Brooks Quimby Debate Council

Brooks Quimby Debate Council

A convening of the 1921 Council with Brooks Quimby left of the foreground
Named after	Brooks Quimby
Formation	March 20, 1854
Founded at	Lewiston, Maine
Affiliations	Bates College American Parliamentary Debate World Universities Debating University of Oxford Oxford Union Dartmouth College

The Brooks Quimby Debate Council, commonly referred to as Brooks Quimby, is debating society in the city of Lewiston, Maine, whose membership is drawn primarily from Bates College. The debate society is often contrasted with the University of Oxford's Oxford Union as both have been described as "the playground of the powerful." Oxford's first debate in the United States was against Bates in Lewiston, Maine, in September 1923. The debate society competes in the British and American Parliamentary Styles. It competes in the American Parliamentary Debate Association domestically, and competes in the World Universities Debating Championships, internationally. As of 2013, the debate council was ranked 5th, nationally. In 2012, the debate team was ranked 9th in the world. In 1922, The New York Times called Bates "the power centre of college debating in America." Founded near the start of the college's founding, the debate society is the oldest coeducational collegiate debating society in the United States.

The formation of the team predates the establishment of the college itself as the debate society was founded within the Maine State Seminary. It was headed by Bates alumnus and teacher Brooks Quimby and became the first intercollegiate international debate team in the United States. Quimby Debate Society has been noted as "America's most prestigious debating society." During the 1930s, the debate society was subject to 'The Quimby Institute' which pitted each and every debate student against Brooks Quimby himself. This is where he began to engage heated debate with them that stressed "flawless assertions" and resulted in every error made by the student to be carefully scrutinized and teased.

During the Chase presidency, the college's debate team became intercollegiate and associated with the college's academic reputation. The debate society became the first college debate team in the United States to compete internationally. In February 1920, the debate team defeated Harvard College during the national debate tournament held at Lewiston City Hall. After this, Bates was established as a dominant force in collegiate debate. In 1921, the college's debate team participated in the first intercontinental collegiate debate in history against the Oxford Union's debate team at the University of Oxford. In 1922, The New York Times called Bates "the power centre of college debating in America." Oxford's first debate in the United States was against Bates in Lewiston, Maine, in September 1923.