American Whig-Cliosophic Society
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The American Whig-Cliosophic Society (short form: Whig-Clio) is one of the world's oldest college political, literary, and debating society. Its precursors, the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society, were founded at Princeton University in 1769 and 1765.
Originally two separate organizations, the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society were the primary student organizations at Princeton until the end of the 19th century, when competition from eating clubs, sports teams, and other student activities drew members away from the societies.
Prompted by declining memberships, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the societies were merged to form the American Whig-Cliosophic Society. The organization's modern role is to serve as a meta-organization for political and debating activity at Princeton. It sponsors invited speakers and speaking contests, and counts Princeton's Model Congress, intercollegiate debate, Mock Trial, and Model United Nations organizations as subsidiaries.
Today, Whig-Clio is one of the world's top intercollegiate debating societies, and competes regularly against teams such as the Oxford Union Society, the Cambridge Union Society, and the University of Western Ontario Debating Society. It competes most frequently in the American Parliamentary Debating Association league, of which it is a founding member. In 1996, Princeton hosted the World Universities Debating Championships.
External links
- the official Whig-Clio website (http://whigclio.princeton.edu/)
- the official Whig-Clio historian's website (http://whigclio.princeton.edu/~historian/)