Pandora's Constitution

Pandora: The Dickinson College Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Straight Alliance

Constitution:

ARTICLE I: Name of Organization

Section 1: This organization is known as Pandora: The Dickinson College Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Straight Alliance.

ARTICLE II: Affiliation

Section 1: Pandora: the Dickinson College Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Straight Alliance is officially associated with Dickinson College and the Carlisle Community.

ARTICLE III: Purpose of Organization

Section 1: Pandora is a newly formed student organization (founded Sept. 1999) on the Dickinson College campus in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  It is devoted to political activism, raising awareness, and public education on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues.  One does not have to identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender to be a part of Pandora.  Pandora is an organization for students interested in and concerned about issues of importance to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, their friends, supporters, and allies.  Pandora wants to be the voice of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender student community on the Dickinson College campus.

Pandora's goal is to make a contribution to help build a more just and liberated society in which everyone can feel safe, accepted and validated, and in which civil rights and human rights are upheld and protected.  Pandora respects and celebrates all diversity, and understands that diversity in its various forms is not an impediment but rather a strength to any organization.  Pandora desires to capitalize on this diversity and to let everyone and anyone participate in projects, and to bring their specific skills, qualifications, and potential into play.

Pandora recognizes that homophobia and heterosexism are both forms of human oppression related to other forms of oppression such as racism, anti-Semitism, classism, sexism/ genderism, ageism/ adultism, ableism, erotophobia, and others.  Pandora realizes that to best combat hetereosexism, homophobia, and sexism/ genderism, one must look at this system of oppression/ suppression holistically and cultivate an understanding of this dynamics of this system.  Pandora also recognizes that this system of oppression has been handed down to everyone of us in this culture and thus each and everyone must struggle to overcome his/her/hir own prejudice and stereotyping.  Thus in doing so, we will be working towards the liberation of humanity as a whole.

Section 2: Pandora seeks to reduce prejudice against lesbian, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered peoples by educating the Dickinson and Carlisle communities on issues of gender and sexuality.  Pandora seeks to promote equality and respect amongst all people.  The members of Pandora want to become an everyday part of campus life, adding visibility as members of Pandora and thus supporters of GLBT human and civil rights in this country and around the world.

Section 3: Pandora seeks to become a part of Dickinson's academic and social life by organizing events of both an education and recreational nature.

Section 4: Pandora would like to foster closer ties with GLBT alumni/ alumnae to create a network between currently enrolled GLBT students at the college and graduates thereof.

Section 5: Pandora will look for recognition and visibility by also personally inviting faculty and administrators to the groups' events and meetings.

Section 6: In the spirit of out-reach, Pandora will also devote itself to community service and networking with organizations in Carlisle, Harrisburg, the Dickinson School of Law, and other surrounding communities.  Community service will be observed by either fund-raising or hands-on activity.

Section 7: Pandora will hold a Coffeehouse event weekly.  This meeting will NOT serve as a weekly meeting but will be a venue for discussion and group viewing of GLBT themed material including audio-visual materials.  Coffeehouse is critical to the GLBT community because it is currently the only social atmosphere promoting GLBT issues.

Section 8: Pandora is not Allies.  Pandora's focus is on activism, visibility, and education and seeks to go beyond what Allies has and hasn't accomplished in the past.  Allies is currently inactive making Pandora the only GLBT group on campus.

Section 9: Pandora will publish a bi-semesterly news magazine.  Each issue will be themed with some aspect of the GLBT community.  This News magazine is critical to the expression, discussion, and visibility of the GLBT community on campus which at this time is ignored, exploited and harassed.  This media will allow people with strong feelings on GLBT issues to speak there mind in a way conducive to change.

ARTICLE IV: Membership

Section 1: Any member of the Dickinson College community may be recognized as an active member of Pandora if she/ he/ ze demonstrates a strong passion, desire, and commitment to eliminating homophobia, heterosexism, and related forms of oppression.

Section 2: At the constitutional meeting of January 26, 2000, volunteers formed the first executive board.  As of fall of 2000, elections will be held every semester to select a new board in order to ensure a full and active team year round.

ARTICLE V: Executive Board

Section 1: The executive board shall consist of an eight to ten person committee.  The board will distribute the following responsibilities at the beginning of the semester:

• Mistress & Master of coffeehouse

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Historian

• Public relations

• Editorial board (4 persons)

These responsibilities are subject to change, and may even expand, based on growth and development of the group.

Section 2: The executive board is egalitarian and non-hierarchical.

Section 3: Attendance at the executive board meetings will be taken.  A board member missing more than three meetings per semester, without a proper excuse, will loser her/ his/ hir position on the executive board.

Section 4: Our advisors are collectively Vikki Zavales, Lonna Malmsheimer, and Sharon O'Brien.

Section 5: A vote of two thirds majority of present members may change the advisor(s) at any regular meeting.

Section 6: The leadership of board and club meetings will rotate weekly.

Section 7: Specific tasks and responsibilities (see Article IV) will be distributed equitably amongst board and club members.

ARTICLE VI: Business

Section 1: The business of Pandora is open ended and should be focused on the education and involvement of the Dickinson Community regarding GLBT issues and is only limited by the members' own creativity and ambition.

Section 2: The election will be determined by a 2/3 majority vote.

Section 3: A specific time will be designated by which ballots must be cast in a designated HUB box.

     In order for a board member to keep his/ her/ hir position, the board member must execute the duties assigned to her/ him/ hir and attend the required number of meetings.  If a board members fails to follow her/ his/ hir responsibilites, the group has the power to remove them from office by means of impeachment.  This motion for impeachment is to be heard and brought to the attention of the advisor, upon which time it will be heard by the executive board.

     One week following this motion, both the accused officer and the executive board will given the opportunity to plead their cases, and the entire organization will have the opportunity to respond.

ARTICLE VIII: Procedure for Amending the Constitution

Section 1: The constitution will be reviewed annually to determine its validity.  If the constitution is invalid, all of the necessary revisions will be made by the executive board, based upon input from all of Pandora's members.

Section 2: Any member can present a written amendment to the constitution, and to the executive board.

Section 3: Proposed amendments will be discussed at a general meeting.  Based upon the input from the general membership, the executive board shall be responsible for any and all revisions.  After proposing such revisions, the amendment will then be brought forth to the general membership for a decisive vote.

ARTICLE IX: Ratification

Section 1: A majority vote of two thirds of the general membership is required to pass any amendment to the constitution.

ARTICLE X: Finances

Section 1: No dues are to be collected for Pandora.

ARTICLE XI: Meetings

Section 1: Board meetings for Pandora will be held weekly, or bi weekly.  It is the goal of such meetings to discuss the matters that concern GLBT individuals within the Dickinson community, as well as matters that affect GLBT persons outside the Dickinson community.

ARTICLE XII: Bylaws

Section 1: All committees are to be established under this heading.

Section 2: All bylaws will be done under this heading, according to the procedures for amending this constitution.

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