Information for Petitioners

Membership in the Conservative Party is selective. Not everyone comes to Yale seeking to lay their thoughts bare to forceful challenge, or seeking to be among the University's leading voices; hence, the Conservative Party is not for everyone.

A strong background in intellectual history is desirable, but not required. A temperament of Socratic curiosity is expected; individuals who wish to petition the Party for membership should be prepared to devote themselves to the pursuit of Truth.

In the Conservative Party, no idea is considered “too extreme,” and it is important that petitioners be able to rigorously engage all points of view, without resorting to the easy rhetorical calumnies which are all too common in public discourse. There is no political litmus test for membership in the Party; indeed, the Conservative Party boasts the widest range of philosophical and political diversity of any organization at Yale.

Most essential to a prospective member of the Conservative Party is a strong sense of personal integrity, without which the open exchange of ideas cannot take place, and without which leadership is reduced to a narcissistic quest for power and wealth.

For more information about the petitioning process, please contact the Rt. Hon. Chief Whip.