YALE POLITICAL UNION

'The Yale Political Union'

Ypubanner.png
Founded	1934
Home Page	The Yale Political Union
'Elected Officers of the Union, Fall 2007'
President	April Lawson, Tory (SY '09)
Vice-President	Vivian Nereim, IP (SM '09)
Speaker	Noah Mamis, IP (BR '08)
Director of Development	Harry Greene, Tory (BR '08)
Director of Campus Relations	Samuel Bagg, IP (SM '09)
Floor Leader of the Left	David Porter, Lib (SY '10)
Floor Leader of the Right	George Singer, Tory (SY '10)
Treasurer	Meredith Williams, CP (SM '09)
'Appointed Officers'
Secretary	Nicola Karras, IP (BR '10)
Webmaster	Fernando Reyes, PoL (BR '10)
Co-Social Chairs	Dara Lind, PoL (BK '09) and Alisha Butler, Prog (CC '09)
Teller	Carlin Gayer, PoL (SY '10)

The 'Yale Political Union' ('YPU'), a debate society that is the largest student organization at Yale University, was founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold (1906–1963), who would later become University President, to combat the apathy that characterized Yale's political culture in the 1930s. It was modelled on the Cambridge University and Oxford University Unions, and members of the YPU have reciprocal rights at its sister societies in England. ^[1] The Union has at times been the central forum for political discussion and activism at Yale. Its officers over the years have included Senator John Kerry, Senator David Boren, Attorney General Edwin Meese, Governor George Pataki, and William F. Buckley.
The Union is a non-partisan debate society. A speaker moderates weekly debates according to ''Robert's Rules of Order''. The Union's highest ranking officer is the President, elected for a term of one semester, who oversees the Union's day to day affairs and provides leadership in setting the tone of any given semester. [1] The office of President was split into the offices of President and Speaker in late 1961.
A prominent figure (e.g., politician, journalist, etc.) is often invited to keynote a Yale Political Union debate. Students then have the opportunity to ask questions of the guest, and then give speeches of their own, either in support or opposition to the resolution. This ability to allow students to interact with relevant political figures is often considered one of the great strengths of the organization.

Contents

Parties

History

Officers

The Advisory Committee

Chairmen

Notable Presidents

Notable recent guests

Exhaustive List of Presidents of the Yale Political Union (incomplete, many names are still missing)

External links

Parties

The Union is an umbrella organization that currently contains seven Parties: the Liberal Party (Lib), the Party of the Left (PoL), the Progressive Party (Prog), the Independent Party (IP), the Conservative Party (CP), the Tory Party (Tory), and the Party of the Right (PoR). These parties are actually independent debating societies that host their own debates and activities apart from Union activities, though members will come together for weekly Union debates. The Parties are traditionally listed in the order given above, from Left to Right. [2]
In the past the Political Union has had other parties including a Bull Moose Party, a Constitutional Union Party, and a Labor Party, but not all at the same time. Seven parties is an all time high for the total number of parties. Two is the all time low. Four has been fairly typical. All of the parties contribute in their own unique way to the Union's character.
Though party size and membership varies greatly over the decades, currently the Independent Party is the largest Party in the Union, maintaining more than a third of the voting membership of the Union in recent semesters.[3] The Party of the Left follows at about one-third of the size of the Independent Party, with the Conservative, Tory and Liberal Parties along with the Party of the Right only slightly smaller than this. The Progressive Party is the smallest.
These parties have their own political leanings, as their names might suggest, but they are better understood as being distinguished by different styles. For instance, the parties on the right tend to have more formal debates that cover philosophical topics. The parties on the left tend to have a more casual atmosphere than the parties on the right, while still engaging in political dialogue.
The 'Liberal Party' is one of the three founding constituent Parties of the Political Union. The Liberal Party holds discussions rather than debates, and tends to be less formal.
The 'Party of the Left' was formed to satisfy a desire for more formal philosophical debate on the Left of the Union, emphasizing a synthesis of first principles and policy. PoL debates are more formal than Liberal Party debates and more serious than those of the Progressive Party. PoL debates often concern "the questions that divide the Left."
The 'Progressive Party' defines itself as "debating silly topics using perfect parliamentary procedure." The Progressive Party takes pride in being able to bring a sense of a humor to the Union floor, and student Speakers at a debate should be prepared for one of the classic "Prog questions," which often contain a lot of innuendo and can be tricky to answer appropriately.
The 'Independent Party's' members cover nearly the entire political spectrum. The Independent Party has become quite large as a result, and discusses more partisan and policy topics, and holds few traditional philosophical debates. Because of the IP's wide range of views, their debates tend to draw the most people.
The 'Conservative Party' is committed to the production of principled and profound leaders. The Party's debates focus on the principles of Western Civilization, and are often highly philosophical.
The 'Tory Party' developed from a split in the Party of the Right during the Spring of 1969. The Tory Party is a society of philosophical conservatives, tending toward Burkean traditionalism, an English aesthetic, and "reasoned conservatism." The Tory Party's attitude toward the Union has often been reserved, but has been more active in recent years.
The 'Party of the Right' was founded in 1952, in a reaction to the perceived leftward movement in the Conservative Party. The Party is known for its stated goal of making Great Men and its mantra: "We care not what you think, only that you think."

