CONSTITUTION OF SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS UNITED FOR LIBERATION
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of this organization shall be Sexual Orientations United for Liberation and will herein be referred to as SOUL.
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE
The principle purposes of this organization shall be to:
A. Educate and raise awareness within the Connecticut College community regarding issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity.
B. Connect members of SOUL with other organizations, on and off campus, that address similar and corresponding issues.
C. Provide social opportunities for all members of the college community.
D. Provide support for members of the queer and questioning community at Connecticut College.
E. Support the function of Unity House and Unity organizations.
A. Membership shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, national or ethnic origin, visible or invisible handicap, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.
B. Membership shall be open to all matriculated students of Connecticut College.
C. In order to be a voting member, one must be a Connecticut College student and attend a minimum of two consecutive meetings.
D. Non-voting membership is open to faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and others approved by SOUL’s Executive Board.
E. Membership not provided for in Article III, Sections 1 and 2 shall not exceed 10% of the total registered membership.
ARTICLE IV: ORGANIZATION
1. Executive Board
A. The Executive Board shall serve as the decision making body with accordance of the voting members of the organization.
B. The SOUL Executive Board shall consist of nine voting members: a Chairperson, a Treasurer, a Public Relations Coordinator, a College Relations Coordinator, a Secretary, Intercollegiate Coordinator, an Admissions Liaison, and two BAGALT? Facilitators.
C. All elected officials must attend the Unity fall, winter, and spring leadership retreats, unless excused by the Assistant Director of Unity House.
D. The Executive Board shall serve as a liaison between SOUL and other organizations, committees, and administrators in order to voice the needs and concerns relating to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
E. The Executive Board Officer duties shall include, but not be limited to those outlined in Article V. Additional duties shall be at the discretion of the chairperson.
2. Committees
A. Standing committees for Faculty/Staff Teas, Decorations, Events Planning,
a. Community and Peer Institution Networking, etc. shall be set at the beginning of each semester. General members of SOUL are expected to volunteer to sit on each committee and participation shall be as needed during each semester. A member of the Executive Board appointed by the Chairperson shall lead each committee, which shall be determined at the beginning of each academic year.
B. Ad hoc committees shall be established as needed by the Chairperson and the Executive Board.
3. Circle of Friends
A. The Circle of Friends is a group of gay and gay-friendly alumni, faculty and staff willing to support queer students.
B. Contact is via email to chat, seek advice and/or share experiences. Participation on both ends is completely voluntary. Anyone, especially current and prospective students, is free to contact the members of the Circle of Friends.
C. Contact information for the members of the Circle of Friends is listed on the SOUL website.
D. The alumni, faculty and staff membership shall be renewed at the end of each academic year for the next academic year.
1. The Chairperson shall be responsible for the overall maintenance of the organization. The Chairperson shall:
A. Exercise all powers and duties generally pertaining to a Central Executive Officer.
B. Determining agendas, organizing, and facilitating general body and Executive Board meetings.
C. Establishing organization goals and deadlines with the Executive Board.
D. Running elections and filling vacant positions as needed.
E. Providing support and ensuring that other officers are fulfilling their duties.
F. Serving as the primary contact between SOUL and other organizations and the college community, and sitting on committees as needed.
G. Meeting with advisor(s) weekly.
H. Writing the mid-year and end of the year reports, which shall be given directly to the Assistant Director of Unity House.
I. Leading mid-semester evaluations and votes of confidence with members.
J. Enforcing the Constitution.
K. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.2. The Treasurer shall work in conjunction with the Chairperson to maintain a positive financial standing for the organization. The Treasurer shall be responsible for:
A. Keeping accurate financial records for the organization and maintaining the organization’s positive financial standing.
B. Outlining budget reports for each event, compiling this information into a mid-year and end of the year Treasury Report.
C. Organizing and applying for traditional allocation requests for each semester and for applying for SAC Co-Sponsorship when necessary.
D. Organizing fundraising activities.
E. Making all deposits and withdrawals from SOUL’s accounts in Student Organization Fund office.
F. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.3. The Public Relations Coordinator shall be responsible for:
A. Advertising for all events and activities and submitting all publicity to the Assistant Director of Unity House for proofreading.
B. Working with the College Web Team to maintain a current website.
C. Submitting information to the Unity Newsletter and other campus publications.
D. Serving as the representative for SOUL on the Unity Website Committee and submit information to Unity House for the SOUL page on the site.
E. Writing thank you notes to guests and speakers.
F. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.4. The College Relations Coordinator is the primary link between SOUL and the faculty/staff/trustees of Connecticut College. The College Relations Coordinator shall be responsible for:
A. Filling in the duties of the Chairperson in his, her, or hir absence.
B. Bringing concerns of SOUL to the Unity Student Steering Committee, herein referred to as USSC, and attending said meetings.
C. Relaying information from USSC to SOUL’s Executive Board and General Body.
D. Planning, organizing, and executing two Faculty/Staff Teas each semester.
E. Sending thank you notes to the attendees of the teas.
F. Contacting and organizing alumni, faculty, and staff members for the Circle of Friends.
G. Organizing events with the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Alumni Association, herein referred to as BGLTAA, members.
H. Coordinating activities for All Unity events, i.e. the Fall Weekend Tropical party.
I. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.5. The Secretary shall be responsible for:
A. Taking the minutes of each SOUL Executive Board and General Body meeting, and sending them to the SOUL adviser(s).
B. Recording minutes of organization reports at Unity Council meetings and submitting them to the Unity Interns for distribution.
