HOW TO GET INVOLVED
About The Union
From its small beginnings as a debating society, the Cambridge Union currently has over 70,000 life members worldwide. Now the oldest continuous debating society in the world, and the largest student society in Cambridge, the Union remains a unique forum for the free exchange of ideas and the art of publicdebate.
Inthepast,theSocietyhashostedsuchgreatfiguresasWinstonChurchill,Theodore Roosevelt and the current Dalai Lama, and it continues to provide Cambridge students with the opportunity to meet and question the people that shape our world. It has grown into the central forum for student discussion in Cambridge. In recent terms, we have hosted everyone from Dua Lipa and Robert De Niro to Nancy Pelosi, SandiToksvig,andSamAltman.
The Union is first and foremost a charity, and so in addition to our speakers and debates, we give free debating and Cambridge access workshops at schools and run some of the largest debating competitions in the world. We also provide weekly workshops for all student members in Cambridge, at every level of ability, to train themselvesinpublicspeakingandlearnhowtocompetitivelydebate.
Photo:TimothyLambden
Why Get Involved
APassionforDiscussion
At the heart of the Cambridge Union Society are our debates and speaker events Being a part of our society provides our members with exposure to diverse perspectives as well as the opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversations and have their world-views challenged. By attending and speaking in our debates, you are able to gain a deeper understanding of different perspectives whilst our speaker events showcase the stories of someoftheworld’smostinfluentialpeople
BuildingSkills
More than any other student society in Cambridge, the Cambridge Union operates like a professional workplace, Whether as a Returning Officer, Elected Officer, or on a subcommittee, you will gain valuable experience building relationships with those of diverse backgrounds and ideas, and navigating complex problems Engaging in debates, public speaking, and organising events within the society can enhance communication and leadershipskills,whicharealsovaluableinmanyprofessionalsettings.
ToHaveFun&FindaCommunity
Being involved in the Union is a great way to build lifelong friendships, particularly when you spend lots of time together inviting speakers and running events together. You get the opportunitytoconnectwithlike-mindedpeerswhosharesimilarinterests.
NetworkingOpportunities
The Cambridge Union attracts prominent speakers, including politicians, academics, and professionals from various fields, including sport and popular culture. Attending events and actively participating in the society can provide excellent networking opportunities, allowing members to connect with influential individuals and build valuable contacts. Many of our alumni go on to have reputable careers, with notable former Officers including Arianna Huffington and Clare Balding - we attract some of the University’s most ambitiousanddrivenstudents.
Perks
Our Committee members are well rewarded for their contributions to the society. From three-course black-tie dinners to meet and greets with our guests, there are numerous perks on offer to those who are on committees and work hard to improve our society for everyone. For example, if you are on any of our Ball committees, you are rewarded with a freetickettotheevent!
Competitive Debating
Competitive debating is one of the lifebloods of the Union. There are many opportunities to get involved in our competitive debating program, but the bestwayiscontactourCDOsviadebating@cus.org.
Through our competitive debating program, which primarily uses the British Parliamentary format, members have the opportunity to trial for our contingents at the European Universities’ Debating Championships and the WorldUniversities’DebatingChampionships.
Trialling for and attending these competitions is dependent on collecting a certain number of helper points at competitions run by the Union, including the Cambridge IV, Cambridge WGM, and Cambridge Schools. The Union coversentryfeesaswellastravelandaccommodationcostsforcompetitors.
In every debate, there is a motion: a statement, idea or policy that is disputed and framed within the prefix ‘This House.’ Often, the motion is either a policy which changes the status quo, or a statement, the truth or falsehood of which is examined in the debate. There are two sides in every debate (the government and the opposition) with four teams of two speakers (opening government, openingopposition,closinggovernment,andclosingopposition).
Many of our debaters started out at Cambridge Debating with no previous experience and have turned into brilliant speakers due to our workshop programme and through debating at competitions. You should be interested in improving your public speaking and in thinking about global issues, but we assumenopreviousexperienceindebatingorpublicspeakingfromnew membersasweruntrainingsforallexperiencelevelseveryweek.
The need to have previous debating experience is a common misconception. You will probably be nervous about having a go for the first time; don't worry! Everyone else was terrified when they first started, but once you have built up experience the nerves will settle and competitive debating at Cambridge is such awelcomingcommunity.
Speaking in Debates
Debates are the highlight of the Union week with our Thursday night debates giving members the chance to see some of the world's best speakers debate the issuesoftheday.
To speak in our main debates, members can audition for student speaker slots as they open in our CUS Facebook members’ group or via our weekly email. Both these avenues are also the best way to sign up to speak in our Emergency debates,whicharemorelightheartedandhappenbeforeourmaindebate.
