page_title: University of St Andrews Union Debating Society
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: University of St Andrews Union Debating Society / History / Development
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: King James Library (South Street)
context_page_description: The University of St Andrews Union Debating Society is a student debating society at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Tracing its origins back to 1794 and established in 1890, it is one of the oldest debating societies of its kind in the English-speaking world. It also holds weekly public debates in the Lower Parliament Hall, which are free and open to all students.
  In 2015, the society became the first in Scotland to win the European Universities Debating Championship.
context_section_description: The acquisition of James Crichton's House by the fledgling Students' Union afforded the Society a permanent home, although the two organisations had no official ties. This, and the fact that the Union Debating Society now had over seventy members (a third of the total student population), gave the Society renewed confidence and a greater importance than ever before in the lives of students.
  In 1898 the Society decided to form Debates Board, in order to manage the running of the society, it consisted of an honorary president, two honorary vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, a "general committee" of four members, a 'College Echoes' Reporting Committee, and a Debates Committee of four members. In 1910 the post of president of the Union Debating Society was created. In 1925 the Union Debating Society agreed to be affiliated to the Students' Union, and all matriculated students of the university would be members. The chair of the Union Debating Society would be elected as the Union Convenor of Debates, and debating would be done completely under the auspices of the Students' Union. The Debates Board ceased to exist, and the title of 'President of the Union Debating Society' was kept purely as a courtesy title.
  In 1932 the society elected to re-create the Debates Board, in order to regain some independence from the Students' Union. It was to consist of the Convenor of Debates and two clerks to the house. During this period debates were held in the council chamber of the Men's Students' Union, apart from some large-scale events, which were held in the Union Diner.
  In the 1970s, the move of the Students' Union from its original home to a new purpose built building provided the Union Debating Society with the opportunity to make a move of its own. The Convenor of Debates took the opportunity to move debates to Lower College Hall in St Salvator's Quadrangle, and then to Lower Parliament Hall in St Mary's Quadrangle.
  This physical move away from the Students' Union was accompanied by an organisational one. In 1979, the society decided to change the Debating Sub-Committee into the 'Debating Board of Ten'. This new sub-committee comprised the convenor, chairman of ways and means, sergeant-at-arms, clerk to the house, treasurer, steward, two ordinary members, union president, and a further representative from the Union Committee. The president would continue to be elected as the convenor of debates, but the Board of Ten would be elected in an annual general meeting of the Union Debating Society.
caption: The Union Debating Society hold weekly debates in Lower Parliament Hall
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