Information For Petitioners​
Membership in the John Adams Society is selective. Not everyone comes to Harvard seeking to lay their thoughts bare to forceful challenge, or seeking to be among the University's leading voices; hence, the John Adams Society is not for everyone.
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A strong background in intellectual history is desirable, but not required. A temperament of Socratic curiosity is expected; individuals who wish to petition the Society for membership should be prepared to devote themselves to the pursuit of Truth.
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In the John Adams Society, 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 Society; indeed, the John Adams Society boasts the widest range of philosophical and political diversity of any organization at Harvard.
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Most essential to a prospective member of the John Adams Society is a strong sense of personal integrity, without which the open exchange of ideas cannot take place, and without which the pursuit of truth becomes merely a quest for power and prestige.
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For more information about the petitioning process, please contact the Right Honorable Chief Whip.
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