Adopted September 9, 2008
ARTICLE I. Name and Affiliation
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the UNC-CH College Libertarians, herein after referred to in this document as the College Libertarians.
Section 2. The UNC-CH College Libertarians shall be recognized as the campus affiliate of Libertarian Party, a national organization, and shall be subject to and abide by the Constitutions, Bylaws, and Resolutions thereof.
Article II. Purpose
Section 1. To disseminate the principles of the Libertarian Party to the UNC-Chapel Hill community and promote awareness thereof.
Section 2. To aid in the election of Libertarian candidates for political offices at all levels of government, as well as candidates of other political parties who are endorsed by the Libertarian Party in a manner consistent with Article IX, Section 3.
Section 3. To encourage and assist in the organization and active functioning of the Libertarian Party at local, state, and national levels.
Section 4. To develop political skills and leadership abilities among Libertarian students as preparation for future service by them to the Party and their communities.
Article III. Definitions
Section 1. For the purposes of this Constitution, a meeting of the general membership shall be defined as a congregation of members in one physical location, an organized conversation via phone or internet, or an email correspondence with terms and conditions set.
Article IV. Membership and Participation
Section 1. The requirements for membership in the College Libertarians are to sign up on the organization’s membership list, which we will present and maintain at all events and in all operations of the organization. Any UNC student, undergraduate or graduate, may join the College Libertarians. No dues are required to gain membership.
Section 2. All members will have equal rights and privileges in participating in the activities of the College Libertarians. Members may attend and participate in both general and executive meetings and events held by the organization; may participate in campaign activities or any operations of the organization; and may purchase at a community price any materials sold by the organization or distributed freely by the organization.
Article V. Adviser
Section 1. The Faculty Adviser (FA) of College Libertarians shall be a current faculty members of UNC-Chapel Hill and may be a current professor in any or school on campus, a department or campus administrator, and/or an employee at UNC Hospital.
Section 2. A candidate must receive a proportion greater than one-half of all members voting to become the FA of College Libertarians. The FA shall assist College Libertarians: in securing facilities on campus for meetings and events; with research and/or resolution of any intellectual, operational, or legal matters sought to be addressed by the organization upon request; in securing speakers sought by the organization through his/her social network; in securing private fundraising for the organization; and in generally assisting the organization in its operations upon request.
Article VI. Officers and Elections
Section 1. The officers who comprise the College Libertarians shall be the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Fundraising Coordinator, Public Relations Coordinator, Outreach Coordinator, Events Coordinator, IT Coordinator, and the Adviser on Student Code and University Policy.
Section 2. Nominations of all candidates for officer positions shall be made from the floor by any member in attendance of the meeting of the membership in which the election takes place.
Section 3. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of attending members. The first election shall occur of the third Wednesday of September 2008. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, additional rounds of balloting will be cast until a candidate for the office in question receives a clear majority of the vote. All subsequent elections for the following academic year shall occur on the final Tuesday of the Spring semester before exams. In the event that a vacancy develops, an election shall occur in the meeting immediately following the departure of the holder of the office in question.
Section 4. The line of succession following the Chair shall be as follows: Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. In the even that there is no one available in the line of succession to take the position of Chair, the Events Coordinator shall call a meeting of the membership to elect a new Chair and all other officers in the line of succession. In the event that the Chair cannot preside over a meeting of the membership, the Vice Chair shall take his/her place.
Section 5. The duties of the Chair shall be, but are not limited to: setting the agenda for the organization; delegating general tasks to the membership; serving as the primary contact of the organization to the University; serving as the organization’s envoy to the national organization and the Libertarian Party at the national, state, and local levels; representing the organization in official capacity at all meetings and event; and serving as the Chair of the Executive Committee.
Section 6. The duties of the Vice Chair shall include, but are not limited to: serving in the capacity of Chair when the Chair is not present; serving as the Vice Chair of the Executive Committee; and coordinating and working closely with all of the membership and committees in reaching the agenda and goals of the organization as set by the Chairman and the, the national organization, and the Libertarian Party.
Section 7. The duties of the Secretary shall include, but are not limited to: maintaining credentials and the organization’s listserv; keeping an official roll of officers and members; record official minutes of meetings; and sending out notices to the organization’s members over e-mails, Facebook messages, official notifications, or other communication technologies.
