Dear Members,

Happy New Year and welcome back to Oxford. It is an honour and privilege to welcome you into the 200th year of the Oxford Union; I hope that this term card and the rest of the year showcases the Society at its best. The Union flourishes when it has a clear sense of what it is: a society that does not shy away from challenging beliefs; a society committed to providing engaging experiences; and a society that seeks to make the student experience as formative as possible.

The perceptive amongst you might have noticed that the background to the term card front cover is an old page from the Society’s minute books. In fact, it is from a debate in 1827. I was looking for Mr Gladstone’s scribblings as Secretary and stumbled across this page, documenting a debate in the manner we continue to do every Thursday. One can even spot a ‘Mr C. Macintosh, New College’, an extraordinary coincidence reflecting a man presumably arguing about corn laws rather than data laws but engaging in the same conversation we continue today. Looking back over the last two centuries makes us realise how little that conversation has changed; this term card is full of debates about foreign policy and theology, discussions of history and politics, and represents a battle between those who care about free expression and those who wish to suppress it.

In some key ways, however, that conversation has changed. In 1827, women and non-Christians, were unable to participate in it, deemed unworthy of the right to free expression. Society, and this Society, has come a long way since then and as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the admission of women as full members of the Oxford Union on the 8th February we shall re-emphasise that there is no circumstance in which it is justifiable to prevent an individual from expressing themselves. Everyone must be allowed to participate in that conversation, no matter how much we disagree with them; that is the meaning of free speech.

With that spirit in mind, I offer a challenge to you, the members. Your time at university will probably be the only time in your life when you have access to such a formative and fascinating range of conversations so please take this opportunity to challenge your beliefs and those of others as much as possible. Challenge your view of history, pacifism, or same-sex marriage by engaging in debates on these topics; question Peter Thiel on his support for certain political groups, or Munroe Bergdorf on her comments on race; speak to that member who asked a question you disagreed with. Just take every opportunity to question the beliefs that you and those around you hold, or you will never know if you truly believe them. That is the ultimate privilege of university and it is the ultimate duty of the Oxford Union: to have a space to question, away from the oppressive forces of dogma that continue to restrict free speech in the university and across the world. 

I am immensely proud to be leading the Society into this historic year and I hope that this term card makes every one of you reconsider your most fundamentally held beliefs. Whilst challenging, thinking, and debating, have a wonderful term and enjoy the events herein. Happy Bicentenary!

Yours aye,

Charlie Mackintosh

President

New College