The Spirit of Christmas (Debates)

(Left to right) Philip Ma (SFS'17), Alex Perez-Reyes (COL'17), Daniel Ernst (COL'18), and Brian Bies (MSB'18) at the 2022 holiday debate.

As 2022 came to a close, the Philodemic Society gathered to continue one of its most joyous traditions: the annual holiday debate. An occasion for cheer, reflection, festive costumes, and some truly impressive Seussian rhyming, the Society considered the question “Resolved: The Grinch was Right.” From the keynotes to the floor speeches, the Society reveled in the holiday spirit and celebrated the completion of another year of debates. As a guest in the audience, I wish to share a few observations about the evening that give me great hope for the future of the Society as it continues its recovery from the pandemic and what it meant to me to be there.

The first and most important of these is that the incoming members of the Society are exemplary speakers and will do credit to their class. As someone who was also inducted on a holiday debate, I was impressed by the inductees’ ability to make substantial points while maintaining the light and humorous tone of the debate. It was both entertaining and encouraging to see that the first members of the newest class of Philodemicians got to have just as jovial and kind a welcome to the Society as I did nine years ago. To the first two members of the class of 2026, I give a hearty welcome and my sincere congratulations on an induction well done. Based on the touching camaraderie expressed by some of the freshmen guest floor speakers, the inductees and the class of 2026 seem bound for the kind of life-long friendships that I still enjoy with my fellow Philodemicians today.

The speeches from the floor were powerful as well. While there was perhaps not as much singing as in prior years, the floor speeches did have the right mix of serious points, joking parody, and sincere reflections on the previous year. Although they still have one last semester of debates and Merrick to go, the class of 2023 took the moment to appreciate the finality of this being their last holiday debate together. I was touched by just how moving the seniors’ speeches were about their time together and it was clear just how much it meant to them to be there with each other. They exemplified what the Philodemic means to me: a group of friends coming together to grow in eloquence and pursue a greater understanding of our world through debate.

A final note I will make is with regards to President Balçay’s final speech on the floor as president. With all the solemnity and weight appropriate to the moment, President Balçay reflected on his hopes for the future of the Society and thanked the Society for the previous year. He reminded me greatly of now-Chancellor Peter Prindiville, who during my induction inspired me to hold dear to our motto, Eloquentiam Libertati Devinctam. In a coincidence that speaks to how this occasion celebrates both the past and the future and highlights the enduring spirit of the Philodemic Society, President Balçay used the same words of Tennyson as I did to conclude my last remarks at a holiday debate six years before. Despite the pains of the pandemic, the Society remains “One equal temper of heroic hearts, / Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will / To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”