  the philomathean society  of the university of pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university,kurtz, rod. "u. pennsylvania's oldest student group looks for new blood." daily pennsylvanian. october 28, 1998.american catholic historical society of philadelphia. records of the american catholic historical society of philadelphia, volume xv. 332. and a claimant to the title of the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the united states.this claim is disputed between the philomathean society and a number of other collegiate literary societies. in particular, the union-philanthropic society asserts continuous existence since 1789 and the american whig-cliosophic society draws its history to 1769; both claims are disputed by the philomatheans on the grounds that the present societies are mergers of two other societies and thus represent new entities, founded 1929 and 1928, respectively. founded in 1813, its goal is "to promote the learning of its members and to increase the academic prestige of the university."sanford, gregory b. "note: your opinion really does not matter: how the use of referenda in funding public university student groups violates constitutional free speech principles." notre dame law review. january 2008.wood, george b., with supplementary chapters by frederick dawson stone. early history of the university of pennsylvania from its origin to the year 1827. philadelphia: lippincott, 1896. 156â157. philomathean is derived from the greek philomath, which means "a lover of learning." the motto of the philomathean society is sic itur ad astra (latin for "thus we proceed to the stars"). ==history== thumb|left|philomathean society graduation diploma for isaac norton jr., 1858. "philo," as member
1813_establishments_in_the_United_States College_literary_societies_in_the_United_States Student_debating_societies Student_societies_in_the_United_States University_of_Pennsylvania