PRIDE Alliance at Georgia College

Georgia College PRIDE (Gay - Straight Alliance) Constitution

Constitution Revised August 26th 2013

Georgia College

PREAMBLE

The mission of the Georgia College PRIDE gay-straight alliance is to affirm the existence and development of LGBTQ individuals at GC, and to support a strong and welcoming community among them and allies within the larger institution. The program works to lessen the prejudice that limits the educational experience and well-being of LGBTQ community members and others within the institution. The group provides an open, diverse, and comfortable atmosphere in which all members of the GC community may explore sexual and gender identity issues and serves as a central point for campus LGBTQ resources, services, and programs. Through its work, the group contributes to the University's pledge to facilitate an environment full of diversity, equity, leadership development, and intellectual exploration.

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this organization shall be PRIDE Alliance at Georgia College. This name is not affiliated with a national organization, but is exclusive to Georgia College.

ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP

Section 1: Membership is open to undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff,

and the greater community of Georgia College. The PRIDE Alliance will not discriminate on the

basis of gender, race, creed, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or gender expression.

Section 2: Given the nature of the organization, there will exist a formal list of members.

Section 3: Those eligible to vote (“members, membership”) shall be defined as those individuals who have attended at least two previous PRIDE Alliance meetings.

Section 4: Only students and alumni of Georgia College & State University are eligible for regular or active membership in the Pride Alliance. Georgia College & State University staff and greater community are eligible for adjunct membership. They may not vote or hold office.

Section 5: Selection for active full membership will be based on enrollment, with students having at least 2 enrolled hours, in Georgia College.

Section 6: Membership of the Pride Alliance can be terminated at the discretion of Executive Council members and by a vote of the existing members of the Pride Alliance.

ARTICLE III: OFFICERS

Section 1: The officers of ALLIES shall be; President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer,

And Public Relations chair. They shall be collectively known as the Executive Board.

Section 2: All officers voted in at the end of a school year will take office at the end of the

semester and will facilitate the final meeting.

Section 3: The President shall preside at all meetings of the entire organization. In the event that

the President is unable to attend the meeting; the Vice President will facilitate the meeting. S/he shall work with the Executive Board to create yearly goals for the organization, guarantee that the Executive Board meets on a regular basis and ensure that there exists an agenda for each meeting. The agenda will be distributed to the Executive Board prior to the meetings. The president has the power to call session weekly, monthly or bi-monthly meetings, report the state of the association, veto any recommendations of members, which can be overridden by a majority vote of the members. Prior to holding the office of president, one must have held a different officer position within this organization or president of another organization. In the event that a suitable president cannot be found, the president, or other officer, of another student organization that is current standing member of Pride Alliance may fill the position temporarily until such time an election can be held to determine the seat of the President.

Section 4: The Vice-President shall assist the President in the facilitation of meetings, communicating with outside organizations, and general operations of the organization. In the event that the President is unable to attend the meeting, the Vice President will oversee the meeting.

Section 5: The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping minutes of the meetings, reporting them at the following meeting.

Section 6: The Treasurer shall receive and be responsible for the organization’s finances, have

the power to sign checks and report the organization’s financial standing to the membership at least once per semester.

Section 7: The Public Relations chair is responsible for researching, designing, planning,

coordinating, and evaluating the websites and Facebook groups. They will also be responsible for publication of the group meeting and group events. They will coordinate the initial recruitment of new members and incoming freshmen at university sponsored events such as Bobcat Market places etc. They will be responsible for maintaining a group presence on campus in the form of chalking, tabling, or other related activity. They are responsible for coordinating all other advertisement avenues such as contacting the Colonnade or Bobcat Vision, and finding sponsors for major events such as the drag show.

Section 8: Officers may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the members. The officer in question

shall be notified of this vote at least three weeks beforehand, and shall have ample opportunity to defend themselves to the membership before the vote is taken.

Section 9: When a member of the executive board wishes to resign their position on the board, the board member must give a formal letter of resignation to the members of the board as well as the group advisor(s). At the meeting when the letter of resignation is handed over, a formal announcement must be made to the rest of the group. Nominations to fill this empty office position will be made at the meeting which will qualify for one of the two weeks of the previous.

ARTICLE IV: FACULTY ADVISOR

Section 1: Nominations for faculty advisor(s) to The PRIDE Alliance should be made by at least one member of the exec board, and be approved, unanimously.

Section 2: The Executive Board should meet at least twice a semester with the faculty advisor(s)

in order to keep them informed of the organization’s plans and activities.

ARTICLE V: MEETINGS

Section 1: The Executive Board of ALLIES should meet at least once a month.

Section 2: Open meetings of the group should be held weekly.

ARTICLE VI: FINANCES

Section 1: The collection of dues is not a condition of participating in any PRIDE Alliance activity.

Section 2: If some individual activities require payment by members, the Treasurer shall have responsibility for collecting these fees.

Section 3: Other finances, such as donations and monies from fundraisers, shall come under the responsibility of the Treasurer.

Section 4: Paying dues is not a condition for being a member; however, those who make donations for dues will receive preference if there is limited availability during organizational activities.

Article VII: Amendments

Section 1: Approval of Amendments. The Executive Board may amend the constitution of the PRIDE Alliance of Georgia College by a majority vote of approval. Amendments must be ratified by the office of the Dean of Students.

Section 2: Sponsorship. A member of PRIDE Alliance who is not a part of the Executive Board may petition to amend the Constitution. In this case, they must petition for sponsorship from a current Exec Member. A vote on the amendment will continue in the aforementioned manner.

By-Laws

Robert’s Rules of Order shall have precedence over any other parliamentary procedure when invoked by the President.