Oxford Union

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US politician John Kerry at the Oxford Union estate

The Oxford Union Society , also known as the Oxford Union , is a debating club based in Oxford , United Kingdom . The majority of the members come from the renowned University of Oxford . The club was founded in 1823 and is one of the oldest British student associations and the oldest debating clubs in the world. However, it is independent of the university mentioned and not to be confused with the Oxford University Student Union .

Thanks to numerous famous guest speakers, the Oxford Union is one of the most famous and respected debating clubs and discussion forums in the world.

membership

Lifetime membership is only available to students at the University of Oxford. However, students from other municipal educational institutions have the option of acquiring a membership for the duration of their stay. These facilities include:

Premises

The Debate Chamber

The Oxford Union property is in central Oxford on Cornmarket Street and St Michael's Street . The original buildings were opened in 1857, but were quickly unable to cope with the large crowds and popularity, so that in 1879 a new building planned by Alfred Waterhouse was constructed, today's Debating Chamber . The older building now houses The Old Library , known for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti , Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris .

The last extensions were added to the building complex by 1911. Among other things, there are dining rooms, other libraries, conference and board rooms here. The Union also has the original cabinet table of former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone . In the debate room there are busts of Roy Jenkins , Edward Heath , Michael Heseltine , George Curzon and William Ewart Gladstone.

Guest speaker (selection)

In its long history, the Oxford Union has provided a stage for numerous well-known personalities from politics, art, science and sport. The most famous speakers include the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa , the British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill , Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron , the US Presidents Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton as well as other politicians such as Marine Le Pen , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bernie Sanders . Other speakers included the actors Emma Watson , Sir Ian McKellen , Morgan Freeman , Clint Eastwood and Johnny Depp , the musicians Michael Jackson , Shakira , Sir Elton John , James Blunt , the scientists Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein and the athletes Sepp Blatter , Diego Maradona , Geoff Hurst and Boris Becker .

Presidents (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Temporary Membership at oxford-union.org, accessed on January 22, 2019