The Union-Philanthropic Literary Society
The Union-Philanthropic Literary Society impresses the importance of logic-based reasoning upon all those
who attend, and it is this focus that serves one well inside the classroom. The Liberal Arts curriculum is certainly
challenging, but in class, it helps to know how to debate within a construct of strong logic. The Society certainly
cultivates one’s attributes and remedies their shortcomings, but the importance of the Society to its Junior and
Senior Members extends much further than that.
Connections for Life
UPLS allows students to really get to know one another through
the Sunday debate and Thursday conviviality. This friendship
fostered by the Society transcends a student’s time on the Hill:
students who have been in the Society together will tell you that
UPLS really connects them and ensures lasting friendships for
years to come. It is truly difficult to enumerate all of the benefits
to joining the Union-Philanthropic Society, but it can be simply
boiled down to being part of a group of young men dedicated to
the development of themselves and those around them.
History of the Society
The Union-Philanthropic Society is the second-oldest literary and
debating society in America, founded in 1789 on the model of
the literary societies at Princeton (then called the College of New
Jersey), Hampden-Sydney’s mother school. Princeton’s American
Whig Society (1769) tended to attract Southerners, and notable
early members included James Madison (a member of HampdenSydney’s first board of trustees and later fourth president of the
United States), Samuel Stanhope Smith (Hampden-Sydney
College’s first president) and his friend Caleb Wallace (an
influential Kentucky Supreme Court justice). The Cliosophic
Society (1770), by contrast, generally attracted Northerners; an
early member was Aaron Burr, who became Vice President of the
United States.
The Union Society (Societas Concordiæ) was established on
September 22, 1789, by tutor David Wiley, a graduate of the
College of New Jersey, where he had been a member of the
The Union-Philanthropic Literary Society encourages students to develop public speaking, debating, and reasoning skills.
Cliosophic Society. Nearly 16 years later, in 1805, another literary
group emerged on Hampden-Sydney’s campus: The Philanthropic
Society (Fraternitas Philanthropica).
The societies played a major role at Hampden-Sydney: their
libraries were essentially the College library and their members
organized all College and social events. The societies spread the
name of the College by inducting honorary members like John
C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, King Louis Philippe of France, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, and Robert E. Lee. For many years every
Hampden-Sydney student was a member of one of the societies
and academic credit was given for membership.
In the 1930s the two societies merged into one, which
continues to this day its rich and useful heritage.
Requirements for membership
A Junior Member of the Society is expected to attend formal
Sunday debates and casual Thursday Tea regularly, and contribute
to the growth and development of the Society by bringing new
prospective members and assisting with various Society tasks.
Thursday afternoon Tea is an opportunity to converse and
relax in the company of fellow members and enjoy beverages
and snacks. During Sunday meetings, Juniors are expected to
hone their rhetorical style through active participation in debate
and questioning. When a Junior Member has demonstrated
a willingness to better himself and others, and participates
with success, he may be offered the chance to give a speech in
application for Senior Membership. This ten-minute oration,
followed by an hour of direct questioning by Senior Members,
is considered one of the most challenging academic feats at the
College.
Benefits of membership
Joining the Union-Philanthropic Literary Society is an
opportunity reserved for those who value the search for truth
and the development of their capabilities in an atmosphere of
sound learning. With practical application within the classroom
and its liberal arts teachings, one will be impressed with their
own advancement in rhetorical skill and general knowledge.
There is also the aspect of friendship, one that is so important
on the Hill. Joining the Society allows for the development of
one’s mind, as well as close ties with one’s peers. More than
any fraternal organization, the Society’s place on this campus
is the most secure, and allows many opportunities for alumni
relations. UPLS is a great body on this campus. Society activities
complement the liberal arts curriculum. There is no question that
there are a multitude of options of where to spend one’s time, but
active membership in UPLS improves one’s thought process and
rhetorical skill within a venue that promotes friendship.
Alumni
The Society boasts successful alumni in all fields of endeavor, from
law and medicine to entrepreneurship and philanthropy.
Some Union-Philanthropic Literary Society men and their varied careers
ALEX CARTWRIGHT ’13
KEN SIMON ’11
ANDY SURFACE ’09
WESLEY SHOLTES ’05
CHRIS BISHOP ’95
F. A. Hayek Ph.D. Fellow in
Economics at the Mercatus
Center of George Mason
University, Washington D.C.
Former Student Court
Chairman at HampdenSydney.
JD Candidate, University
of Pennsylvania Law
School, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Former Student Body
President at HampdenSydney.
Senior Analytical Chemist,
Albemarle Corporation,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Ph.D. in chemistry,
Washington University,
St. Louis.
Analyst, Government
Accountability Office,
Washington, D.C.
MA in Government and
Security Studies, The Johns
Hopkins University.
Foreign Service officer,
U.S. Department of State.
Consul for Political and
Economic Affairs at the U.S.
Consulate General
in Osaka and Kobe, Japan.
Master’s degrees from Oxford
and Georgetown Universities.
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