Fond memories of Queen's Debating Union

Re: "Be it resolved that . . . ." -- Issue #2- 2012

As an active member of QDU some 50 years ago, I was pleased to read in the last issue that debating at Queen’s remains dynamic and popular.

One memorable resolution I recall debating around 1960 was “Resolved that women should be kept barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.” I had the bad luck to be defending this proposition and, even worse, to find myself up against a witty and dramatic opponent in Whipple Steinkrauss, BA’64 – who appeared for the debate wearing a large pillow, feigning pregnancy. She demolished our feeble arguments with a skill that she later demonstrated as a senior civil servant in Ontario. Sadly, Whipple died three years ago, but she was one of many students who honed their oratorical chops in the Queen’s Debating Union.

STEWART GOODINGS, ARTS’62
VICTORIA, BC