Whig-Clio needs a breath of new life

The American Whig-Cliosophic Society is Princeton's oldest student organization and the oldest political, literary and debating society in the world. Founded as the separate Whig and Cliosophic societies in 1769 and 1765, by students including James Madison 1771 and Aaron Burr, Jr. 1772, the societies were the center of political and literary life at Princeton for over two centuries. Yet despite its massive marble façade, today Whig-Clio is in a process of decline. The political and literary elements of the organization have all but vanished. Since the 1980s, the focus of the society's activities has been primarily off campus. Although the society still hosts the occasional speaker, competing on the intercollegiate debate and mock trial circuits, running Model Congress and Model United Nations programs has dominated Whig-Clio activities. With fewer than 200 active members the society no longer attracts the majority of students interested in politics, literature and debate.

In recent months, Whig-Clio has slowly begun to bounce back, sponsoring several public debates and speaker's events, thanks to the hard work of a few dedicated officers. In a bigger context, however, reversing the society's decline can and must be part of an effort to address growing community concerns about an "anti-intellectual" atmosphere at Princeton.

To be sure, there is a great deal of intellectual activity happening on campus. Not a week passes without the announcement of a new student group dedicated to "discussion" and "dialogue" about one important topic or another. This week, the Princeton Global Issues Forum has launched an ambitious series of discussions and events, and will be showing "No Man's Land," a prizewinning Bosnian film, this Friday. Another new group, the Princeton Philosophical Society, is organizing a debate on nothing less than "The Falsity of Science." Organizations like these are valuable. Indeed, the intellectual opportunities offered to undergraduates by extracurricular organizations rival those presented in official coursework. Extracurricular education is voluntary, student-led and free of the pressures of grading, problem sets and stressful competition that diminish the proverbial "joy of learning." Clearly, it is something that Princeton should encourage.

However, at least insofar as political and philosophical topics are concerned, Princeton's student organizations are fragmented, and dependent on the efforts of one or two highly motivated leaders to keep them afloat. The on-again, off-again nature of groups like the College Democrats and College Republicans underscores this difficulty. Furthermore, these student groups exist basically independently of one another. They enjoy little opportunity to debate, exchange ideas and cooperate on projects beyond their individual capacity.

Unless we are prepared to see a Princeton tradition fade away, Whig Hall will need to transform itself into a campus institution rather than simply a clubhouse for the debate team. Whig-Clio should work to establish linkages between itself and the long list of student organizations that have filled the political vacuum it has left. Affiliating student political groups with Whig-Clio would represent a positive step away from Whig-Clio practices that placed too high a premium on political neutrality, driving the society into irrelevance. Remarkably, Whig-Clio hosted a group called the Princeton Global Issues Symposium until it was abolished in 2000. The recent success of groups like the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism and the Global Issues Forum shows just how big a mistake that was.

Emerging student groups should be encouraged to view Whig Clio as a resource that can make them stronger and more attractive to students. The hall can provide a place for those who are passionately interested in issues to have discussions in one building, increasing the opportunities for interaction and dialogue, as well a sturdy institutional structure under which student organizations could flourish. With both Whig-Clio and USG elections coming up soon, we may hope for student leaders who will realize the potential value of Princeton's oldest student institution. Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky is a Wilson School major from Forest Hills, N.Y. He can be reached at cr@princeton.edu.