Welcome to the oldest and largest collegiate
debate society in america
.
Founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold, the Yale Political Union, or the YPU, is the oldest and the largest collegiate debate society in America.
We meet every week to debate the brightest minds in politics and culture. Throughout the Union’s ninety-year history, we’ve hosted guests such as Ronald Reagan, Joe Biden, William F. Buckley, and Noam Chomsky.
A nonpartisan forum, the Union is home to ideas across the political spectrum, and keeps the flame of civil discourse alive in America, a task that is more important than ever before. The Union is also an umbrella organization over seven unique parties that meet weekly in their own caucuses.
WelCome from President Savan Parikh ‘28
“For over ninety years, the Union has served as a home for civic discourse, intellectual rigor, and genuine camaraderie. Though I join every generation in history by claiming the exceptionality of the present, the mission of the Union is especially important today, in an era rife with political rancor and distrust in higher education. I hope you will all join me in what is shaping up to be a rich semester of debate ahead.”