History

"This Union can be of undoubted value to nation and to the University, provided it maintains independence and voices the true thoughts of those participating...Honest debates will help in the search for truthful answers." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933
Founded in 1934, the Yale Political Union has played a key role on Yale's campus for more than 70 years. Like most organizations, it has had periods of flourishing, as well as less prosperous spells. Once the only organization devoted to political debate on campus, it remains a unique and high-quality forum for oratory and political dialogue.
All sides agree that the Union is not as influential as it once was. Members note that this is the result of several factors. Many believe that it is simply one of the effects of Yale's metamorphosis from Old Yale into the vibrant modern Yale of 2007, which has notably included the rise of activism on campus. A few point to the presidency of current Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry, who was President of the YPU as an undergraduate at Yale. Kerry attempted to create a more national role for the organization, with a greater emphasis on outside speakers. Some Union members felt that this removed the YPU's focus from its most central goal of student debate, and given Kerry's subsequent prominence he is frequently cited as a negative turning point by members on the right, although he did enjoy enough support to be reelected. Eventually, Union debate came to be a combination of a keynote speaker and ensuing student speeches. This push and pull between outside speakers and student debate has characterized the Union for at least thirty years.
The YPU regained strength throughout the 1970s, but then suffered a severe blow shortly after A. Bartlett Giamatti became the Yale President. Giamatti, violating numerous agreements and covenants established with the Union, "repurposed" the YPU building/debate hall. It is today the Af-Am House.
After several years of rebuilding, the Union recovered its numerical strength. This recovery moved into rapid gear during Spring term of 1984 when membership tripled to 900 during a term highlighted by a nationally televised debate. By the end of 1986, active membership rolls comprised over 1200 members, nearly 1/4 of the entire student body at Yale, and the YPU successfully launched a Model Congress, a magazine, an annual three-day visit to Washington DC (for meetings with Cabinet Members, Supreme Court Justices, IMF and World Bank heads, foreign Ambassadors and even the Director of the National Gallery of Art), and an on-topic debate team (which sent two union members overseas to the world debate champtionships). Then, the one-vote failure of an attempt to acquire the much financially stronger Yale International Relations (Model UN) program at Yale in Spring 1987 (which would have made for a political powerhouse on campus), and the earlier 1980's loss of the YPU's dedicated facilities slowed momentum, and membership declined after a poor recruit in the fall of 1988.
In the early 1990s, membership reached its peak in YPU history. It then fell again, as a spurt of new political organizations on campus diverted politically active Yalies. Though smaller, the parties were relatively stronger and tighter institutions during this period. Most have remained intimate organizations, though with somewhat larger membership, to the current day.
One of the few enduring YPU spinoff publications, ''Rumpus Magazine'', was founded by members of the Progressive Party in 1992. For the first 3-4 years of its publication, ''Rumpus'' remained closely linked to the YPU. One of the more sordid scandals of the period, involving a member who misappropriated the YPU's long-distance phone access number for calls to a racy 1-900 number from his senior single, was broken by ''Rumpus'' in the Fall of 1994.
As more and more Yale undergraduate organizations were founded, the YPU had the misfortune of losing its offices under Bingham Hall. It was moved to an office on Crown Street, where it currently resides, although members dream of acquiring a house. During its various moves, many irreplaceable historical archives were lost, although the YPU's collection of paraphernalia signed by noteworthy public figures is sizeable. The YPU hit a low point in membership in the late 1990s. The YPU President, an Independent Party member, was impeached in the Fall of 1997, leading to the near collapse of the Independent Party. The effects of this crisis took some time to reverse, though by 2001 the Independent Party was largely restored and began an impressive period of growth. Although membership remains roughly 25% of its last peak in the 1990s, it is nevertheless the largest undergraduate organization at Yale, with approximately 325 active members (as of the end of 2006). Moreover, the rampant inter-party disputes that characterized the 1990s (and much of the Union's history) seem to have largely dissipated. The Union has entered an "era of good feelings" largely unprecedented in its history, featuring an improved relationship with the administration, constitutional revisions, and the founding of a new Alumni Board.

