Ratified: 4.10.07

Last update: 4.10.07 

Preamble 

In order to promote a better America, with equality, opportunity, and freedom within a just and strong society, we dedicate ourselves to organizing the participation of Democratic college students at Tulane University. In this mission, we call for full participation of all Tulane students, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, physical handicap, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

Understanding the importance of participation in the Democratic Party to the preservation of our values and principles, we, Democratic college students, do hereby associate ourselves and adopt this Constitution as the Tulane University College Democrats.

Article 1: Name and Purpose

Section 1: Name

a.         The name of this organization shall be the Tulane University College Democrats, hereafter referred to in this document as the Tulane Democrats.

Section 2: Purpose

a.         The Tulane Democrats pledges itself to support the philosophy and candidates of the Democratic Party insofar as the Democratic Party does not abandon the principles of the Tulane Democrats as stated in their constitution. The Tulane Democrats declares its intention to support all efforts to increase the participation of college students in Democratic affairs.

b.         To these ends, the Tulane Democrats shall educate and train its members so that they may be better able to:

                                            i.            Educate students about the philosophy of the Democratic Party.

                                          ii.            Assist in the election of local, state, and national Democratic candidates.

                                        iii.            Affect political change on the local, state, and national level.

                                        iv.            Generate and empower current students to become future leaders of the Democratic Party and of the nation.

Article 2: Membership

Section 1: Membership

a.         Membership in the Tulane Democrats shall be open to any college student currently enrolled in Tulane University who wishes to be known as a Tulane Democrat and who has the best interests of the Tulane Democrats and the Democratic Party at heart, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, or sexual orientation.

b.         For purposes of a referendum, membership constitutes those on the Tulane Democrat’s email list.

Article 3: The Executive Board

Section 1: Composition

a.         The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, Finance Chair, Events Chair, Communications Chair, Political Chair, Freshman Representative, Technology Chair, Community Service Caucus Chair, and other caucus chairs.

b.         The President, Finance Chair, Events Chair, Communications Chair, Political Chair, and Freshman Representative are to be elected.

c.  Other officers are appointed, including (but not limited to) a Technology Director, a Community Service caucus chair and other caucus chairs. Appointed officers are not considered to be on the Executive Board during impeachment votes, but are considered to be on the Executive Board at all other times.

Section 2: Purpose

a.         The Executive Board shall determine the agenda and policy of the Tulane Democrats and coordinate all activities and events. 

Section 3: Freshman Representative

a.         The Executive Board has the option of holding elections for a Freshman Representative in the beginning of the academic year. Any freshman at Tulane University is eligible to run. The winner will then become a voting member of the Executive Board.

Section 4: Appointed Officers

a.         Appointed officers are nominated by the President, and either confirmed or rejected by a 2/3rds vote of the Executive Board. They may be removed by the President at any time. Appointed officers may also be removed by a 2/3rds vote of the elected members of the Executive Board.

Section 5: Standing Caucuses

a.         There shall be a permanent Community Service caucus, charged with defining and leading all community service activities of the Tulane Democrats. Furthermore, this caucus shall be led by a chairperson, who shall follow the caucus chair mandates as defined in Article 4, Section 9.

Article 4: Duties of the Executive Board

Section 1: The Executive Board

a.         All Executive Board members must maintain active involvement in all of the Tulane Democrats activities and endeavors.

b.         The Executive board shall, at its discretion, recommend resolutions, endorsements, or other statements of position on matters of policy or politics, to be confirmed or rejected by referenda by the general membership.

                                            i.            These statements shall be considered the official position of the Tulane Democrats.

                                          ii.            Statements of position may be passed by a 2/3rds vote of recommendation by the Executive Board, confirmed by a referendum of the general membership.

c.         The Executive board may override the decision of the President with a 2/3rds vote of the entire Executive Board (not including the President).

Section 2: President

The President shall:

a.         Be the Chief Executive Officer of the Tulane Democrats.

b.         Define the agenda of the Tulane Democrats during his or her tenure.

c.         Represent the Tulane Democrats to other groups and the media.

d.         Carry out the mandates and policies of the Executive Board.

e.         Preside over all meetings of the Tulane Democrats.

f.          Be a co-signer (with the Finance Chair) on bank accounts if required.

g.         Fill vacant Executive Board positions as per Article 7.

h.                  Have the power to appoint officers to the Executive Board, including (but not limited to) a Technology Chair and issue-based Caucus Chairs.

i.                    Along with the Events Chair, be in charge of all activities of the Tulane Democrats, and ensure that events involving the general membership take place on a regular and frequent basis.

j.                    Maintain a record of major events that took place under his or her tenure.

k.                  Be in charge of elections to the Executive Board (if the Political Chair is running for a position). 

Section 3: Finance Chair

The Finance Chair shall:

a.                   Ensure that the Tulane Democrats are and remain a well-funded organization.

b.                  Manage all bank accounts and budgets.

c.                   Define and lead all fundraising activities.

d.                  Be responsible for all aspects of Tulane Democrats merchandise, specifically club t-shirts design and sale.

e.                   Submit a yearly budget to the Undergraduate Student Government.

f.                   Be a co-signer (along with the President) on bank accounts if required.

g.                  Assume the office of President upon the President’s death, resignation, or removal.

h.                  Act as President if the President is unable to perform his or her duties.

i.                    Perform such duties as the president may assign.

j.                    Take on projects of his or her own choosing with the approval of the President.

