The oldest student association in Canada, the Alma Mater Society has been the central student organization at Queen's since its founding in 1858. Its original goals were social and academic, as well as, political, which were to promote "the maintenance and defence of students' rights, the interchange of friendly intercourse, the promotion and encouragement of learning, and the furtherance of the general interests of the University." It grew out of the old Dialectic Society, a debating association, founded in 1843. It officially remained a debating society until late in the century. Gradually, however, it also took on more and more responsibility for student affairs, as well as for actual student self-government; that is, for the maintenance of non-academic student discipline. This responsibility began informally to be delegated to students in the 1880s, and in 1898, it was officially delegated by the University Senate to the Alma Mater Society, and the latter's new "AMS Court." In the same year, the AMS overhauled its constitution, and adopted roughly its modern role of representing the views of students, plus coordinating and financing other student societies.
Today, the AMS acts as a service, advocacy, and governing body on behalf of all students, except those enrolled in the School of Graduate Studies and Research, who had left in 1982, to form their own graduate student society (which over time became the Society for Professional and Graduate Students or SPGS. Among the many services the AMS operates, or oversees, are two campus bars, Alfie's, and the Queen's Pub, the "Queen's Journal" newspaper, Common Ground coffeehouse, the Student Constable system, more than one hundred (100) student clubs, the "Who's Where" student directory, and the "Tricolour Yearbook". It also sponsors, or co-sponsors, many campus events, including Orientation Week and Alumni Weekend. The AMS Judicial Committee now plays the role of the original AMS Court . The AMS has an elected Assembly of representatives from the student faculty societies, a ten-person Council, headed by an elected three-person Executive (one President and two Vice-Presidents). Members of the Executive are ex-officio observers on the Board of Trustees and one representative of the AMS is an ex-officio member of the Senate. The Principal meets regularly with the Executive to discuss issues of particular concern to students. A new AMS Executive is elected by students every Spring. The Society's offices are located in the John Deutsch University Centre .
