CONSTITUTION FOR THE
UNIVERSITY IOWA RIVER CITY PAGAN COMMUNITY
Preamble
We, the Assembled Pagans of the University of Iowa and surrounding area
form the River City Pagan Community, an organization of the University of
Iowa and adopt this constitution.
ARTICLE I
Purpose
The River City Pagan Community of the University of Iowa is organized to
promote tolerance, acceptance and disseminate information about the faiths
of Paganism, and to provide a forum and fellowship for Pagan students and
area Pagans.
ARTICLE II
Membership
"In no aspect, of its programs shall there be any difference in the
treatment of persons because of race, creed, color, national origin,
disability, age, gender, any consideration based on affectional, sexual, or
associational preference, or any other classification which would deprive
the person of consideration as an individual." The organization will
guarantee that equal opportunity and access to membership, programming,
facilities, and benefits shall be open to all persons.
Any person may be a member in good standing, provided: 1) that they are
Pagan or have shown that they are genuinely friendly and of good will
towards Pagan religions; 2) that they agree with the RCPC statement of
purpose and 3) that they have maintained good attendance (having attended at
least half of all meetings) for at least three consecutive months. Special
exemptions may be made for hardship or circumstance, with the approval of a
quorum of members in good standing.
ARTICLE III
Officers and Duties
Any member in good standing may be an officer of RCPC, provided that they
are members in good standing for at least three consecutive months prior to
elections. Officers must maintain exemplary attendance (at least three
meetings each month) during their term of office. Officers may be subject
to review and recall at any time, due to concerns of the membership in good
standing regarding their attendance or other performance.
There shall be six officers: two Co-Moderators, the Scribe, the Liaison,
the Webmaster and the Joke Officer.
The Co-Moderators shall be responsible for conducting the meetings,
preparing the agenda and implementing the agenda recommended. The
moderators shall conduct the meeting in such a way that all present may
participate fully and equally in any discussion.
The Scribe shall be responsible for taking down the minutes of each
meeting, and also for the archiving of those minutes, and making the minutes
available to any member. The Scribe shall also be responsible for the
coordination of resources for any activity, event, or project.
The Liaison shall be responsible for making available to the public
(including the University of Iowa) information about RCPC, its activities,
and Paganism in general. The Liaison shall also be responsible for any and
all official public contact of RCPC; and also maintenance of a contact phone
number and physical mail address. Further, the Liaison shall be responsible
for official contacts between the University of Iowa and RCPC.
The Webmaster shall be responsible for responsible for public contact and
information exchange through the world wide web, email or other electronic
media. The Webmaster will maintain the RCPC Web Page(s), email and other
electronic communications.
The Joke Officer shall not, in his or her official capacity, contribute
usefully to any meeting, project, or event of RCPC, save that this position
serves by its very existence to remind all members that officership in RCPC
confers no special status or privilege to the office holder. The Joke
Officer shall not be referred to as Joke Officer, but rather by such title
and address as selected by the Joke Officer upon taking office. Such titles
should not be unduly offensive to any member, and should in some way lampoon
institutional authority.
Given that RCPC shall not ask any member to place duty to RCPC above duty
to partners or family, and recognizing that accident, illness, or crisis
concerning self, partners, or family may prevent an officer from attending
meetings or performance of duties, it is recommended that no more than one
officer be drawn from any one household or partnership.
ARTICLE IV
Advisor
The River City Pagan Community shall have no advisor.
ARTICLE V
Meetings
Meetings shall be held weekly or at such time as the majority of attending
membership shall direct. Special Meetings for social purposes or those
meetings that commit to action or purposes which may be supported entirely
by the contributions of those directly involved may be called at one week's
notice by any assembled three members of the River City Pagan Community.
The exception to the foregoing is in the event that the meeting is to be
called for the purpose of expending funds acquired collectively or to amend
the constitution, the by-laws, or elect officers; in this case the meeting
must be announced at least three weeks in advance and both published in
public forum for each of those three weeks and the officers will announce
this at each of three preceding meetings and make attempt to notify all
persons attending meeting in the preceding three months. A quorum shall be
a majority of the total attendees or 6 members, whichever is larger. All
decisions are made, including elections, based on a consensus of the members
in good standing.
ARTICLE VI
Consensus
River City Pagan Community makes all decisions by consensus of members in
good standing (or at least all those at a regularly scheduled meeting).
Consensus is a process that allows for all members concerns to be met. A
topic or issue is discussed by those at a meeting, and everyone's opinion is
sought. Eventually, someone suggests a plan of action -- makes a proposal.
If response is enthusiastic and support is general, members are asked to
state their concerns. The proposal is gradually modified until concerns are
met. The plan is solidified when all members in good standing agree that it
best meets both the circumstances and the needs of RCPC.
If complete agreement can not be met, members in good standing who do not
agree with the plan may choose to either "stand aside" or "block" consensus.
To "stand aside" means that while they cannot support the plan, they do not
feel strongly enough about it to block the decision and are willing to let
the plan go ahead. A member in good standing who has a significant concerns
with the plan may actually block the group from carrying out the plan. In
such cases, the member will be asked to explain their concerns and give the
group the opportunity to change the plan to meet those concerns. If they
unable to do so, the plan will not be implemented. Only when all members in
good standing agree to the decision is consensus reached.
Changing policies or plans previously decided by RCPC consensus because
members involved have changed their mind or brought up new concerns, or
because there are new members with concerns, requires consensus of the
change, not the original decision. Members are welcome to bring these
concerns to the attention of RCPC, but may not block an already existing
plan or policy.
ARTICLE VII
Elections
Elections shall be held twice a year at the meeting closest after Beltaine
(May 1) and Samhain (Oct. 31). Elections are decided by a consensus of a
quorum of members in good standing.
ARTICLE VIII
Finances
No dues are required for membership. Such moneys as may accrue are to be
kept by the Treasurer in a financially responsible manner. He shall keep
and disburse funds at the direction of the membership and in accordance to
this constitution and the By-laws. Upon dissolution state money and
mandatory student fees revert back to the granting organization. Group fees
should be divided as stated in the constitution, as follows. In the event
that the River City Pagan Community should be dissolved any funds
accumulated shall first be used to pay outstanding debts, if any. Then at
the election of the majority vote of the membership as provided above the
money will be used to hold a celebration of appropriate solemnity to Eris or
such deities as the assembled pagans deem appropriate.
ARTICLE IX
Amendments
Amendments to the Constitution will be made by consensus vote of the
membership as noted above, and all amendments or changes to the constitution
must be submitted to the Student Activities Board for approval.
ARTICLE X
Ratification
Ratification of this constitution was made by a consensus of the assembled
Pagans at three consecutive meetings after approval by the University
authorities in 1995. Last amendments were made by the consensus of a quorum
of members in good standing on Feb. 24, 1997.
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Page Last Updated June 25th 1997