Officers

Union Officers are elected at the end of each semester (except for the Treasurer who holds a year-long term). All Officers are members of the Executive Board of the Union, although not all of the Officers have votes on the Executive Board. There are two primary officers, a Speaker, and a President, and a number of other offices, that have varied over the years, including Vice President(s), Treasurer, and Secretary. The Speaker is the most important officer during the actual periods when the Yale Political Union is in session, and runs the meetings, deciding on points of parliamentary procedure as necessary. The President is the most important officer while the Yale Political Union is not in session, and runs the Executive Board, with primary responsibility for planning the meetings, the seasonal calendar, and the overall strategy of the group.

The Advisory Committee

The recent constitutional amendments passed on April 4, 2006, created a new Advisory Committee to "advise the Executive Board and the President and provide long term planning for the Union." Past Presidents of the Union are automatically nominated for membership, subject to approval by the Executive Board, and there may be up to four other members on the Committee at any one time (subject to nomination by the Chairman of the Committee and approval by the Executive Board). [4] The Senior Sometime President on the Committee is constitutionally designated as the Chairman of the Committee.
The Advisory Committee was the object of criticism from some members of the Union who believed it to have acted in an inappropriate fashion during the Presidential elections of the Fall Term of 2006.

Chairmen

Each Party in the Political Union is headed by a Chairman, although the Liberal Party and the Party of the Left use the gender-neutral term 'Chair.' (During the tenure of the Chairman of the Party of the Right, the holder of that office prefers to be referred to as "The Chairman" instead of his or her given name.) All of these Chairmen either serve personally on or send proxies to the Executive Board and the Rules Committee of the Union.

Notable Presidents

Notable Presidents of the YPU include:

★ William Bundy, Spring and Fall 1938

★ Edwin Meese, Fall 1951

★ John F. Kerry, Fall 1964 and Spring 1965

★ J. Harvie Wilkinson, Fall 1965 and Spring 1966

★ Fareed Zakaria, Fall 1984

Notable recent guests

★ Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, April 5, 2007 [5]

★ Former Senatorial Candidate Ned Lamont, January 24, 2007 [6] [7].

★ Justice Antonin Scalia, November 9, 2006

★ William F. Buckley Jr., November 1, 2006, for his final public speech on matters of policy [8].

★ Al Sharpton, October 17, 2006

★ Michael Dukakis, September 13, 2006

★ Former Ambassador John Bolton, October 3, 2005

Exhaustive List of Presidents of the Yale Political Union (incomplete, many names are still missing)

★ Max Millikan, No Party, Spring 1935

★ August Heckscher, Lib, Fall 1935

★ John Field, Lib, Spring and Fall 1936

★ John Ecklund, Lib, Spring and Fall 1937

★ William Bundy, Lib, Spring and Fall 1938

★ Hart Spiegel, Lib, Spring and Fall 1939

★ William Jackson, Lib, Spring and Fall 1940

★ Liscum Borden, Lib, Spring and Fall 1941

★ David Acheson, Lib, Spring 1942

★ Seth Taft, CP, Fall 1942

★ Benjamin McElroy, Lib, Spring 1943
The Union was suspended in the Fall of 1943 because of World War II.

