Preamble

We students of integrity and intellect, in order to fulfill our mission statement and outlined purpose, do ordain and establish this constitution for the Williams College Debating Union.

Article I – Name

Williams College Debating Union (WCDU)

Article II – Purpose

Debaters of the Williams College Debate Union will seek truth, ferret out sophistry, and aspire to enlightenment through discourse, questions, and argument.

Article III – Affiliation

Member organization of American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) and World Universities Debating Council (WUDC)

Article IV – Membership

Section 1. Selection Criteria

  1. Interested members are to contact leadership to be placed on listserv. Executive Board will also engage in active recruitment and invite students as they see fit. There will be no formal requirements to join the team.
  2. To maintain standing as a team member (and thus to vote) participation in team activities is necessary. To qualify as a member in a semester or the Winter Study term it is necessary to have attended at least three meetings or participate in one tournament as a debater/judge.
  3. For returning students, membership is granted to those who were members the last semester they were on campus. This membership lasts only one semester.

Section 2. Tournament Attendance

  1. Interested members must notify VP of definitive intention to attend tournament and designated team information by the Monday before the tournament registration deadline. The VP will notify the entire team of what tournaments are available a week before the deadline. Two-thirds of the Executive Board may override this clause.
  2. Transportation Arrangements are to be finalized by VP [and Treasurer as needed] at least two days prior to filing tournament registration.
    1. In the case of (rare) logistical constraints or challenges, preference will be given to (or, when applicable, at discretion of Trainer):
      1. Non-qualifying members (on basis of Nationals points)
      2. Members with higher attendance records (when above is moot)

Article V – Executive Board/Elections

Section 1. Roles of Elected Positions

  1. President
    1. Calls meeting to order from classroom floor
    2. Organizes weekly board meeting
    3. Establishes tournament schedule
    4. Functions as Tournament Director
    5. Serves as debate ambassador for all non-finance duties (including ad campaigns, i.e. recruitment drives, and strategic planning/institutional development)
  2. Vice-President
    1. Handles Operations including, but not limited to, Registration and Transportation Arrangements
    2. Functions as enumerated Secretary (sends weekly emails to delegation prior to all meetings with meeting agenda, keeps record of board meetings and attendance)

**In the event there are co-presidents, they share the powers of the President and VP as they see fit. Further, the pair will alternate gavel and leading meetings on a weekly basis.

  1. Treasurer
    1. Responsible for filing and negotiating start-of-year budget with CC
    2. Files weekly reimbursements (and all other CC-related procedures)
    3. Holds fundraising campaigns (and alumni outreach initiatives)
    4. Responsible for end-of-year auditing process with CC
    5. Shall have the power to make signatures on behalf of the WCDU’s financial interests

Section 2. Discretionary Positions

  1. Assignment Procedure
    1. Discretionary positions will be assigned as deemed necessary by the Executive Board
    2. The President or Vice President can delegate any role to another member on the team, so long as the other member on the team consents to the delegation. At no point in time may the President or Vice-President delegate all roles to other members of the team.
    3. Delegate may rescind assigned responsibilities, thereby automatically reassigning duties to respective elected member (all positions predicated on consent of delegate to assume certain functions of elected member’s role)
    4. Elected members may rescind responsibilities from their personal delegate at their discretion.
    5. The team can also forcibly rescind responsibilities from a delegate through the process of impeachment.
  2. Assigned Roles
    1. Subject to amendment, roles may be added as needed.
    2. These assigned positions may be granted a seat on the Executive Board, granted unanimous consent of the elected board.
    3. Debate Trainer
      1. The assignment of this position is contingent on the discretion of the Executive Board, if a suitable candidate exists.
      2. Evaluates tournament speaker scores and RFDs to monitor performance
      3. Provides personalized feedback
      4. Available for one-on-one or small-scale practice sessions/speaking exercises.
      5. Responsible for curating casebook
    4. Senior Advisor
      1. The assignment of this position is contingent on the discretion of the Executive Board, if a suitable candidate exists.
      2. Must have served on the Executive Board in a previous year
      3. Serves as an advisor to the current Executive Board

