From Philomathean Society

In two words, Philo is a breath mint.

There are a number of student groups at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of these fill a void, serve a need, and are active in their goals. The Philomathean Society is the oldest of these student groups at Penn, and is also the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States.

When Philo was founded, in 1813, its intent was "to promote the learning of its members and to increase the academic prestige of the University." At the time of its founding, literary societies were sprouting throughout the United States, with an aim to augment the academic rigor of a University experience. In so doing, Philo's implicit goal was to help create leaders in society. Due to society's state at the time, the arts of rhetoric, oratory, and writing, were emphasized as a part of Philo's action (with vestiges remaining in the membership's three-step process).

Today, over 185 years after its founding, Philo remains consistent with that founding. Through time, it has taken an influential role on Penn's campus, working to found entire curriculum departments (e.g. Religious Studies, American Civilization, and Comparative Literature), start the campus newspaper (The Daily Pennsylvanian), and strive always to improve the potential for an exemplary academic experience at Penn.

Through time, Philo has also followed the University's lead. While the University has grown in diversity of thought and culture, so too has Philo. Today, Philo is a welcome place to students from all disciplines and backgrounds.

So, with all this in mind, the question "What is Philo?" naturally becomes, "What is a literary society?" An answer to that is best given with the expression "Philo is as Philo does."

A literary society today is largely a product of who its membership comprises, and what that membership produces. Since the membership in Philo has grown more diverse, always either leading or reflecting the University to some degree, Philo has acted as a microcosmal representation of the University. It is a whole unto itself, but may be composed of all parts of the University, and still remain a part of the University.

This matters in conception (often Philo members themselves have problems figuring out "What is Philo?"), but also in practice (to the question, "What can Philo do?" one can respond, "Whatever the University can do"). Because of this distinction, and because Philo has a small enough voting membership that in effect limits layers of bureaucracy, Philo is, and can be, anything its members want it to be.

—Elliott J. Witney