Section 4: Events Chair

The Events Chair shall:

a.                   Be responsible for all events of the Tulane Democrats, and ensure that events involving the general membership take place on a regular and frequent basis.

b.                  Be in charge of coordinating the various aspects of events, including pre- and post- event responsibilities.

c.                   Along with the Communications Chair, be responsible for informing the general membership of upcoming events though online communications, campus flyering, and word-of-mouth.

d.                  Along with the Communications Chairperson, be responsible for informing the news media of upcoming events, when appropriate, through Media Alerts and Press Releases.

e.                   Perform such duties as the President may assign.

f.                   Take on projects of his or her choosing with the approval of the President.

Section 5: Communications Chair

The Communications Chair shall:

a.                   Be responsible for all correspondence between the Executive Board and the general membership, including emails, Facebook updates, and updates to website content.

b.                  Regularly publish a Tulane Democrats newsletter.

c.                   Maintain and oversee any other newsletters, journals, blogs, or publications of the Tulane Democrats.

d.                  Take minutes at all Executive Board meetings and general meetings, at the direction of the President.

e.                   Along with the Events Chairperson, be responsible for informing the general membership of upcoming events though online communications, campus flyering, and word-of-mouth.

f.                   Along with the Events Chair, be responsible for informing the news media of upcoming events, when appropriate, through Media Alerts and Press Releases

g.                  Perform such duties as the President may assign.

h.                  Take on projects of his or her choosing with the approval of the President.

Section 6: Political Chair

The Political Chair shall:

a.                   Be responsible for all political activities of the Tulane Democrats, including campaign participation, campus activism, and other partisan activities.

b.                  Conduct voter registration drives on campus, ensuring that all students are equipped to vote either locally or absentee.

c.                   Create and maintain a voter registration database of Tulane Students.

d.                  Be the “point person” for campaigns working with the Tulane Democrats.

e.                   Be in charge of elections to the Executive Board, unless running for office.

f.                   Perform such duties as the President may assign.

g.                  Take on projects of his or her choosing with the approval of the President.

Section 7: Freshman Representative

The Freshman Representative shall:

a.                   Be the voice of the concerns of freshman members to the Executive Board.

b.                  Be responsible for generation membership and participation of freshman members of the club.

c.                   Assist the Political Chair in conducting voter registration drives.

d.                  Perform such duties as the President may assign.

e.                   Take on projects of his or her choosing with approval of the President.

Section 8: Technology Chair

The Technology Chair shall:

a.                   Be responsible for keeping the Tulane Democrats website technologically updated and secure.

b.                  Be responsible for maintaining all email list-serves.

c.                   Manage and maintain any official blogs of the Tulane Democrats.

d.                  Shall ensure that the Tulane Democrats are on the cutting edge of technology.

e.                   Perform such duties as the President may assign.

f.                   Take on projects of his or her choosing with approval of the President.

g.                  Serve at the pleasure of the President and the Executive Board.

Section 9: Caucus Chairs

Caucus chairs shall:

a.                   Be responsible for setting the agenda of his or her issue caucus.

b.                  Ensure that the issue caucus has regular meetings and activities.

c.                   Represent his or her issue caucus at Executive Board meetings.

d.                  Ensure that the Executive Board is aware of the issue caucus’s events and activities.

e.                   Perform such duties as the President may assign.

f.                   Take on projects of his or her choosing with approval of the President.

g.                  Serve at the pleasure of the President and the Executive Board.

Article 5: Elections

Section 1: Frequency

a.         Elections shall be held once a year, during the spring semester of the academic year. The Executive Board shall determine the exact meeting time during the semester.

Section 2: Eligibility

a.         All members of the Tulane Democrats are eligible to run for a position on the Executive Board.

b.         A member may only hold one position on the executive board.

Section 3: Procedure

a.         Elections must be announced at least two meetings before the meeting at which the election is to be held.

b.         All intent-to-run forms must be into the Political Chair no later than the one week before the elections are to be held.

c.         The Political Chair should then send a list of all candidates to the Communications Director, who will then notify the general membership of all candidates and their platforms (if any) no later then 3 days before the election.

d.         All candidates are to receive equal time to give a speech according to the position in which they are running. President: 5 min, all other positions, 3 min each.

e.         No candidate is allowed to speak derogatorily about any other candidate. Violation of this will result in removal from the election.

f.          Elections shall be held using a secret ballot.

g.         A candidate will be declared the winner after receiving a plurality of the vote in his/her position.

h.         Any tie vote will result in an emergency run-off election at the next general meeting.

i.          Vote counting and declaration of winner will occur directly after all ballots have been cast.

i.          The Political Chair shall be in charge of verifying the results of all elections.

Article 6: Impeachment

Section 1: Cause for impeachment

a.         Cause for impeachment shall be defined as negligence or incompetence of proscribed duties, disloyalty to the Democratic Party, or willfully impeding a Tulane Democrats program, or such charges agreed upon by 2/3rds of the Executive board.

Section 2: Process for removal

a.         To begin the process for removal, another member of the Executive Board must charge the officer with the reasons for his or her removal publicly at a meeting of the Executive Board.

b.         The officer in question must be offered an opportunity to defend him or herself at that meeting. At least 2/3rds of the Executive Board must vote for the removal of an officer, not including the officer under impeachment. Unelected officers are not considered part of the Executive Board for impeachment purposes.

Article 7: Vacancies

Section 1: Declaration of vacancy

a.         A vacancy shall be declared when a member of the Executive Board dies, resigns, or is removed from office. If the vacancy occurs in an Executive board position other than the President, the President shall appoint a successor with the consent of 2/3rds of the remaining Executive Board. If the vacancy is the President, then the Financial Chair shall automatically be the replacement.

Article 8: Amendments

Section 1: Procedure

a.         Amendments to the Constitution require a 2/3rds vote of the Executive Board to pass, or by a 2/3rds referendum of the general membership. The amendment’s sponsor shall decide the method of voting.