During a speaker’s speech, members can also offer points of information if the speaker first accepts their POI. Floor speeches during the debate also provide members the opportunity to give short impromptu speeches in proposition, abstention,oroppositionofthemotion.
Photo:MarkWadey
Subcommittees
There are three main subcommittees at the Union: Speakers’, Debates’, and Equalities. There are also opportunities to become involved with social events through ball subcommittees (eg for large-scale events such as the Winter Ball or the Easter Garden Party, the Social Events Officer may recruit an external team specifically). The Social Events Officer may also recruit a subcommittee to help them run and organise events throughoutterm.Ifyouwanttogetinvolvedincommittees,oursubcommitteesaretheperfectplacetostart.
Applications for all subcommittees generally open at the beginning of the term preceding - eg applications to be on the Easter subcommittees open at the beginning of Lent The best way to stay updated with applications and deadlines is to follow @cambridgeunion on Instagram, keep up to date with our weekly emails, and join the Facebook Members’ Group. Individuals will be expected to attend Office Hours (roughly 3 hours a week) attheUnionwheretheywillsendinvitesanddiscusswhoelsetoinvite.
SPEAKERS’ & DEBATES’ SUBCOMMITTEES
These are the primary invitation committees of the Union. Headed by the Speakers’ Officer and Debates Officer respectively, each committee works to send invitations to external speakers. Whilst the Speakers’ subcommittee sends out invitations for individual speaker events, with a focus specifically on high-profile individuals who have made enormous and insightful contributions in their field, the Debates’ subcommittee sends out invitations to speakers for our Thursday night debates, ensuring that a wide variety of perspectives and storiesarerepresented.
EQUALITIES’ SUBCOMMITEE
The Equalities Subcommittee is made up of the Class Act Officer, BME Officer, the Disabilities Officer, LGBTQ+ Officer, and the Women & Non-Binary Officer (depending on the Officer and the term, there may be other positions also available on the subcommittee). Each officer works with the Equalities Officer to make the Union more accessible for underrepresented groups through various initiatives as well as through hosting speakers, panelsandsocialevents
TIPS FOR APPLYING:
When applying to any of the subcommittees, the best applicants often have wide-ranging interests, have been involved in other societies in Cambridge and/or have experience with writing invitations In saying this, whilst experience is considered an advantage, it is not required and there have been many members of committee who have done extremely well without any previous experience with invitations. Ultimately, the best subcommittee members are those who are competent at writing emails, are creative with their invitations, and determined to help put on some really amazing events. Subcommittees are a great way to build experienceforanyonelookingtoapplytoourFullCommittee
Full Committee
Full Committee is the secondary committee of the Cambridge Union and is the first experience of the logistical side of the Union that many people have, and where all Standing Officers start off at! It's the best low-commitment way of getting involved in the Union beyond just being a member or on a subcommittee and there are a variety of departments available for application All our departments also have ‘Heads’ who are responsible for organising who is on duty and running each department through liaising with Standing. This Committee is appointment-only and applications are open to all members The application process consists of a short written application through a form that will be distributed via the Union's social media platforms and weekly email Candidates will then be shortlisted and will undergo a 10-15 minute interview beforebeinginformedoftheoutcome.
Secretary:
The Secretary is a major role on Full Committee who is responsible for taking the minutes of all emergency debates, Standing Committee, Full Committee, Open, and General meetings. They also write the weekly emails, produce the order papers, report to and assist thePresident,andrespondtomembers’queries
Librarian:
The Librarian is an annual position and works to manage the archives and book collection of the Union, including helping to facilitate member requests for information and working toimprovethelibrary’sorganisationandaccessibilitytotheSocietymembership
Welfare:
The Welfare Officers are in charge of ensuring the wellbeing of members as well as committee. They hold welfare events (including weekly welfare hours), organise committee socials, and respond to complaints and comments from the membership. Welfare Officers are required to be neutral during elections and are not allowed to run for elections during thetermtheyserveinthispositionaswellasthetermafter.
Publicity:
Our Publicity department is overseen by the Head of Publicity and answers to the Communications Officer. Publicity Officers are responsible for running our social media accounts and works to ensure all our events are well publicised, before, during, and after. WithinthePublicitydepartment,therearetwoseparatesub-departmentsofOnlineandInPerson Publicity. Online Publicity officers are responsible for graphics, and ensuring our events are well-publicised to our members on our social media channels whereas In-Person officers handle things such as filming short videos from our speaker events and debates for oursocialmedia.
Full Committee
Guest Liaison:
OurGuestLiaisondepartmentisresponsibleforlookingafterourguestsatoureventsfrom arrival to departure. They liaise with Standing Officers to ensure the needs of each of our guestsaremet,includingorganisingtaxisorcollectingguestsatthetrainstation.
