University of St Andrews Union Debating Society - Creation and Early History

Creation and Early History

The origins of the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society can be traced to the formation in 1794 of the Literary Society. However, the early impetus was not maintained and by 1833 members were criticising the loss of the Minutes Book of the Society. One of the problems faced by the Society was that neither it nor the university had access to sufficient funds to further the promotion of student debating. In fact, funds were so limited that – apart from joining and annual fees – much of the Society’s income came from the imposition of fees for lateness, absence, or the use of "improper language". At this stage of its history, the Literary Society operated under a strange mixture of egalitarianism and exclusiveness. For the first 116 years of its history there was no president of the Society and meetings were chaired by each member in rotation. The only distinct posts allowed were that of Secretary and Treasurer. In addition, all decisions were taken collectively by the Society membership as a whole. However, membership was limited to twenty-five students, was strictly by election, and no "strangers" were permitted to attend debates. The furtherance of student debating was aided by the 1846 re-establishment of a rival debating club. The Classical Society, as it was known, was soon vying with the Literary Society for the attention of the student body, and both groups added social events to their calendars. 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.