The Philodemic Society gathers each year for a special debate session to remember Dean Richard Gordon, who was instrumental in reviving the Society in the early 1990s. When Dean Gordon passed away, the Society created the Dean Gordon Annual Debate in his honor. Known as a particularly clever fellow, the debate encourages members to approach our topic of discussion with the rhetorical mechanism of wit. At the annual debate, members vote to determine the recipient of the Dean Gordon Cup, given to the speaker who most effectively demonstrates the proper use of wit in persuasive speaking.