clubs and Societies Centre
25 Gordon Street
LONDON WC1H 0AY

WHO WE WERE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY

by Mark C. Trayling, Honorary Life Member 2002

The Debating Society was founded in 1828, in the same year as the Medical Society, making these the two oldest and most prestigious societies at UCL. Originally, the Debating Society was called the Literary and Philosophical Society and resolved to debate "any subject not involving the subject of religious creeds." Today however, all topics are open to debate and the society has never been afraid to debate contentious and so called politically incorrect motions.

Interesting to note, in the 19th century the Debating Society decided that women should have the right to vote and alcoholic beverages "were to be encouraged".

The Women's Debating Society was formed in 1879. In March 1926, there was a proposal to combine the Union Debating Society with the Women's Debating Society but this motion failed, at a close vote of 6 to 5. Of course women were inevitably eventually admitted into the society and today we boast a breadth of members (by gender, religion, ideology, nationality, etc) unmatched by any other society.

The society has been known in the past for a number of eccentric traditions, which stirred debate amongst its members on its relevance. For example, for many years the Secretary had to be wearing green socks on a Monday night before a debate could proceed. This usually involved a member of the floor calling for the President to confirm that the Secretary was indeed wearing green socks. Another tradition was that before every debate, an oral acclamation was required from the floor. These two traditions faded away in 2002-2003 under a reformist President, but is remembered, fondly or not, amongst the alumni.

These days the society continues to thrive, with one of the largest memberships of any UCL society. We continue to debate the most important issues, bringing in entertaining guest speakers whenever possible, and training the next generation of UCL debaters.

DEBATING HALL OF FAME

The most important Debating alumni are the presidents, and research is currently underway to determine the identities of as many past presidents as possible. The list as it stands may be found here. If you know any more, please let us know.

Each year the society rewards those whose outstanding efforts have contributed to the continuing success of the Debating Society with Honorary Life Memberships. A list of all known HLMs can be found here. Again, if you know of any more, please let us know.