Section 8. The duties of the Treasurer shall include, but are not limited to: handling all finances within the organization; maintaining a current budget; managing the Generated Funds account of the organization; and working closely with the Finance Committee of Student Congress to obtain any funding for the organization and its events that is deemed legal according to Title V of the Student Code.
Section 9. The duties of the Fundraising Coordinator shall include, but are not limited to: coordinating fundraising efforts and strategies for the organization.
Section 10. The duties of the Public Relations Coordinator shall include, but are not limited to: coordinating the organization’s advertisement and public relations efforts and strategies; authoring all press releases; and serving as the official media contact for the organization.
Section 11. The duties of the Outreach Coordinator shall include, but are not limited to: coordinating membership recruitment efforts and strategies and serving as primary envoy to other student organizations on campus.
Section 12. The duties of the Events Coordinator shall include, but are not limited to: coordinating the organizations events and managing all logistics thereof.
Section 13: the duties of the IT Coordinator shall include, but are not limited to: administrating and managing the organization’s website, Facebook group, and online store and serving as the chief planner of the organization’s activities and strategies involving information technology.
Section 14. The duties of the Adviser on Student Code and University Policy shall include, but are not limited to: maintaining a detailed working understanding of the University’s Student Code and other policies, and advising the organization on all matters of the group’s activities with relations to University policy.
Article VII- Executive Committee
Section 1. There shall be an Executive Committee, which shall govern the College Libertarians.
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of College Libertarians, as stated in Article V, Section 1.
Section 3. The Executive Committee shall introduce, approve, and implement all actions and activities necessary and proper for the functioning of the College Libertarians and not inconsistent with this Consitution.
Article VIII. Dismissal of Officers
Section 1. Any officer who, during his term of office, has demonstrated negligence or incompetence in the performance of his prescribed Constitutional duties, or willfully impeded the operation of the College Libertarians, shall impeached and removed from office.
Section 2. Specific charges against the impeached officer must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the Executive Committee, excluding the impeached officer, at a meeting of the Executive Committee.
Section 3. From the approval of the charge until the next meeting of the Executive Committee, the impeached officer shall remain in his or her office and be allowed to prepare his or her defense to charges.
Section 4. At the first Executive Committee meeting after the meeting, in which the charges were approved, an officer or other person selected by the officers shall present the charges and the impeached officer shall present his defense. Following these presentations, the impeached officer may be removed from his office by a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee.
Article IX. Endorsement of Candidates
Section 1. The College Libertarians shall not issue an official endorsement of any particular candidate for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for a particular office in the event of multiple candidates for the Party’s nomination.
Section 2. A measure for endorsement of a candidate shall be brought to the floor of a general meeting of the membership. Such a measure shall be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of attending members.
Section 3. Measures for endorsement of candidates for a particular office who are no candidates of the Libertarian Party may be presented to the floor of a general meeting of the membership for consideration, and approved by a 2/3 majority vote of attending members, only in cases where there is no candidate for the particular office who is a candidate of the Libertarian Party.
Section 4. Promotional materials supporting candidates endorsed by the College Libertarians may be distributed in the activities and events of the College Libertarians.
Article X. Financial Requirements
Section 1. The College Libertarians must maintain 10% of all generated funds in its generated funds account at all times as a reserve to promote solvency. Funds in this reserve may be expended with a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee.
Section 2. The College Libertarians may request student activity fees from Student Congress only for honorariums for speakers in events deemed by a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee to qualify as unique opportunities to greatly expand the message of libertarianism on campus and the membership of the organization.
Article XI. Ratification
Section 1. This Constitution shall be ratified by a 2/3 majority roll call vote in a meeting of the general membership.
Article XII. Amendments
Section 1. Any member of College Libertarians may propose an amendment to this Constitution, which shall be debated in a meeting of the general membership.
Section 2. An amendment to this Constitution must pass by a 2/3 majority roll call vote in a meeting of the general membership.
Amendments.
Amendment I. At an election meeting, the body of the UNC College Libertarians may at its discretion decide to elect multiple chairs. In this event, these members will become co-chairs and will assume together the duties of the chair and vice-chair.