Events Management:
Our Events Management department are responsible for the logistics of all of our events, including setting up the chamber, handing out microphones during events, checking membershipcardsonthedoor,andensuringweabidebyfiresafetyguidelines.
Audio-Visual:
Our Audio-Visual department are in charge of all the Union’s technical systems, including creating and over-seeing longer term upgrade programs in conjunction with the Bursar, Trustees, and our AV technician This includes on-the-night operations management, including radio mic operation, live streaming, recording and more generally maintaining theUnion’sAVsystems.
Photography:
OurPhotographydepartmenttakestheofficialphotosofalloureventsandspeakers.
Access and Outreach Team:
The Access and Outreach Officers sit on Full Committee as an annual position, identifying long-term projects and initiatives that can be implemented to promote access and equality within the Union as well as reporting and suggesting ideas to Standing Committee. The Union runs the largest non-university access and outreach program in Cambridge In addition to running some of the largest and most prestigious schools debating competitions in the world (Cambridge Schools and ICYD), we conduct regular workshops and visits with local schools as well our new early university exposure pilot programmes
Standing Committee
The Standing Committee is headed by the President and are the 15 students in charge of the dayto-day management of the Union. 10 positions within Standing are elected by members and these officers serve 2 terms in office, including one as an officer-elect, whilst the other 5 are appointed viaanapplicationprocessandholdtheirofficesforayear.
The elected positions on Standing are: President, Debates Officer, Speakers’ Officer, Equalities Officer, and Social Events Officer, with their elect counterparts making up the other 5 elected officersonStanding
The appointed positions are: Vice President, Treasurer, Communications Officer, and the Competitive Debating Officers. These offices are appointed via an application process and are year-longappointments.
President
Treasurer Comms.Officer VicePresident
DebatesOfficer SpeakersOfficerEqualitiesOfficerSocialEventsOfficer CompetitiveDebatingOfficers
Elected Officers
President: Executive Officer:
The President is the head of the society, serving as the Chair of the Standing Committee and debates. They are responsible for organising a programme of debates,speakers,andevents,andoverseeingtheplanningoftheirtermofoffice.The President is a Trustee of the Cambridge Union Society and sits on the Board of Directors of Cambridge Union Society Enterprises Limited, which operates our bar, restaurantandcommercialeventsbusiness.
The Executive Officer puts together the programme of debates for each term and can be designated roles or assigned specific responsibilities according to the needs of each particular term They also run debate auditions to fill student speaker slots and during their term as an elect, they oversee the emergency debates that are held beforethemaindebate.
Speakers Officer:
The Speakers Officer is responsible for planning and then administering a programme of individual speakers across their term. They oversee the Speakers’ subcommitteeandwilloftenbethepersoninterviewingourguests
Social Events Officer:
The Social Events Officer is responsible for organising a range of different social events each term, including parties, food and drink tastings, quizzes, After Darks, andrecruitingthecommitteesforourBallsandGardenParties.
Equalities Officer:
The Equalities Officer is responsible for chairing the Equalities Subcommittee and for representing and voicing the concerns and interests of minority groups. They ensure that our events are diverse and that the Union remains accessible for all throughvariouspolicyinitiativesaswellasthroughpanels,speakers,andsocials.
The Society’s Elections
To stand in election, you must be a life member of the society, have four ‘charitable points’ (points gained through dedication to and charity for the society), and have served at least one term on Full Committee.Youcancollectingcharitablepointsthrough:
You nominate yourself by filling in the form circulated on the Union's social media and weekly bulletins during election season, and you must be ‘nominated’ by another life member of the society. Nominations typically open on the sixth Friday of term and then closeontheseventhFridayofterm.
You then send the form to the Vice-President, who will verify the number of charitable points you have with the Competitive Debating Officers. Alongside the form, you must also submit an A4 manifesto, ashort100wordmanifesto,andaplain-textmanifesto.
Once nominations have closed, campaigning begins. Candidates will be required to attend a hustings where they give short speeches and answer questions. Hustings are typically held before a main debate in lieu of an emergency debate, with voting opening after hustings on ThursdayanduntiltheendoftheSaturdaythatweek.
Our elections are run by the Returning Officers, who are appointed by Standing Committee. The Returning Officers are assisted by Deputy Returning Officers. Returning Officers and Deputy Returning Officers are responsible for running the elections, ensuring all candidates abide by the rules as set out in the constitution, respondingtocomplaints,andcountingthevotes.
