There are very few areas in which Stanford is lacking. Until recently, one of the University’s few deficiencies was the non-existence of an effective debate society where students, faculty and speakers could convene to discuss pertinent political and social issues in an academic, yet colloquial, environment.

The members of the newly founded Stanford Political Union (SPU) have made the first important steps toward filling this vital gap and, unlike some other attempts in the past, their early endeavors have already met with success.

SPU’s stated mission is to bring together students and speakers from varying political backgrounds to debate and discuss “issues that confront our campus, national and international community.” Judging by the turnout and feedback from its first two events, SPU is definitely starting off on the right track to accomplish that mission.

The events are a unique mix of structure and informality. The speakers and the discussion are technically moderated by SPU officers, but everyone shows a great deal of respect for legitimate attempts at discourse — at Monday’s event about subsidized birth control on campus, the moderator was left silently observing most of the time.

What makes SPU even more unique and popular is its efforts to involve the public as much as the invited speakers. Rather than dominating the discussion, the selected panelists merely act as representatives for certain points of view, as members of the public lob questions both at the panelists and at each other.

The overall atmosphere is one of positive political discussion that, while a little heated at times, is well-regulated by moderators and allowed to flourish. The interaction between panelists and audience members provides for a wonderful lack of rigidity that allows the conversation to flow smoothly and presents a plethora of differing viewpoints. On Monday, engaged and interested students continued talking with one another well past the end of allotted 90 minute time period, both with their allies and political opponents.

The Editorial Board believes that an integral part of maintaining this early success and fostering even greater discourse across campus is to maintain the informality that these meetings currently possess — an informality that allows everyone to speak their piece. This will doubtlessly become a problem as the audience sizes continue to grow, so it will be up to SPU officers to creatively figure out how to keep everyone present as involved as possible.

Furthermore, SPU would do well to keep cultivating the types of relationships it has already formed with varying aspects of Stanford’s political spectrum. From The Stanford Review and The Stanford Progressive, to Stanford Students for Choice and Stanford Students Say No to War, SPU has already managed to pull in a very diverse political collective over the course of only two events. SPU can serve to grow into a fantastic medium for these often contentious political groups to work together and host joint events that benefit all involved.

The Editorial Board would like to commend SPU on its initial efforts and wish the group the best of luck in the future. We suggest that students take every chance they get to attend one of these events, especially if they are passionate about the issue being discussed. The Stanford Political Union is an enjoyable, useful and thought-provoking new student group that helps fill an overlooked need for effective discourse on campus.

For more information on SPU, check out http://spu.stanford.edu.