Adopted April 15, 2010
Preamble
We, the College Libertarians of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, work to promote the ideas of classical liberalism, these being the protection of individual freedoms both economic and social. We believe that only through the protection of individual liberty, can peace and prosperity exist. In order to achieve these goals, we advocate for the reduction of government and other authorities to their constitutional and moral bounds, and to deny them the exercise of power beyond their legal and moral constraints. This advocacy shall be realized through engaging and educating the the student body and support for political candidates who espouse these ideals.
Article 1. General and Educational Activities
Section 1. General meetings shall be held no less than once every two weeks.
Section 2. At each meeting, after the conclusion of business discussions, educational discussion shall be held regarding classically liberal ideas. The President and Vice President may provide readings, videos or other media to spur discussions. All members may engage equally in discussion and suggest topics.
Section 3. The group will regularly bring relevant and noteworthy speakers to campus. The group shall also host events without external speakers, consisting of film screenings, debates, or any other event deemed appropriate by the group. No less than three public events shall be held each semester.
Section 4. The group shall be in contact with allied organizations. Any organization will be contacted by the President, after the group has approved dealings. Additionally, the group may choose to bring a co-sponsor in to any of their events, or to co-sponsor an event held by another group. These groups shall also be contacted by the President after it has been deemed appropriate by a majority of present members at any general meeting.
Article 2. Political Activities
Selection of Candidates to Support
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 not 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 3. Membership
Qualifications for Membership
Section 1. Only students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may join this chapter of the College Libertarians.
Section 2. Members shall pay dues at the beginning of the year to the Treasurer amounting to $10 per member.
Section 3. Members must maintain no less than 50% attendance to retain membership status.
Section 4. Students who wish to remain informed of College Libertarian activities, but choose not to become members, may elect to remain on the listserv or the Facebook group. The Facebook group is open to the public. The listserv shall permit members on request and at the discretion of the Outreach Coordinator according to the position’s responsibilities.
Explusion
Section 1. Members may, for egregious behavior or for promoting views or acts antithetical to individual liberty, be expelled from the group and cut off from group communication channels by a majority vote of any general meeting’s attendees.
Article 4. Officers and roles
Elections
Section 1. Elections for officers shall occur at the final general meeting of the school year.
Section 2. Any member may nominate any member for an office.
Section 3. Elections are secret and whoever achieves a plurality wins.
Responsibilities of All Officers
Section 1. All officers shall maintain no less than 70% attendance of meetings called by the President to maintain their office.
Section 2. All officers shall delegate their responsibilities to other officers and members when they are aware that they temporarily cannot fulfill specific responsibilities.
Section 3. Officers shall document, to the best of their ability, the performance of their duties for the purpose of training future officers. Manuals of best practices shall be passed on to and amended by successive generations of officers.
President
Section 1. The President shall be the primary contact for the College Libertarians with UNC and with all other groups and organizations.
Section 2. The President is responsible for planning no less than three public events per semester, calling all meetings, delegating responsibilities to officers and members, contacting relevant individuals or groups, organizing campaigning activities and insuring the successful execution of all activities.
Section 3. The President shall serve as the primary public representative of the College Libertarians, and shall engage the public with all due respectfulness and professionalism.
Section 4. The President shall call all meetings, lead all meetings, set meeting agendas in advance, insure that all necessary business is conducted, maintain the focus of all meetings and encourage group discussions at the conclusion of business.
Section 5. The President shall at all times be informed of the activities of the other officers and coordinate their efforts as necessary to insure successful execution of all activities.
Section 6. The President shall be informed of all relevant student codes as they apply to College Libertarians activities and advise the group accordingly.
Vice President
Section 1. The Vice President shall serve as secretary, recording notes of all meetings and making these notes available to members through the College Libertarians listserv and the College Libertarians website.
Section 2. The Vice President shall be responsible for events logistics, including: booking rooms for regular meetings and public events; providing relevant details regarding events, time and place to the Outreach Coordinator in a timely manner; communicating with guests and insuring that their needs are met; securing funds from the Treasurer for the purchase of necessary materials and other payments; caring for facilities used and insuring they are left in no condition worse than how they were lent to the College Libertarians; securing materials from individuals or groups to be dispersed among the College Libertarians; and assisting all other members and officers in the fulfillment of their duties where the logistical responsibilities of the Vice President are required.
Section 3. The Vice President shall fulfill the duties of the President when the President is unavailable.
Outreach coordinator
Section 1. The Outreach Coordinator shall manage all web media, including the “www.UNCLibertarians.com” website, the College Libertarians listserv, the “UNC College Libertarians” Facebook page, and the “@UNCLibertarians” Twitter account.
Section 2. The Outreach Coordinator shall insure that at least one blog post is written for the College Libertarians’ website weekly, with emphasis on current and local issues from Libertarian perspectives. The Outreach Coordinator shall insure that no fewer than 2 tweets are posted through the College Libertarians’ Twitter account weekly. The Outreach Coordinator shall create Facebook events for all College Libertarians events, invite members and/or non-members as appropriate, and regularly post content on Facebook relevant to the College Libertarians (e.g., CL blog posts, relevant DTH articles, etc.).
Section 3. The Outreach Coordinator shall encourage members to engage with local media. This includes organizing letter campaigns to the newspapers regularly, encouraging members to join newspaper staff, publicizing events through the local newspapers, engaging local radio and television as appropriate and possible, and cultivating friendly relationships with individuals working within local media.
Section 4. The Outreach Coordinator shall publicize all events through fliers, Cube painting in the Pit, publicizing through the Daily Tar Heel, inviting individuals to events through Facebook, publicizing events through Twitter, blogging about upcoming events, adding events to the College Libertarians’ Google Calendar and by all other necessary and appropriate means.
Section 5. The Outreach Coordinator is responsible for raising awareness of the College Libertarians among the UNC student body and with the broader community and in all relevant networks. The Outreach Coordinator shall plan and organize public events, activities, protests, campaigns or other forms of activism with the goal of increasing the presence of the College Libertarians at UNC and increasing the group’s influence on campus.
Treasurer
Section 1. The Treasurer shall, within appropriate time limits imposed by UNC, fulfill all requirements for training and certification to serve as the treasurer of a student organization.
Section 2. The Treasurer shall be responsible to collecting dues and administering all College Libertarians’ funds.
Section 3. The Treasurer shall organize fundraising activities.
Section 4. The Treasurer shall petition the Student Congress for activity funding during the time designated for proposals by the Student Congress.
Section 5. The Treasurer shall report to the President and to the College Libertarians regarding material changes in the College Libertarians’ finances.
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.
Impeachment 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 be impeached and removed from office.
Section 2. Specific charges against the impeached officer must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the officers, excluding the impeached officer, at any gathering where all other officers are present.
Section 3. From the approval of the charge until the next meeting, 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 meeting after the impeachment, 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 other officers.
Section 5. Impeached officers may be replaced by mid-term elections called by the President.
Article 5. Ratification
Section 1. Ratification shall be effected by the endorsement for the incoming officers who will be elected in accordance with this Constitution.
Amendments
Section 1. Any member of College Libertarians may propose an amendment to this Constitution, which shall be debated in a general meeting.
Section 2. An amendment to this Constitution must pass by a 2/3 majority roll call vote in a general meeting.
Signatures
Section 1. This document, including any amendments made since ratification, shall be signed by all newly elected officers each year and by any other members who choose to stand by the contents of this Constitution.
Section 2. Signing this Constitution constitutes a contract, whereby all signing officers agree to fulfill their enumerated duties for the duration of their term.
Tom VanAntwerp, UNC-CH Co-chair 2009-2010