Cambridge Union Society

The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Cambridge Union, is one of the largest student societies at the University of Cambridge and one of the oldest in the world. It was founded on February 13th, 1815 as a union of three debating societies and quickly rose to prominence in University life. Early officers have included the historian and essayist, Thomas Babington Macaulay and many subsequent Presidents and officers have gone on to become influential leaders in a wide variety of fields and professions. The Union has always served as a pinnacle of free speech and open debate and was even temporarily shut down by the University in its early years for being too contentious! After nearly 200 years, the Cambridge Union is still best known for its debates which often receive national or international media attention. However, it also organises lectures by visiting speakers, film evenings and other social events for its members. Its top members compete internationally against other top debating societies, and Cambridge regularly fields one of the most successful teams at the World Universities Debating Championships.

Its current premises were designed by Alfred Waterhouse and formally opened on October 30th, 1866, although they have undergone several developments since then. The future radical Liberal politician, Sir Charles Dilke, was the President largely responsible for construction.

The Cambridge Union is sometimes confused with the Cambridge University Students' Union, the representative body for undergraduate students set up much more recently in 1971. Similarly, the term 'President of the Union' is also occasionally misused, for example, in reference to Charles Clarke, a former president of the students' union. [1] (http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/22/22566_the_bruiser_in_a_hotseat.html)

Membership in the Society

The Cambridge Union is a private society and traditionally membership is only open to members of the University of Cambridge, although more recently membership has been made available to students at several other educational institutions in Cambridge. The society is not open to the general public; however, members are often able to bring guests to certain functions and some events are made available to the public for free or through the purchase of a ticket.

The society awards honorary memberships to particularly distinguished individuals including the recent presentation of an honorary membership to former Chief UN Weapon’s Inspector Dr. Hans Blix. The Cambridge Union also maintains reciprocal membership policies with similar societies such as the Oxford Union and the Yale Political Union.

Events of the Society

The Union in most famous for its debates, typically held on Thursday evenings during University Terms, although many other events such as speaker meetings or entertainments are also popular with members. Some traditional debating motions, such as “This House Has No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government” are typically held once per year, although most motions for debate are novel and selected by the current president for that term. To maintain the highest quality of intellectual discussion, the Union seeks to bring in top experts and figures relevant to the motion up for debate. Traditionally, the proposition and opposition each feature three speakers, alternating between the two sides, and at the conclusion of the debate the members of the house divide and vote on the motion by exiting the debating chamber through one of three doors for “Ayes,” “Noes,” or “Abstention.” Union officials quickly tally the vote by counting the number of members walking through each door, and the final result is then officially announced a few moments later, usually in the Union’s bar, by the secretary.

The Union also continues to attract eminent speakers from the UK and across the globe. Previous visitors have included President Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Gillian Anderson, Michael Moore, Secretary General of NATO, and Bruce Forsyth as well as a multitude of British politicians.

The Society’s Leadership

The Cambridge Union elects a student as its president every term. Past holders of the post include John Maynard Keynes, Rab Butler, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, Douglas Hurd (former British Foreign Secretary), Ken Clarke (former British Chancellor of the Exchequer), Michael Howard (former Home Secretary and now leader of the Conservative Party), Chris Smith and Arianna Huffington. Each term the Union also elects three officers, Senior Officer, Treasurer, and Entertainments Officer, which are responsible for running certain functions of the society such as inviting guest speakers or managing events. Finally, representatives for two committees, house and external, are elected every term and assist the president and officers in their duties.

Recent Presidents continue to move into academia, the media and politics. Recent former Presidents include Clare Balding, one of the BBC's leading sports broadcasters, Chris Kelly, a Cambridge University Lecturer on Roman History and Rana Mitter, an Oxford University Lecturer in the History and Politics of Modern China. Others are following the 'traditional' route into politics. Gavin Barwell is Head of Operations at Conservative Central Office. Nicholas Boys Smith was a parliamentary candidate in the 2001 general election.

The standing committee, the Union’s primary day-to-day managing body, consists of the current President and Officers, the President-Elect and Officers-Elect, any ex officio Presidents or Officers currently resident in Cambridge, and three senior positions, filled by senior members of the University of MA standing or higher, consisting of the Senior Treasurer, Senior Librarian, and Steward. The standing committee makes appointments for several positions in the society including the Secretary/Vice-President and the Executive Department which includes positions such as the Director of Recruitment, Director of Communications, and Director of Information Technology.

Current and Future Student Officers

Interesting Facts and Trivia on Cambridge Union Society

• In addition to the long list of real life distinguished individuals that have been former Presidents and Officers of the Cambridge Union, Will Bailey, a fictional character on The West Wing, a US television drama series, claimed to have been a 'former president of Cambridge Union' as a Marshall Scholar.
• Despite the Cambridge Union Society never having been a students' union in the modern sense, it did briefly affiliate to the UK's National Union of Students in 1924.

References

• Template:Book reference no ISBN

External links

• Cambridge Union Society (http://www.cambridge-union.org/)
• Presidents of the Cambridge Union Society (1815-2004) (http://www.cix.co.uk/~mtod/CambridgeUnionSocietyPresidents.html)

Historical Chronology Presidents

Presidents elected a second time are marked with *

1815-1916

It was resolved at a Private Business Meeting held on Monday, May 8, 1916, to hold no elections for terminal officers in the Easter Term, nor subsequently for the duration of War, and that the functions of the Standing Committee be performed by the ex-officio members of the Committee.

1919-1939

The election of Officers was suspended and a Committee of Management appointed.

Chairmen of debates, 1939-1944

1944-

The election of Officers was resumed.