Section 3. Elections and Impeachment

  1. Elections
    1. Elections must be held before the Spring Reading Period but not before Spring Break
    2. Only those qualified as team members (defined above) may vote in an election. A notice of an election must be emailed to the team two weeks prior, one week prior, and the day of the election.
    3. People may run as: President, Vice-President, Simultaneous Co-Presidents, non-simultaneous Co-Presidents, or Treasurer. No one person can have more than two elected positions at one time. A person who runs for one office and loses may run for another office in the election.
    4. Candidates running should declare all positions being run for to the Vice-President one week before the election. They should write a 200-word piece relevant to the position being run for to email to the Vice-President, which they will present to the team on the day of the election. The week prior to the election the Vice-President will email out a list of all of the candidates and their positions (noted above) to the members of the team.
    5. On the day of the election, the positions will be voted in the following order: President, Vice-President, Treasurer. Each candidate will present the piece emailed to the Vice-President. Any significant deviation from the stated position will disqualify an individual from office. After all candidates read their pieces voting will begin on the position the candidates just read for.
    6. Questioning of candidates will be allowed after the candidates have presented their positions.
      1. Each member of the team may submit one question per position to the VP, who will select no more than three questions for all three positions to answer at time of the election. Questions should be emailed to the VP by noon of the day of the election.
      2. Each candidate will have no longer than one minute to respond to each question. If the candidate’s response goes over the one-minute mark, he/she will be gaveled down.
    7. All members present will be allowed to vote for one person. Whichever candidate wins the majority will win the position. If there is no majority, then the top two candidates are kept and voting takes place again.
      1. If there is a tie for second place, eliminate all candidates who did not tie for first or second (in terms of votes) and run the election again.
    8. Vote totals shall be disclosed.
  2. Deposition of Elected Position
    1. Impeachment and conviction requires:
      1. Support of one member from elected board
      2. Formal affirmative vote by at least two-thirds of present members meeting a quorum
      3. Or four-fifths of present members meeting a quorum

Article VI – Advisor

The Executive Board may or may not elect a faculty/staff member or dino debater to serve as team advisor (on a paid or unpaid basis).

Article VII – Meetings

Section 1. Participation of Membership:

  1. The President will determine location of debate meetings prior to the beginning of the school year.
  2. Agenda (TBD prior to team meetings) & Speaking Order when applicable
  3. Attendance will be taken by VP (assuming secretarial duties, as per Article V)
  4. English is the only language officially recognized for debating purposes.

Section 2. Participation of Executive Board (and designated Appointees)

  1. One roundtable meeting per week regarding “State of Debating Union”
    1. Items of discussion will be electronically recorded:
      1. Upcoming meeting agendas
      2. Logistics for upcoming tournament
      3. Financial Matters
      4. Organization of functions (e.g. Public Debates, Social Gatherings, etc.)

Article VIII – Constitutional Adoption and Amendments

Section 1. Adoption

  1. Pursuant to the recommended guidelines set forth by the Williams College Council, a formal Constitution will be presented to the Williams College Debating Union for proper ratification given majority support by present eligible voters.

Section 2. Amendments

  1. Any member may propose an amendment. An amendment proposal must be submitted in writing or via email to the Executive Board. An amendment must be voted upon within two weeks of being proposed. All members will be notified via email by the day before the vote is set to take place of the amendment proposal and the time and place at which voting will occur. [Prior to voting the person proposing the amendment has the option to speak in favor of the amendment, for 3 minutes. Those present may then present questions.] An amendment will require majority support from those present eligible voters in order to pass. All amendments, additions, or deletions must be approved and filed with the President.

Article IX – Funding

  1. The Treasurer is responsible for budgeting and allocating funds.
  2. In approving this constitution, WCDU also acknowledges that it may fundraise of its own accord, but alumni solicitation must be coordinated through the Development Office.

Article X – Dissolution

In the event that WCDU is no longer able to fulfill its mission statement for more than two years, the Union shall be void of official recognition and shall become dormant until a student undertakes the task of reinstating the group. Quorum shall be responsible for determining whether or not WCDU is fulfilling its mission statement with at least two membership town hall meetings. Dissolution may also take place in the event that WCDU is without leadership for more than three years.