C. Keeping official records of the organization, including minutes, correspondence, agendas, publicity, etc to be submitted to the Unity Assistant Director at the end of the year.
D. Taking attendance at each meeting.
E. Maintaining a list of voting members.
F. Distributing a copy of the constitution to new members.
G. Coordinating the monthly newsletter and distributing it to the members of SOUL and BGLTAA.
H. Mailing SOUL publications, e.g. newsletter, thank you cards.
I. Checking the SOUL email account and informing the Executive Board of any pertinent information.
J. Maintaining an updated list of BGLTAA members and their contact information.
K. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.6. The Intercollegiate Coordinator shall be the primary link between SOUL and the queer groups of peer institutions. The Intercollegiate Coordinator shall be responsible for:
A. Maintaining a contact list of peer institution’s queer groups.
B. Informing said groups about SOUL sponsored events and activities.
C. Informing SOUL members about events and activities sponsored by peer institutions.
D. Serving as a liaison for SOUL with SOAR during the planning of SOARFEST, coordinating the organization’s involvement.
E. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.7. The Admissions Liaison shall serve as the primary contact between SOUL and the Admissions office. The Admissions Liaison shall be responsible for:
A. Gathering and reporting data on diversity of applicant pool and admitted students.
B. Working with the Admissions Office to coordinate hosts for prospective students and activities for open houses throughout the year.
C. Coordinating recruitment activities with the Admissions Office and other Unity Admissions Liaisons on a consistent basis (i.e. phone-a –thons, letter writing, hosting).
D. Meeting with other Unity Admissions Liaisons on a consistent basis.
E. Planning and coordinating activities and housing for prospective students for Explore and Eclipse Weekends with other Admissions Liaisons.
F. Serving as the representative for SOUL on the Eclipse Weekend Planning Committee.
G. Training and furnishing records to his, her, or hir successor.8. The BAGALT? Facilitators. The roles and responsibilities of the Bisexual and Gay and Lesbian, Transgender and Questioning, herein referred to as BAGALT?, Facilitators are outlined in the Addendum.
ARTICLE VI: MEETINGS
A. Executive Board
a. SOUL Executive Board meetings shall be held once a week or as often as needed.
b. At these meetings, the Chairperson and the Executive Board shall decide upon a topic of discussion concerning a queer issue for the upcoming General Body meeting.
c. Any business matters to be discussed at the General Body meeting shall also be determined.
B. General Body
a. SOUL General Body meetings shall be held once a week and will last for one hour. The structure of these meetings is as follows:
i. Introduction of members.
ii. Discussion of any business (SOUL-sponsored events, peer institutions’ events, etc) that has arisen since the last meeting.
iii. Opening of the floor by the Chairperson for discussion.
A. Elections for the positions of Chairperson, Treasurer, Public Relations Coordinator, College Relations Coordinator, Secretary, Admissions Liaison, and Intercollegiate Coordinator shall be held in the beginning of April for the next academic year.
B. The Executive Board may, where circumstances warrant, authorize the holding of elections at another time.
C. Assumption of office for newly elected members shall follow the Unity spring retreat.
D. The Chairperson shall accept nominations two weeks prior to the election. All students interested in holding offices must be voting members of SOUL and must be knowledgeable about the interests of the organization.
E. The Executive board may, upon request, where circumstances warrant, authorize the nomination of a non-member.
F. All voting shall be done by secret ballot.
G. Winners shall be chosen by a simple majority, with abstentions going to the person with the most votes
H. If any position remains unoccupied after the April election, a second election to fill the vacancies must be done by the end of April. If any positions remain vacant in September, they shall be filled at the third meeting of the year.
I. During the months of April and May, the incumbent officers shall work with the officers-elect to ensure a smooth transition.
J. If an officer resigns at any time, the Chairperson shall appoint an interim officer until a new election can be held.
K. Impeachment:
L. Any member wishing to begin impeachment proceedings must submit a written letter, with signatures of 10% of the voting membership, to the Chairperson.
M. Upon receipt of the proposed impeachment, the Chairperson shall call a meeting no less than one week and no more than two weeks from the time of receipt.
N. The impeachment must be approved by 75% of all voting members.
O. If the officer being impeached is the Chairperson, the College Relations Coordinator shall be responsible for coordinating impeachment proceedings.
A. The Constitution shall be revised as needed by the current and incumbent Executive Boards at the end of each academic year.
A. Proposed amendments to this Constitution must be given to the Chairperson in writing.
B. Upon receipt of the proposed amendment, the Chairperson shall call a meeting of SOUL’s voting membership no less than one week and no more than two weeks from the time of receipt.
C. The Chairperson is responsible for sending a written notice of the proposed amendment and the date, time and location of the meeting at which the amendment shall be voted on, as well as a copy of the proposed amendment, to the voting membership of SOUL.
D. The meeting for the approval or disapproval of the proposed amendment shall be an open forum for the discussion of the amendment. The voting membership shall then vote on the proposed amendment by secret ballot.
E. The amendment must be approved by 2/3 of the voting membership of SOUL, with abstentions going to the majority.
A. The membership of this organization must approve the Constitution by a vote of 2/3, with abstentions going to the majority.
B. The Assembly of the Student Government Association must ratify this Constitution prior to official recognition.
Revised 9/14/2003
Please send any comments or suggestions to SOUL
Last Modified: Sunday, August 27, 2006 8:56 AM
Copyright © 2006