Constitution of the Drexel Democrats

Article I – Name

The name of this organization shall be the Drexel University College Democrats, hereafter referred to in this document as the Drexel Democrats.


Article II – Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the Drexel Democrats is to organize and mobilize support on campus for various local, state, and national Democratic Party candidates for political office. Furthermore, the goal of this organization is to raise awareness of issues and ideas consistent with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.

Drexel Democrats pledge to perform these actions by organizing and supplying volunteers for campaigns, sponsoring and planning campaign events, encouraging and sponsoring voter registration as well as voting in the general elections.


Article III – Membership

  1. Members – Membership shall be extended to any full-time undergraduate student currently and actively enrolled in Drexel University who wishes to be known as a Drexel Democrat, regardless of sex, gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, or sexual orientation.
  2. Members shall not be required to pay membership dues.

Article IV- Executive Board

  1. All positions will be elected once yearly at the General Elections, to be held in January.
  2. The Executive Board members shall determine the agenda and policy of the College Democrats and coordinate all activities and events.
  3. Change: Addition or subtraction of a position to the Executive Board shall occur when a 2/3 majority vote is attained by the membership.
  4. Executive Board Meetings: The Executive Board shall meet once per week, or more if necessary, while school is in session.

Article V – Advisors

  1. The Drexel Democrats require one faculty advisor, who is to be a full time faculty or staff member.
  2. The faculty advisor shall be selected by the President and confirmed by majority vote of the Executive Board.
  3. The faculty advisor shall serve one year terms. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the faculty advisor shall be subject to a vote of confidence by the Executive Board. A majority vote is required for retention.
  4. The faculty advisor may resign at anytime.
  5. In the event of a vacancy, the President is responsible for selecting a new faculty advisor to be confirmed by the Executive Board.

Article VI – Executive Board

  1. The Executive Board is composed of the officers who hold the following positions:
    1. President
    2. Internal Vice President
    3. External Vice President
    4. Treasurer
    5. Political Communications Director
  2. The responsibilities of the officers are:
    1. The President calls meetings, sets the agenda, communicates with local media, and sets the general goals for College Democrats for the year.
    2. The Internal Vice President is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the infrastructure of the organization. This officer administers meetings in the President's absence, forms and oversees any internal committees and stays in touch with other internal officers and chairs to see that they are meeting their goals. Similarly, the Internal Vice President is responsible for all internal correspondence of the organization.
    3. The External Vice President oversees all external outlets of the Drexel Democrats. Thus, this officer keeps contact with and communicates with local democrat and grassroots organizations, assists in planning events, organizes election efforts, and is responsible for the formation of any external committees.
    4. The Treasurer manages the organization’s finances, supervises fundraising activities and attends Drexel SOOT/SAFAC meetings. In short, the treasurer is responsible for providing and allocating the monetary funds needed to meet the organization’s internal and external goals.
    5. The Political Communications Director is responsible for external correspondence of the organization, including writing press releases, maintaining the organizations weblog, communicating with the media in the president’s absence, and assists in the creation of dialogue with Drexel students and its community.
  3. Any Drexel student elected by a general body meeting of College Democrat members can become an officer.
  4. Elections for officer positions shall be held once a year, every year, during the first thirty days of the winter semester.
  5. A general body meeting shall be held, and voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
    1. Nominations may be made at any time up to and including the day of the election.
    2. Voting may be done in absentia by a method to be determined by the Executive Board.
    3. Members need not be present at the election meeting to be elected.
  6. If there is a vacancy in a position during the year, nominations for the position are taken by the President or Vice President and a full body meeting votes on the nominees. The winner receives a majority of those members present at the meeting. If no clear majority emerges, a runoff election involving the two highest vote getters for a particular office will be held.
  7. If an officer participates in behavior unbecoming of the office or organization, the officer may be impeached and removed from office by a 4/5 vote of the Executive Board (excluding the officer in question), but can appeal this decision by a vote of the majority of members at a full body meeting called by the President.

Article VII – Standing Committees and Chairmanships

  1. Standing Committees shall be created and dissolved by majority vote of the Executive Board.
  2. At the discretion and appointment of the president and vice-presidents, committees and chairmanships may be created on a temporary basis. Such appointments include Campus Outreach Chairman (responsible for recruitment, retention, and promotion on campus), Fundraising Chairman (responsible for fundraising opportunities and merchandise), Events Chairman (responsible for organizing Drexel Democrat-sponsored events), and Elections Chairman (responsible for organizing election-based activities).

Article VIII – Meetings

  1. General body meetings shall be held biweekly.
  2. Executive Board meetings shall be held biweekly on alternating weeks as the general body meetings.
  3. The President may call special meetings with twenty-four hour notification to the organization.
  4. The entire Executive Board must vote (be present or by proxy) on issues before it.
  5. Quorum for general body decisions is 3 officers of the Executive Board and any number of attending members.

Article IX – Mandatory Tasks of the Drexel Democrats

  1. Campaign Work
    1. The Drexel Democrats are expected to work on at least one campaign during the election cycle each year.
    2. These campaigns must be for Democratic candidates on the local, state, or national level.
  2. Get Out The Vote Drives
    1. The College Democrats are expected to hold at least two voting drives per year.
    2. These drives are to encourage students to vote and should give all the opportunity to register regardless of party designation.
    3. The Drexel Democrats are encouraged to co-sponsor and promote these events, as well as others, with the College Republicans.

Article X - Ratification

The Constitution shall go into effect when it signed unanimously the Executive Board.


Article XI - Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments will be submitted to the Executive Board. At least 2/3 of the Executive Board and a simple majority of the body must approve of an amendment before it can be incorporated into the Constitution.


Article XII - Dissolution

  1. A motion for dissolution may be brought by any member of the Executive Board, or by a majority vote of the general body.
  2. Within four weeks the motion must be voted on by the organization. To pass, the motion must be unanimously approved by the Executive Board and two-thirds majority of the general body.

Article XI - Amendments to the Constitution


Revision Dates: 11/15/2005