Demosthenian Literary Society

The Demosthenian Literary Society is a literary society primarily involved in debating at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in February 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. It is named after the Greek orator Demosthenes.

Augustin Clayton, James Jackson, and Williams Rutherford are recognized as the founding fathers of Demosthenian. Clayton became the first student to receive his diploma from Franklin College and went on to become a judge of wide respect and a U.S. Representative from Georgia, with Georgia's Clayton County being named in his honor. Rutherford and Jackson went on to become professors at Franklin College.

After 167 years of male-only membership, the first female members of the Society were inducted on March 4, 1970. President Sherrill Watkins presided over the initiation of Kathy Conrad, a freshman from Atlanta, and Bebe Herring, a junior from Athens. By the late 1970s, female members were heavily active in the Society and held numerous offices—even President. In 2008, the Society put forward its first all female Inter-Society Debate team. The four women swept the debate on warrantless wiretapping and FISA reform, winning the votes of all three judges and the alternate. Today, the Society has slightly more female than male members.

Citing issues of student disenfranchisement within the UGA and U.S. political systems, the Society voted in 2012 to secede from the United States of America as the micronation "Demosthenia." This resolution was acknowledged as a move to raise the Society's profile and to encourage lively debate.

Demosthenian Hall was constructed by Dr. James Tinsley of Columbia County in 1824 at a cost to the Society of $4,000. It is the fourth oldest building at the University of Georgia and was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1971. It has become the physical expression of a living tradition which binds generations of students. The Society’s minutes show that by September 5, 1829, the building’s $4,000 construction cost had been completely paid off. The construction was financed by the Society’s members, alumni, and friends.

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