Appointed Officers
Vice-President:
The Vice-President is responsible for facilitating the long-term and strategic objectives of the Society They work closely with the Bursar to plan for the Society’s long-term needs, in addition to ensuring that our events and other operations run smoothly on a day-to-day basis. They also work alongside the Competitive Debating Officers, by drafting contracts and making payments to facilitate our international charitable work. The Vice President is a Trustee of the Cambridge Union Society and sits on the Board of Directors of Cambridge Union Society Enterprises Limited, whichoperatesourbar,restaurantandcommercialeventsbusiness
Treasurer: Communications Officer:
The Treasurer is responsible for budgeting and payment facilitation, in addition to seeking out sponsors and developing relationships with them. They work closely alongside the Accountant and sit on Executive Committee, working closely with the President, Vice President, Communications Officer, and Bursar. They ensure that the spending of the Society remains on target and that all members of the Standing Committee have a clear idea of how the Society’s money can be spent in each term They are also responsible for obtaining discounts for the Society’s membership, in the formofTreasurer’sTreats.
The Communications Officer is responsible for all internal and external communications at the Union This includes committee communications, informing members of events and important information and taking responsibility for our public facing image including our social media and working with the press The Communications Officer acts as the Union spokesperson and works closely with the President and other appointed officers on making statements and responding to any developments. They are also responsible for managing the student side of the website and our members’areaandmembersdatabase
Competitive Debating Officers:
The Competitive Debating Officers are in charge of competitive debating, coordinating the entry andselectionofteamstodebatingcompetitions,aswellastrainingmembers Theyhavesignificant experienceinUniversitycompetitivedebating.
AppointedOfficerssubmitawrittenapplicationandaretheninterviewedby StandingCommittee,withsuccessfulapplicationsservingas‘designates’the termbefore,similartohowelectedofficersserveas‘elects.’
President-president@cus.org
Vice-President-vicepresident@cus.org
ExecutiveOfficer-executive@cus.org
Speakers’Officer-speakers@cus.org
SocialEventsOfficer-ents@cus.org
EqualitiesOfficer-equalities@cus.org
Treasurer-treasurer@cus.org
CommunicationsOfficer-communications@cus.org
CompetitiveDebatingOfficers-debating@cus,org
Secretary-secretary@cus,org
ReturningOfficer-ro@cus.org
UnionReception-+441223566421
ThetermcardcontainsthenamesofallmembersofStandingCommittee, FullCommittee,andthedifferentSub-Committees-youcanalwaysreach outtotherelevantOfficerviaFacebookoranyotherplatformandtheywill eitheransweryourqueryordirectyoutotherelevantparty.
Glossary
Charitable Points: Points gained by engaging in "charitable activity" for the Union, for example judging a debating competition hosted by the Union. 4 pointsareneededtostandinanelection.
Committee: The main bodies of the Union that individuals are either appointedorelectedto.
Debate Dinners: Dinners that take place before Thursday night's main debate in the Dining Room. They are open to Standing Committee members, speakers in the debate, and any member of Full Committee or a Sub-Committee who madeasignificantcontributiontotheUnionorthedebate.
Designate: The title given to individuals who are appointed to Standing Committee as either VP, CDO, Treasurer, or the Communications Officer while they have not taken over the position yet. Designates are non- voting membersofStanding.
DRO/RO: Returning Officers and their deputies are in charge of running elections and ensuring rules are followed. They are not allowed to endorse or publiclysupportanycandidates.Theyalsochairhustings.
Emergency Debate: A less formal debate that happens in the chamber at 7:30pm before the main debate. It is a chance for members to practice their skillsinamorerelaxedsetting.
Floor Speech: After the first and second set of paper speeches (the prepared speeches given by the speakers announced on the proposition and opposition of the motion), the debate is opened up to the audience to make a short 2minutespeechinproposition,opposition,orabstentionofthemotion.
Main Debate: Takes place every Thursday night in the Chamber at 8pm. Speakers are typically external, but there will normally be slots reserved for studentspeakerstowinthroughanopenaudition.
Glossary
Members’ /Old Snooker/Keynes Library/Fairfax Rhodes /Dining Room: Rooms in the Union building. Look at the signs on the walls or just ask for directions!
Officer: An individual on Standing Committee who is currently undertaking theirterm
Officer-Elect: An individual on Standing Committee who will serve next term. They are appointed to Committee a term early to give them time to prepare for theirownterm.TheyarevotingmembersofStandingCommittee
Office Hours: Set hours where members of sub-committees will be expected to beattheUnionsendinginvitationsandplanningtheupcomingterm
Open Audition: The audition process through which students can get a speaking slot in the Main Debate. The audition is typically judged by the Debating Officer and/or other members of Standing. The audition consists of a short 2-3 minute section of the speech you would wish to give in the Main Debate
POI: This means ‘Point of Information.’ Questions on the content being delivered that can be raised by any member of the audience during a debate. ThespeakerthenhastheoptionofwhetherornottoacceptthePOI.
Point of Order: Questions on how the debate is being chaired or conductedthese will be directed towards the President if it is the Main Debate or the President-ElectifitisanEmergencyDebate
