Yale Political Union

The Yale Political Union (YPU) is a debate society at Yale University, founded in 1934 by Alfred Whitney Griswold. It was modeled on the Cambridge Union and Oxford Union and the party system of the defunct Yale Unions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which were in turn inspired by the great literary debating societies of Linonia and Brothers in Unity. Members of the YPU have reciprocal rights at sister societies in England.[2]

Yale Political Union
Banner of the Yale Political Union
Formation1934 (1934)
TypeStudent organization
PurposeTo provide Yale with a non-partisan forum for parliamentary debate and to encourage the discussion of matters of public interest by other suitable means[1]
Location
Websiteypu.sites.yale.edu

The union is an umbrella organization that currently contains seven parties: the Party of the Left (PoL), the Progressive Party (Progs), the Independent Party (IP), the Federalist Party (Feds), the Conservative Party (CP), the Tory Party (Tories), and the Party of the Right (PoR).[3][4]

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, 1935

Founded in 1934, the Yale Political Union originally had three parties: the Liberal Party, the Radical Party (reorganized as the Labor Party in 1937 - now defunct), and the Conservative Party. It has seen the rise and fall of others since. Over the years, the union has played a key role on Yale's campus. 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 primary forum for oratory and political dialogue.[3]

The YPU regained strength throughout the 1970s, during which period the Liberal Party was by far the largest, 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. Today, it is used for office space and storage.[5]

In the early 1990s, membership reached its overall peak. It then fell again, as a series of new political organizations on campus diverted politically active Yalies.[6]

As more Yale undergraduate organizations were founded, the YPU lost its offices under Bingham Hall. It managed to retain its small office on Crown Street, where it currently resides, although the union has recently begun a capital campaign to raise funds for a new building.[5]

Notable alumni


References
  1. "Constitution".
  2. "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.
  3. "Can the YPU bring back its glory days?" The Yale Herald, September 9, 2005 Vol. XL, No. 2.
  4. "Party of the Left seeks to leave no leftist behind" The Yale Herald, March 31, 2006 Vol. XLI, No. 10.
  5. "YPU begins inquiry into storied past." Yale Daily News, November 29, 2007.
  6. "The Yale Political Scene--left, right and center." The Yale Herald, Freshman Issue, Summer 1998.
  7. Yes, Health Care is a Right - An Individual Right. Forbes (2013-03-28). Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
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