Ivy Debate Group Talks Dartmouth, Yale into Joining

An Ivy League Debate Conference will begin formal operations at the end of November, pending the final approval of Yale and Dartmouth's debate councils. This will be the first time all eight Ivy schools have been combined in the Conference.

Since its origin in 1946, six schools have participated in the group--Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton, with both Dartmouth and Yale persisting in refusing to join.

Dartmouth claimed the quality of the debating was inferior, and Yale did not want to be restricted to the Conference's single topic, two-man team debates. The single topic has been the national one, which is selected for the entire country.

College Threatens Withdrawal

This fall, the Harvard Debate Council led a drive to have the two other schools join the Conference. The College team threatened to withdraw from the group if it were not expanded.

Saturday, all eight teams sent representatives to Columbia to discuss expansion. The Dartmouth men gave their tentative approval pending final confirmation from their council, and the Yale representatives said their school could be counted into the league after certain compromises were agreed upon.

The Conference said it would not force matches to be held on the national topic and by two man teams, thus complying with Yale's request. The New Haven team usually debates on topics other than the national one, and with three men rather than the customary two.