20 Facts About Philodemic Society

Philodemic Society is a student debating society at Georgetown University.

In recent years, the Philodemic Society has taken a more active role in engaging other prominent debating societies on the Eastern seaboard.

The Philodemic maintains several intercollegiate friendships, most notably with the Demosthenian Literary Society of the University of Georgia, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society at the University of Virginia.

In 1912 the White Debating Philodemic Society was founded in honor of Supreme Court Justice Edward Douglass White Jr.

The Gaston Debating Philodemic Society was founded in 1913 as Georgetown's second junior debate society for underclassmen.

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Since 1881, with the construction of Healy Hall by Paul J Pelz under the direction of University president Patrick Healy two years prior, the Philodemic has been headquartered in a debating hall on the second floor of Healy, specially designed for the Philodemic.

The Philodemic Society Room is directly adjacent to the president's office and includes a president's chair designed by Pelz himself.

The Philodemic Society holds certain special debates, such as the annual humorous Christmas debate, in historic Riggs Library, in Healy Hall.

In 1895, the Philodemic journeyed to Boston College to participate with Boston College's Fulton Society in the first ever debating competition between two Catholic schools.

The Philodemic Society's prowess was such that for an 18-year period, from 1921 to 1939, Philodemic Society teams were undefeated in any intercollegiate competition.

Each undergraduate on the Induction List is assigned a mentor from within the Society to familiarize him or her with the traditions, practices and rules of the Philodemic and assist in the preparation of an induction keynote.

The Philodemic Society maintains a formal dress code for all their debates.

Philodemic Society room is divided in two—with the negation and affirmation sitting on opposite sides of the room.

Every year, early in the fall semester, the Philodemic holds the annual Hamilton Homecoming Debate that invites alumni of the Society to return to campus and relive their days as undergraduates in the Society.

The event is cherished by members both graduated and undergraduate as it gives them a chance to reconnect with old friends and see how the Philodemic Society has progressed as an organization since leaving campus.

Dean Gordon Debate stands out among debates as one night where the members of the Philodemic Society collectively agree to forgo the normal rules of formality, poise and decency usually expected at Debates.

Philodemic Society had held 144 Merrick Debates since the debate's inception.

Altogether, the Merrick Debate represents the finest example of what the Philodemic is as a debate society and it is an event well worth attending.

In recent years, the Philodemic Society has attempted to resuscitate its long tradition of intercollegiate debate with the Annual East Coast Conference of Collegiate Literary Debate Societies, held in conjunction with a historical celebration known as Kai Yai Yai.

The Philodemic has historically participated in the Winchester Cup, an annual competition with the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society of the University of Virginia, and the Columbia Cup, a debate with the Enosinian Society of The George Washington University before they became defunct in 2010.