Dinner celebrates 100 years of the Debating Society

It was a lovely evening at the 100th anniversary debating dinner, with a special appearance from OE and distinguished Hong Kong High Court Judge Andrew Macrae.

The night started with an intellectually stimulating yet humorous debate on the impact of green technology patents between current debate society members, followed by a Q&A from the audience - a few guests with impressively specific professional knowledge adding in with some challenging questions!

Dinner was served (a beautifully cooked salmon main with a delightful starter and rich Eton mess dessert to complete) and the debaters, their parents and OEs spent much time conversing over wine. The company was treated to a superb speech by the guest of honour, Mr Justice Macrae, reminiscing on his time at Eastbourne College in School House and as a leading member of the Cavendish Debating Society and the effect this has had on his life and career. He especially intrigued his audience with an anecdote of an unidentified successful footballer's earlier delinquent past in courtrooms.

Following dinner, the Andrew Macrae Debater of the Year award was given to its first-ever recipient, Debate Captain Kitty Hill, who gave a brief speech on the importance of debate in the modern world, the significant impact it had made on her as well as the greater school community and most vitally, how much she liked the free biscuits!

Overall, it was a terrific evening and was thoroughly enjoyed by all the guests. Thank you to Andrew Macrae for flying in from France for the evening and for his engaging speech, which was under 25 minutes as jokingly promised!

Written by Kitty Hill (Watt)