Article 1 (Name)
The name of the Association will be the Hellenic Students Association of Brown
Article 2 (Purpose)
Section 1
The purpose of the association will be:
(A) To promote fellowship among members of the Greek Student community.
(B) To provide through its officers and its members for formal means of communication with other foreign students and other Greek organization.
(C) To provide for the welcoming and counseling of all newly-arrived Greek students.
(D) To promote cultural, social, and educational activities among the Greek student community.
Section 2
Political activity of any kind is definitely beyond the purpose of this association. Political activity is considered to be any activity that directly deals with the question of who (person or party) has or should have the authority in a country or established political institution. Activities concerning cultural, social or educational problems are not considered as political activity. The General Assembly of the Association is the final judge as to what constitutes political activity.
Article 3 (Membership)
Section 1
Members of the Association can be anybody from the Brown or RISD community interested in the association and its purpose. The secretary of the association is responsible for retaining a record of all current members.
Section 2
People outside the Brown/RISD community interested in the association can not become members, but can still be included as friends of the association.
Article 4 (Executive Committee)
The Executive Committee of the Association will be composed of five members, the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Communications Officer. No member can hold two offices simultaneously.
Section 1
Upon accepting office, each officer will agree to abide by the provisions of this Constitution and the by-laws of the Association.
Section 2
The Executive Committee will be making or the policy decisions of the association. It has the authority to appoint committees or members in external committees with its decision, however, being subject to modification or disapproval by the General Assembly. If members are willing to form official committees of the Association, those committees might go at work after approval of the Executive Committee and will have to be re-approved at the first General Assembly following the above decision. Before leaving office the Executive Committee should give a complete writtenreport of the Associations activities during the past year to the members of the Association.
Article 5 (General Assembly)
The General Assembly is the sovereign body of the Association and has the power to make all decisions.
Section 1
The nature and frequency of General Assembly meetings will be decided by the Executive Committee. There will be at least one General Assembly meeting per semester.
Section 2
A duly constituted General Assembly meeting must be a quorum meeting, namely with a least half of the association’s members plus one attending. If no quorum is obtained a new General Assembly must be called within two weeks. If a quorum is not obtained again, a regular meeting follows without a quorum.
Section 3
Notification to all regular meetings or General Assembly will be issued to all members at least one week prior to the meeting.
Section 4
Any number of members of the Association has the right to present a program at a meeting of the Association.
Article 6 (Elections)
Section 1
Elections will be called by the Executive Committee once a year and will be held in February. A supplemental election procedure can take place in September, if necessary to fill any vacant positions in the Executive Committee, and will be held according to the same rules as the February elections. The Executive Committee should notify all members at least two weeks in advance of the exact date and place of the elections.
Section 2
Nominations and elections should take place on the same day.
Section 3
A quorum meeting with a least half of the association’s members plus one attending is a prerequisite for an election. If such a quorum is not obtained on the day of the elections, then elections will be postponed for the next day and the Executive Committee will be again in charge of notifying the members about the new time and location. A quorum is not required for a rescheduled election, and the result of such an election will be recognized as final.
Section 4
The election will proceed as follows: Each voter has at his disposal as many votes as the members of the Executive Committee to be elected. In the case that two candidates receive the same number of votes the election is repeated among the two candidates only with the majority system. In the case that more than two candidates receive the same number of votes the election is repeated among these candidates in a series of elimination rounds.
Section 5
The duties of the new Executive Committee start right after the elections. After the members of the Executive Committee have been elected they proceed to the nomination of the officers in a separate election among themselves. Once the new Executive Committee is formed, the old Executive Committee has one week to transfer all documents. In case that all members of the old Executive Committee are absent the documents will be transferred to the new Executive Committee by an active member appointed by the old Executive Committee.
Article 7 (Resignation)
The resignation of a member of the Executive Committee becomes effective upon notification.The position of the resigned member is filled by an election unless the General Assembly decides otherwise.
Article 8 (Removal Of Member Or Officer)
Section 1
The majority of the association’s members can decide the replacement of the Executive Committee. If this is decided, elections follow according to Article 6.
Section 2
The removal of a member of the Association will require a 2/3 majority at a duly constituted General Assembly meeting.
Article 9 (Financing)
There will be no fixed membership fee. However, it lies in the discretion of the Executive Committee to make any supplemental funding requests to the members of the association.
Section 1
All expenses of the Association shall be paid through the Office of Student Activities, and all funds collected by the group from any sources shall be deposited with the Office of Student Activities.
Section 2
The Association agrees to follow all regarding financial transaction as set forth by the Office of Student Activities.
Section 3
If the organization becomes inactive for a period of three years, any funds left in the treasury of the organization shall revert to the general funds of the Office of Student Activities.
Article 10 (Special Emergency Resolutions)
Section 1
By a "special emergency resolution" is meant a resolution (i.e. an expression of opinion of the Association on some issue) that, in the view of the Executive Committee must be discussed and passed upon within a period of time shorter than that stipulated in Article 5 in respect to the convocation of General Assembly meetings.
Section 2
An emergency resolution can be discussed at an Executive Committee meeting and passed upon a General Assembly meeting if at least one member of the Executive Committee is in favor of it. The discussion of the resolution should be on the agenda of the Executive Committee meeting.
Article 11 (Amendments)
Section 1
Amendments to Articles 2, 8, and 11.1 of this constitution will require a 2/3 vote of the members at a duly constituted General Assembly meeting. Amendments to all other articles excluding 2, 8, and 11(A) will require a 1/2 majority vote of the members at a duly constituted General Assembly meeting.
Section 2
All amendments will be submitted to the University and will not take effect until the approval has been granted. Amendments thus approved will be reported by the Executive Committee to all members within 15 days of the day that they take effect.