★ Homer Babbidge, No Party, Spring and Fall 1944

★ Edgar McCleary, Spring 1945

★ William Graham, Lib, Summer 1945

★ Bradford Westerfield, Lib, Fall 1945

★ David Rush, Lib, Spring 1946

★ Richard Shapiro, FP, Fall 1946

★ Francis Logue, Labor, Spring 1947

★ Irving Murphy, CP, Fall 1947

★ Richard Brown, CP, Spring 1948

★ George Harris, Lib, Fall 1948

★ Brent Bozell, CP, Spring 1949

★ Alan Finberg, Lib, Fall 1949

★ John Marshall, Lib, Spring 1950

★ Griffith Garland, Lib, Fall 1950

★ Richard Bjork, Labor, Spring 1951

★ Edwin Meese, CP, Fall 1951

★ William Chasteen, CP, Spring 1952

★ Robert Weinberg, Lib, Fall 1952

★ Henry Scherer, CP, Spring 1953

★ Frederick Goldstein, PoR, Fall 1953

★ David Calleo, Lib, Spring 1954

★ Park Teter, CP, Fall 1954

★ Laurence Hewes, CP, Spring 1955

★ LeRoy Jackson, Lib, Fall 1955

★ Peter Morse, CP, Spring 1956

★ Malcolm MacDonald, Lib, Fall 1956

★ Charles Allen, CP, Spring and Fall 1957

★ Steven Matthysse, Lib, Spring and Fall 1958

★ Robert Feldman, CP, Spring and Fall 1959

★ Glenn H. Lemon, PoR, Spring and Fall 1960

★ Joseph King, CU, Spring 1961

★ J. Michael Tillotson, PoR, Fall 1961

★ Peter Rousselot, Lib, Spring 1962

★ Guy Struve, CP, Fall 1962

★ Pierre Canu, CP, Spring 1963

★ James Wood, Lib, Fall 1963

★ John E. Todd, PoR, Spring 1964

★ John F. Kerry, Lib, Fall 1964 and Spring 1965

★ J. Harvie Wilkinson, CP, Fall 1965 and Spring 1966

★ John Townsend, Lib, Fall 1966 and Spring 1967

★ John O'Leary, Lib, Fall 1967 and Spring 1968

★ Robert Batey, Lib, Fall 1968

★ Robert Zack, CP, Spring 1969

★ Ralph Gerson, Lib, Fall 1969 and Spring 1970

★ John Hunter, CP, Fall 1970

★ Peter Kahn, CP, Spring 1971

★ Fareed Zakaria, PoR, Fall 1984

★ Brice Peyre, Lib (now a PoR member), Spring 1985

★ Neal Bradsher, Tory, Fall 1985

★ David Benjamin Hogg, PoR, Spring 1986

★ Richard Segal, Lib, Fall 1986

★ William Leake, PoR, Spring 1987 (100th President)

★ Howard Horowitz, IP, Fall 1987

★ John Wertheim, IP, Spring 1988

★ Larry Friedman, Lib, Fall 1988

★ David Stemmerman, IP, Spring 1989

★ Rachel Timoner, Lib, Fall 1989

★ Steve Ury, Lib, Spring 1990

★ David Gray, IP, Fall 1990

★ Erica Blumberg, Lib, Spring 1991

★ Jason Koral, Prog, Fall 1991

★ John Hughes, Tory, Spring 1992

★ Julian Schriebman, Lib, Fall 1992

★ Jed Lewison, Lib, Spring 1993

★ Jeremy Carl, IP, Fall 1993

★ Max Karpel, IP, Spring 1994

★ Cisco del Valle, Tory, Fall 1994

★ Cisco del Valle, Tory, Spring 1995

★ Courtenay Strickland, Fall 1995

★ Veronica Tucci, CN, Fall 1996

★ Brian H. Fischkin, Lib, Spring 1997

★ David Perlstein, IP (impeached, and replaced by Peter M. Normon, Lib), Fall 1997

★ Peter M. Normon, Lib, Spring 1998

★ Louis W. Tompros, Lib, Fall 1998

★ Keith R. Wesolowski, PoR, Spring 1999

★ Adam J. Rosen, Lib, Fall 1999

★ William Charles Richards Crawford, IP, Spring 2000

★ Holland Arthur Sullivan Jr., Tory, Fall 2000

★ Adam Goldfarb, IP, Spring 2001

★ William Francis Rogel, PoR, Fall 2002

★ Steven Christopher Christoforou, PoR, Fall 2003 and Spring 2004

★ Lindsay W R Bliss, PoR/Unaffiliated, Fall 2004
★

★ Gudur Silas Mason Preston Mirajkar Kulkarni, PoR, Spring 2005

★ Jennifer Rost, IP, Fall 2005

★ Meredith Startz, Lib, Spring 2006

★ Roger Low, IP, Fall 2006

★ Daniel Thies, Tory, Spring 2007

★ April Lawson, Tory, Fall 2007
For the purposes of the above list the following abbreviations are used.

★ Lib = Liberal Party (1935-present)

★ CP = Conservative Party (1935-1977)

★ Labor = Labor Party (1942-1952)

★ FP = Federalist Party (1945-1948)

★ PoR = Party of the Right (1952-present)

★ CU = Constitutional Union Party (1960-1961)

★ Tory = Tory Party (1971-present, see note 1 below)

★ IP = Independent Party (1977-present, see note 2 below)

★ Prog = Progressive Party (1985-present)

★ CN = Conservative Party (1996-present, see note 3 below)

★ 1.Also, although the Tory Party dates its founding prior to 1971, it was not actually recognized as a Party in the Yale Political Union until the Spring Term of 1971.

★ 2.In 1977, the original Conservative Party changed their name to the Independant Party.

★ 3.In 1996, a new Conservative Party was formed.

★ Miss Bliss was elected without the nomination or support of the Party of the Right, all of whose
members (even Miss Bliss herself) voted for her opponent; she was, nevertheless, a member of the
Party of the Right. However, during the course of her term, she signed in to Union meetings as
unaffiliated.

External links

★ Yale Political Union

★ The Liberal Party of the Yale Political Union

★ The Party of the Left

★ The Progressive Party of the Yale Political Union

★ The Independent Party of the Yale Political Union

★ The Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union

★ The Tory Party of the Yale Political Union

★ The Party of the Right

★ A Yale Daily News article describing the state of the YPU in 1996

★ An article on Sen. John Kerry's YPU career, written by the first Chairman of the Tories, a political union contemporary
1. "TWO YALE GROUPS TURN TO POLITICS; New Union's Plan to Train an Intelligent Minority for Leadership Is Approved.", ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1934.