History
The date of the Society's foundation is contested; the earliest paper records of the Society are dated before 1770, and there are, moreover, mentions within the University records of a society existing and being open to students who took Logic, back when the University still resided within Glasgow Cathedral. Pope John Paul II issued a 'Papal Letter' to the Society upon his visit to Scotland in 1982, which recognised the Society's claim to have been established in 1451. The Society was formally re-instituted in 1861. The Society has led the UK's university debating culture since 1953. In 1955, it won the Observer Mace, now the John Smith Memorial Mace, named after the deceased GUU debater and former leader of the British Labour Party. The GUU has since won the Mace debating championship sixteen more times, far more than any other university. The GUU has also won the World Universities Debating Championships five times, more than any other university or club in the series' history.
Notable former members of the Society include:
- Sir Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats
- Donald Dewar, former First Minister of Scotland
- Liam Fox, Secretary of State for Defence
- Brian Gill, Lord Gill, Lord Justice Clerk
- Derry Irvine, Lord Irvine, former Lord Chancellor
- Charles Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Rector of the University
- Andrew Neil, journalist and broadcaster
- Nicholas Parsons, media personality
- John Smith, former leader of the Labour Party
Read more about this topic: Glasgow University Dialectic Society
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