The Brooks Quimby Debate Council (BQDC) is a debate society in Lewiston, Maine, primarily comprising students from Bates College. The society, known for participating in British and American Parliamentary debate styles, competes in the

American Parliamentary Debate Association The American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debating association in the United States. APDA sponsors over 50 tournaments a year, all in a parliamentary format, as well as a national champion ...

and the World Universities Debating Championship. Notably, it engaged in a debate with Oxford University in 1923, marking Oxford's first debate in the United States. The BQDC has achieved recognition in various debate championships. In 2017, the team reached the final round of the World Universities Debating Championships in The Hague. Nationally, it ranked 5th in 2013 and 9th globally in 2012. The New York Times once described Bates College as a central hub for college debating in America in 1922.

History

The debate society's origins trace back to the

Maine State Seminary The history of Bates College began shortly before Bates College's founding on March 16, 1855, in Lewiston, Maine. The college was founded by Oren Burbank Cheney and Benjamin Bates. Originating as a Free Will Baptist institution, it has since sec ...

, predating Bates College establishment. It was officially recognized in 1869 when the State of Maine granted charters to the Polymnian and Eurosophian Societies, early debating and literary groups at Bates. Women began participating in debates at Bates in the 1870s. Under the guidance of

Brooks Quimby This list of notable people associated with Bates College includes matriculating students, alumni, attendees, faculty, trustees, and honorary degree recipients of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Members of the Bates community are known as "B ...

, a Bates alumnus and faculty member, the society became the first in the United States to engage in intercollegiate international debates. The 1930s marked a significant period known as 'The Quimby Institute,' where intensive individualized debate training was introduced. This period coincided with the society's first international competitions. Key moments in society history include a victory over Harvard College in 1920 and participating in the first intercontinental collegiate debate against the Oxford Union in 1921.

Membership and status

The BQDC actively competes both domestically and internationally, with notable achievements including winning the US Nationals at the

US Universities Debating Championship The US Universities Debating Championship (USUDC) is the largest British Parliamentary debating tournament in the United States, and one of the largest debate tournaments in the world. The event is held for college and university students attending ...

. It continues to maintain a strong national and global ranking.

Notable alumni

* U.S. Secretary of State

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 6 ...

* U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

Constance Berry Newman Constance Ernestine Berry Newman (born July 8, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American attorney and diplomat who served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from July 2004 to April 2005. Early life and educati ...

* Civil rights leader Benjamin Mays * U.S. Governor Carl Miliken * U.S. Minister to Columbia John Abbott * U.S. Representative John Swasey * U.S. Representative

Carroll Beedy Carroll Lynwood Beedy (August 3, 1880 – August 30, 1947) was a U.S. Representative from Maine from 1921 to 1935. He was born in Phillips, Franklin County, Maine, on August 3, 1880. He attended the public schools of Lewiston, Androscoggin Co ...

* U.S. Representative

Charles Clason Charles Russell Clason (September 3, 1890 – July 7, 1985) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts and an attorney. Clason was born in Gardiner, Maine. He attended Bates College, and received his ...

* U.S. Representative

Donald Partridge Donald Barrows Partridge (June 7, 1891 – June 5, 1946) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. Partridge was a lawyer, jurist, and Republican Party leader before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where ...

* U.S. Representative

Frank Coffin Frank Morey Coffin (July 11, 1919 – December 7, 2009) was an American politician from Maine and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Education and career Born on July 11, 1919, in Lewisto ...

* U.S. Representative

Leo Ryan Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. (May 5, 1925 – November 18, 1978) was an American teacher and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until his assassinati ...

* U.S. Representative

Robert Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing for 13 terms. A Republican, he was also the Chair of the House Judiciar ...

* U.S. Representative Ben Cline * Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Scott Wilson * Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court

Albert Spear Albert Moore Spear (March 17, 1852 – January 31, 1929) was the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Maine Supreme Judicial Court, President of the Maine Senate. Spear was born in Madison, Mai ...

* Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Vincent McKusick * Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Enoch Foster * Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Randolph Weatherbee * Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court David Nichols * Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Louis Scolnick * Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Morton Brody * Maine State Senate Majority Leader

Nate Libby Nathan Libby is an American Democratic politician from Maine. He represents Senate District 21, which serves Lewiston, Maine's second-largest city. Libby grew up in central Maine and attended Bates College where he majored in history and economi ...

* State Senator

George Edwin Smith George Edwin Smith (April 5, 1849 – April 26, 1919) was a Massachusetts lawyer, legal writer, and politician. He served three terms as the President of the Massachusetts Senate. Previous to his assumption of the Senate Presidency, he served as ...

* State Senator Henry Chandler * State Senator Jeffrey Butland * State Senator Kevin Raye * State Senator Gerald Davis * State Representative

Sawin Millett Howard Sawin Millett Jr. (born October 8, 1937) is a Maine politician. A Republican, Millett served as the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services in the administration of Governor Paul LePage from 2011 to 2014. In January 2011, Mil ...

* State Representative

Jeffrey Roy Jeffrey N. Roy is a State Representative in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Court. Roy represents the 10th Norfolk District, which includes the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts in its entirety, and Precincts 2, 3, and 4 ...

* State Representative

Marianne Brenton Marianne Brenton (February 25, 1933 – February 10, 2013) was an American politician who represented the 23rd Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997, was a member of the Burlington School Committee ...

* Mayor of San Francisco Art Agnos * Mayor of Auburn, Lewiston John Jenkins *United States Attorney for Alabama

Joyce White Vance Joyce Alene White Vance is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017. She was one of the first five U.S. Attorneys, and the first female U.S. Attorney, nominated by Presid ...

* Actor John Shea * University Professor

Jeffrey K. Tulis Jeffrey K. Tulis (born 1950) is an American political scientist known for work that conjoins the fields of American politics, political theory, and public law. Early life and education Tulis was born in Long Branch, New Jersey and grew up on ...

References

{{University debating Bates College Student debating societies Youth organizations based in Maine

History

Membership and status

Notable alumni

See also

References