The Constitution of the MIT Handbell Ensemble
Article I : Purpose
The purpose of the MIT Handbell Ensemble is primarily to provide for its members opportunities for expressing themselves through music.  This would be achieved specifically through, but not limited to, the learning, practice, and performance of the art of handbell playing; and the arrangement of handbell music.  Our secondary aim is to share these musical experiences with the MIT community as a whole by, but not limited to, giving public performances, holding workshops, and hosting guest performing groups.  It is specifically not the purpose of this organization to practice the art of playing commonly known as change ringing, a type of handbell playing involving permuting the order of sounding the bells according to formal mathematical rules called methods.
Article II : Membership
1. 	Any member of the MIT community is eligible to become a member of this organization. 
2. 	The membership of this organization will at all times contain at least 5 MIT students and be more than half MIT students. 
3. 	This organization will not discriminate based on any characteristic listed in MIT's Nondiscrimination Statement. 
4. 	If this organization charges any monetary dues, there will be exceptions made for students that cannot afford these dues. 
Article III : Officers
1. 	This organization will have three officers: 
1. 	President 
1. 	The president shall be the official representative of the group to any other organization and to MIT. 
2. 	The president will preside over all meetings. 
3. 	The president is responsible for determining when meetings are and publicizing this to the group. 
2. 	Vice-president 
1. 	The vice-president shall take on the responsibilities of the president in his or her absence. 
2. 	The vice-president shall assist the president in running meetings.
3. 	The vice-president shall be responsible for recording the outcome of votes and other important business of the organization, and for maintaining a list of current members.
3. 	Treasurer 
1. 	The treasurer shall be responsible for the finances of the group. 
2. 	The treasurer is required to sign all checks/vouchers of the group.
2. 	All officers of this organization must be distinct persons and MIT students.
3. 	Elections: 
1. 	Elections of officers shall occur annually at the first meeting in the month of May.
2. 	Additional elections shall occur in the event an officer is removed from office or is otherwise unable to continue for the remainder of their term.  These elections shall elect a replacement for the remainder of the term of office only.
3. 	Any member of this organization is eligible to run for office. 
4. 	Quorum for elections is two-thirds of the group. 
5. 	Any member is elected if he or she wins a majority of the voting members. 
6. 	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. 
7. 	The term of office runs from June 1 until May 31. 
4. 	Removal : Officers may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the members. 
Article IV : Meetings
1. 	Meetings shall be held at least every month. 
2. 	Meetings shall be presided over by the president, unless he is absent, and in that case the treasurer shall preside. 
3. 	All decisions shall be made by a majority vote of all members present. 
4. 	Quorum for a meeting shall be one quarter of the members of the organization. 
Article V : Amendments
1. 	Amendments shall be presented by any member of the organization. 
2. 	Amendments shall be passed by a two-thirds vote of the members present. 
3. 	Quorum for amending this constitution shall be one-third of all members of the organization. 
Article VI : ASA god clause
The MIT Handbell Ensemble 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.