The Constitution of the Black Women's Alliance

Article I: Mission

The mission of the Black Women's Alliance is:

  • To provide a forum to address the needs and concerns of Black women undergraduate students at MIT;
  • To promote the awareness of Black women's issues in the MIT community through activities designed to increase the visibility of Black women on campus;
  • To encourage interaction with other campus groups;
  • To encourage the scholarship of Black women at MIT; and
  • To promote activism, unity, friendship, and community.

Article II: Membership

  • Any member of the MIT community is eligible to become a member of this organization. One is considered a member of this organization in any given academic term if he/she has paid her yearly dues. However, there will be exceptions made for students who cannot afford these dues.
  • The organization’s membership will at all times consist of at least five (5) MIT students and be more than half MIT students.
  • This organization will not discriminate based on any characteristic listed in MIT's Nondiscrimination Statement.

Article III: Officers

  • A Collective Board comprised of individuals chosen by their peers to lead the organization will govern this organization.
  • On the Collective Board, there are no distinct positions because everyone is working together to achieve the same goal. With this in mind, any member of the Board is able to “change their role” throughout the term on the Board in order to have more of a role on projects for which they have more passion and interest.

[The Collective Board has since been changed to an Executive Board style of governance. This change is noted in the Amendments section of the Constitution. The process by which Board members are elected, the length of their term, etc. remains the same as noted subsequently in this section.]

  • All officers of this organization must be distinct persons and MIT students.
  • Elections:
    • Elections of officers shall occur once each school year.
    • Any member of this organization is eligible to run for office.
    • Quorum for elections is two thirds of the group.
    • Any member is elected if she wins a majority of the voting members.
    • If more than two people are running and no one wins a majority, then the person with the fewest votes is dropped from the ballot and votes are recast.
    • The term of office runs from the Transition Board Meeting held after the elections until the Elections Meeting (i.e. the last General Body Meeting of the year) of the following year. 

5. Removal: Officers may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the members.

Article IV: General Body Meetings (GBM)

  • At least two GBMs will be held every semester.
  • Meetings shall be presided over by the Board member chosen to lead that GBM.
  • All decisions shall be made by a majority vote of all members present.
  • Quorum for a meeting shall be one quarter of the members of the organization.

Article V: Amendments

  • Any member of the organization shall present amendments.
  • A two-thirds voted of the members present shall pass amendments.
  • Quorum for amending this constitution shall be one third of all members of the organization.

Article VI: ASA Governance Clause

The Black Women's Alliance agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Association of Student Activities, and its executive board. This constitution, amendments to it, and the by-laws of this organization shall be subject to review by the ASA Executive Board to insure that they are in accordance with the aforementioned rules and regulations.

Amendment I: Executive Board
After governing the Black Women's Alliance with a Collective Board for seven (7) years, it was determined that this style of governance was not effective for the organization. Therefore, an Executive Board comprised of the following members will henceforth govern the Black Women’s Alliance.

Co-chairs (2)

  • Serve as facilitator at meetings.
  • Create an agenda to be sent out at least one day before all meetings
  • Effectively delegate duties and responsibilities, namely making sure that every action plan has an overseer.
  • “The Voice”--- Serve as liaison and main contact person between BWA members and faculty at the Institute.
  • In conjunction with the Treasurer, apply for FinBoard funding

Treasurer (1)

  • Create and monitor the BWA budget.
  • Submit bi-weekly reports of BWA’s financial status during exec-board meetings.
  • Attend various MIT funding meetings (don’t know how to word…but basically they have to go to the FINBOARD meetings, etc to get funding for BWA)
  • In conjunction with the Co-chairs, apply for FinBoard funding 

Secretary (1)

  • Record minutes for all meetings and distribute to general body (or BWA Exec only…whatever you think is best.)
  • Notifies BWA Exec of upcoming Exec Board meetings

Public Relations chair (1)

  • Notify all general body members of location and time of all events
  • Maintain an active list of all completed BWA events
  • Responsible for maintaining correspondence with other social and professional organizations at MIT.
  • Assists Co-Chairs in serving as liaison between members, the Institute, and other external organizations.

Social Committee (5)

  • Overall Duty of Social Committee: Create a draft of semester calendar by soliciting input from organization members
  • 1 chair:
    • Serve as main coordinator and publicist of BWA social activities (Internal Activities---BWA Only AND External Activities----Joint Activities with other organizations)
    •  
  • 1 Representative from each class:
    • Create BWA activities (everyone can attend) that tailor to the needs of their class
    • Be responsible for at least one main BWA activity as follows:
      • Senior Class Rep: Coordinator of Big/Little Sister Program – pair members and coordinate activities
      • Junior Class Rep: Coordinator of BWA Cares – at least once a semester (esp. around stressful times) create an activity that sends well wishes to the members (possibly goodie bags, maybe a study break, etc.)
      • Sophomore Class Rep: Community Service Coordinator – create at least one community service opportunity per semester
      • Freshman Class Rep: Choose your Own Program – activity is dependent upon the representative’s experience
    • Create a more formal way of soliciting feedback from the peers in your class (i.e. what is going good/bad, what could be changed, etc.) possibly through the BWA website or through surveys
    • Send out emails specifically to members of your class to galvanize interest in BWA events

Webmaster (1)

  • Maintains BWA website
  • Part of the Executive Board, but does not necessarily have to attend Exec-Board Meetings

Historian (1)

  • Maintains a record of all BWA events (including descriptions of events (i.e. Itemized Reports) and pictures taken at all events)
  • Part of the Executive Board, but does not necessarily have to attend Exec-Board Meetings

Amendment II: Executive Board Meetings (EBM)

  • EBMs shall be held at least once every week, unless cancelled by the Co-Chairs.
  • Meetings shall be presided over by the Co-Chairs, unless both are absent, in which case the Secretary shall preside.
  • All decisions shall be made by a majority vote of all members present.
  • Quorum for a meeting shall be one quarter of the members of the Executive Board.