Charter

CONSTITUTION OF THE STUDENTS FOR THE ACLU

CAMPUS CLUB OF OBERLIN

Article I: Purpose and Status

Section 1: The purpose of the Club will be to promote and protect civil liberties

Section 2: The Club will represent itself in a way consistent with the mission and views of the ACLU and will seek clarification on ACLU views from the Education Coordinator when necessary. The Club will accurately represent the views of the ACLU in any media venue.

Section 3: Reflecting the charter of the North Central Ohio chapter of the ACLU the club may send a representative to its Board meetings. In addition, the club may send a representative to other ACLU meetings when appropriate.

Section 4: The ACLU is a non-partisan organization. The Club will not endorse or oppose particular political parties and will consult with the affiliate ACLU office before endorsing or opposing any ballot initiative.

Section 5: The club will touch base with a representative from the affiliate ACLU office at least once a semester and will inform him/her of relevant changes in leadership and organizational structure.

Section 6: The ACLU acknowledges the values and principles of Oberlin College , as expressed in the Oberlin College Student Regulations, Policies, and Procedures Handbook, the Preamble of the Constitution of the Association of Students of Oberlin College, and the Oberlin Statement of Goals and Principles in the Preface to the Oberlin College Bulletin.

The ACLU acknowledges the Preamble of the Student Financial Charter; to establish and outline the financial system of the Association of Students of Oberlin College. The system shall regulate and administer the collection and allocation of the Student Activity Fee; this fee being designed for the creation of social, cultural, religious and educational activities for students; for the improvement of student life, and to augment the general student welfare.

Article II: Membership

Section 1: Nondiscrimination Clause. Membership shall be open to current students, faculty, and staff of Oberlin College regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or status as a veteran.

Section 2: All Oberlin College students are eligible to be members of the club.

Section 3: Students will be considered active members of the club if they are on campus and have attended at least two meetings during the semester. Inactive members are those students who are on a leave of absence but were active members while on campus. Honorary members are those that stay connected to the ACLU through the mailing list.

Section 4: Students can terminate membership by sending an e mail request to the group's e mail address.

Article III: Leadership

Section 2: Offices and Responsibilities:

All officers are expected to attend most (if not all) of the club's meetings. In addition, they will attend weekly officers meetings.

One of the officers serving for the academic year will take on the responsibility of Oberlin College Liaison and make sure that all appropriate paperwork is completed in a timely manner. If necessary the positions of Secretary and Treasurer may be combined and one of the other officers may take on the position of Ohio Liaison.

Co-chair (2): Plan and run meetings, oversee general activities of the club, represent the club to the Oberlin College community.

Secretary: Keep minutes of meetings, records of the minutes and club activities, maintain the e mail account (respond to e mail etc), maintain and check the mailbox in the Student Union.

Treasurer: Maintain Contact with Student Finance Committee, oversee the spending of money/reimbursements, maintain financial records, draft the annual budget and oversee the budget process.

Ohio Liaison: Will attend the board meeting of the North Central Ohio chapter of the ACLU, maintain contact with the Club's advisor in Oberlin and the ACLU office in Cleveland , will ensure compliance with the ACLU mission

Assistant Treasurer (optional): may be elected to aid the treasurer in the budget process in the spring semester.

Section 3: Term of office:

Co-chairs each serve a one year term. One co-chair shall be elected for the academic year and the other shall be elected for the calendar year.

Oberlin College Liaison, Treasure and Secretary: serves for the academic year.

Ohio Liaison: elected for a one semester term.

Assistant Treasurer: May be elected for the spring semester if necessary.

Section 4: Removal

In the event that an officer consistently and blatantly fails to perform the responsibilities outlined above to the detriment of the group the other officers have the option of using the following process to remove that individual from office.

All of the other officers must agree that there is a problem, and before any action is taken the senior co-chair or the secretary must explicitly inform the individual that there is a perceived problem.

If two weeks pass after the warning without sufficient improvement the officers may decide to hold a vote at the next meeting concerning removing the individual from office. The membership must be informed at least three days in advance of the vote.

The voting will follow procedure outline in this charter. If two-thirds majority of approves, the officer will be removed and elections for a replacement officer will be held the following week.

Section 5: Vacancies will be filled through a special election that will follow the rules for the election of officers.

Section 6: The Primary and Secondary leaders of the Club are expected to become members of the ACLU of Ohio and should encourage membership among other Club leaders, members, and attendees at events.

Article IV: Committees (optional)

Section 1: Committees will be formed ad-hoc. Each committee must contain one of the officers

Section 2: It is the duty of the officer in the committee to keep in contact with the group and ensure the committee's activities correspond with the agenda of the national ACLU.

Article V: Elections

Section 1: Nomination: Leaders may be nominated by themselves or other members. Nominations must be made prior to voting.

Section 2: Eligibility: All active and inactive members are eligible to vote. If an eligible member cannot attend the meeting when the vote is held, they can vote by email, providing the email is sent before the vote is held.

Section 3: Voting: Votes will be decided by a simple majority. Elections will be held as needed.

Section 4: Installation: Officer's will assume office at the beginning of the next academic year except for one of the co-chairs who will assume office at the beginning of the next calendar year. 

Article VI: Meetings

Section 4 : Club meeting times will be made public at least twice each semester by the officers.

Section 1: Time and Place: Meetings will be held once a week, to be decided according to the officers schedules at the beginning of each semester.

Section 2: Official business can not be conducted unless there is one non-officer member present.

Section 3: Co-chairs will lead the meeting based on the agenda they deem appropriate

Article VII: Finances

Section 1: Dues: Rather than collecting Club dues, all group members will be encouraged to become members of the ACLU/ACLU of Ohio by purchasing a student membership.

Section 2: Fundraising: The Club will not solicit funds from individual donors and will notify the ACLU of Ohio of significant monetary gifts or offers of gifts.  Plans for fundraising will first be cleared with the Education Coordinator.

Section 3: Financing events: The Club will submit a well-organized budget proposal to the Education Coordinator at least one month in advance to request funds from the ACLU of Ohio for programming.

Section 4:  In the event that the Club establishes a bank account, this account will not be established in the name of the ACLU, the ACLU of Ohio , or the ACLU Campus Club, but will rather be established in the name of the Civil Liberties Club or other similar title.  

Surpluses and losses will be dealt with as directed in the Student Financial Charter. In the event that the organization disbands, any disposable properties will be distributed to appropriate divisions of Oberlin College through the Dean of Student Life and Services, or her/his designee. Remaining funds revert to the Student Finance Committee.

Article VIII: Amendments

Section 1: Initiation: Only active members can propose an amendment. The amendment must be announced two weeks before the vote. Voting will be decided based on simple majority. Both co-chairs must vote for the amendment for it to pass.