Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies - History

History

The Dialectic Society (originally known as the Debating Society) was established in 1795, making Di-Phi the oldest student organization at the University of North Carolina. They adopted the motto "Virtus et Scientia." The members stated as their goals: "...to promote useful Knowledge..." and "...to cultivate a lasting Friendship with each other..." It is significant that the first order of business for the Debating Society was an order for the purchase of books. Indeed, as the University had no library, the Debating Society's collection became the primary resource for the University, later becoming the core of the school's library.

One month after the founding of the Debating Society, the Philanthropic Society (originally known as the Concord Society) split off due to strict rules and political disagreements. It took a new motto, "Virtus, Libertas, et Scientia", with the addition of the word Libertas lending some insight into the reasons for splitting. In 1796 the two societies adopted the Greek equivalents of their names, becoming the Dialectic Society and the Philanthropic Society, known as the Di and the Phi for short. Due to the common use of the shortened form, "Philanthropic" is properly pronounced with a long "i" in the first syllable.

In the early days of the University, students were required to join one of the two societies, and the rivalry between the two was extremely bitter. Society members would ride out on horses to greet incoming students, attempting to recruit them and dissuade them from joining the other society. According to legend, this rivalry eventually led to dueling. The university administration eventually intervened and changed the societies' official rules, making membership based upon geography with the Phi members coming from the eastern part of the state and the Di members from the western part (see below for a detailed description of this arrangement). Now together in a Joint Senate, the societies still maintain the rivalry in a much more congenial way.

Shortly after the societies split, they each took a color. The Dialectic Society took a light blue, today known as Carolina blue, while members of the Philanthropic Society took white. Following a football game against the University of Virginia, in which UVA students displayed orange and blue pennants, the Societies' colors were adopted as the University's official colors.

Throughout the 19th century, the two societies engaged in an intense rivalry with each other for campus supremacy. The Societies trained students in speaking. And, in the thirty years before the Civil War, they also invited distinguished speakers (often alumni) to address the school at graduation. The addresses, which were multi-day graduation exercises, brought politicians, lawyers, physicians, and others to campus. One of the most important graduation speeches came from North Carolina Supreme Court Justice William Gaston in 1832, in which he urged the end of slavery.

It became the tradition of the societies to handle the funeral expenses of members who died while attending the University, and several members are now buried in the Societies' adjoining plots in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

The Dialectic Society Chamber is located on the 3rd floor of New West Hall and the Philanthropic Society Chamber is located on the 4th floor of New East Hall. At one time, each Society's library was located on these floors with their meeting room (or the odeon) on the floor below.

The Societies suffered a steady decline membership after the University ended the requirement that all undergraduate students be a member of one of the two societies. In addition, in 1904, the University established an independent student government, thus taking away a large amount of the power wielded by the Societies. By 1946, the last vestige of general student governmental power had been given over to the new Student Congress. By 1959, the Societies had joined together as a Joint Senate for the purposes of preserving their membership rolls.

The Societies still meet together as the Joint Senate with the members of the Phi Society sitting on the north side of the former Di chamber and members of the Di sitting on the south side of the chamber. Each society is responsible for putting forward a slate of candidates for Joint Senate officers. These officers include the President of the Joint Senate, President Pro-Tempore, Critic, Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Historian.