The Brooks Quimby Debate Council is the debating society at Bates College, founded just after the College in 1855.

Among many firsts, we participated in the first intercollegiate debate in 1896 and the first international collegiate debate in 1908. Today, as one of the world’s premier debating societies, we compete domestically against other teams in the American Parliamentary Debate Association, and participate in a number of international debating events, such as the World Universities Debating Championships. Committed to inclusivity, we always welcome new debaters to our program – many of our best debaters learned how to debate at Bates!

Please explore our website to learn more about our program, or feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the BQDC or debate in general – we’d love to hear from you!

We meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4:10pm in Pettigrew Hall (Room 300).