Bylaws of the
Voices
Against Cruelty, Hatred and Intolerance
(“VACHI”)
ARTICLE I: NAME AND
Section 1: This club
shall be known as the
Section 2: The club’s mission is defined in the following mission statement:
“To educate students, parents, and teachers
about the consequences of hate related behavior with the goal of reducing/
eliminating it in the future.”
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE
Section 1: The purpose of this club is to educate students, parents, and teachers about the consequences of hate- related behavior with the goal of reducing/ eliminating it in the future. With this, it is the club’s responsibility to disseminate its “No Hate” message to teachers, parents and to students. Also, the purpose of this club is to look out for students who may be victims of hate- related behavior; if any member sees another student being victimized by hate behavior, the member must immediately speak to the violator and inform him/her that their actions constitute hate behavior, and, if any physical or emotional harm resulted to immediately report the incident to high school administration.
Section 2: For VACHI purposes, the following definitions are provided:
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Any ________ High School student may join VACHI as a member at any time during the school year by signing a membership application, an example of which is attached in Appendix A. Membership applications are available during club sign up week and on VACHI’s website – www.vachi.net. Membership applications can be turned in during club sign up week or anytime thereafter to the current Faculty Advisor.
Section 2: Once a student becomes a member of VACHI, they are obligated to:
a. Personally uphold the bylaws of VACHI and to uphold VACHI’s mission statement.
b. Not commit any hate- motivated behavior.
Section 3: Should any member of VACHI observe any hate motivated behavior on or adjacent to campus they are obligated to:
a. Personally confront the violator and let them know that their actions constitute hate-motivated behavior and remind them of the consequences that could result if they had been caught by a teacher or administrator. Consequences can be found in the school’s discipline guide available in the front office and on EDLINE.
b. Report the violation to high school administration if the action resulted in physical or emotional harm to another student.
ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS/ RELEVANT
AUTHORITY
Section 1. VACHI officers shall only be allowed to serve the office they bestow if they are committed to the cause of VACHI and that they support the mission of VACHI. The Founding offices of VACHI are:
President:
Vice President:
Treasurer:
Secretary:
Club Advisor:
Principal (ex- officio member):
Vice Principal (ex- officio member):
a. The founding President of the Club shall automatically assume office, and to assume continuity, will remain as president for two years. He shall appoint all members that need to be appointed to any committees that the club determines are necessary for the club’s operation. For the third and any subsequent years, all elections for offices, including President, shall take place at a meeting near the end of the year designated by the President. Any person who is a committed, current member of VACHI shall have the opportunity to run for any office. The elections shall be fair and impartial and shall achieve the message of democracy. The candidate with the most votes will win any election. In the event of a tie, a majority vote of the existing officers will decide which of the two candidates will win. If there is only one candidate for a position and if there is no objections from the any member of the group, the vote shall proceed to voice vote and if the majority of those members voting vote “yes”, that member shall be elected to the position they seek. It is the President’s duty to run the club and uphold the bylaws. In addition, the President shall uphold the will of the members. It is also the president’s duty to appoint replacements in the event of any mid year officer vacancy.
b. The Vice-President shall be the second-in-command for the President. To insure continuity, the founding vice president shall also serve two years. In the event that the President is unavailable to attend a meeting that is already scheduled, the Vice President shall preside over the meeting. In the event a President resigns during any part of a school year, the Vice President shall automatically assume the role of President and shall appoint a new Vice President. The Vice President shall work with the President on issues that are important to VACHI and shall uphold the will of the members and like the President, uphold the bylaws.
c. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep minutes of meetings.
d. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to account for any funds received or spent by VACHI. Funds received or spent by the other officers shall be accounted for by them to the Treasurer.
Section 2: VACHI members shall retain their membership
throughout their tenure as high school students provided they continue to
uphold the VACHI mission. Membership
does not need to be formally renewed at the start of each school year.
Article V: MEETINGS
Section 1: Meetings shall take place at the discretion of the President and the President at any time can set a meeting for any appropriate purpose. The President also has discretion to cancel any meeting for any purpose. There shall be at least two meetings every year; an introduction meeting in the beginning of the year and a concluding meeting where elections will take place at the end of the year. In addition, there shall as many meetings as necessary each semester to discuss ideas that members have to help implement VACHI’s mission.
Section 2: The location of any meeting shall take place at any location at __________ high school or any location outside of school, both of which are up to the President to decide with the approval of necessary high school administration/faculty. Meetings will be posted by notice at school, in the daily bulletin, and via email. Meetings shall be peaceful and if anyone disrupts any of the meetings, they shall be asked to leave the meeting by the President.
Section 3: It is hoped that all members will attend meetings during the year. Meeting attendance, however, is optional provided the member is upholding VACHI’s mission statement in his or her daily life.
ARTICLE VI: REMOVAL AND
DISMISSAL
Section 1: VACHI officers and members are required to uphold the bylaws and remain committed to the mission of VACHI. If the President finds out from any member of VACHI or from any person that is not a member of VACHI that a member is not committed to the mission of VACHI, or if any member was referred to and disciplined by high school administration for hate motivated behavior, the President shall review the relevant facts and investigate by any means necessary. If the President finds sufficient evidence, he/ she shall refer the member to the officers who will vote on whether the member should be removed from the Club. Before any vote to expel, the referred member shall have the right to speak to the board and discuss the incident. A unanimous vote of the officers is necessary for removal.
Section 2: If the referred member is an officer, the highest ranking officer will conduct the investigation and a unanimous vote of the remaining officers is needed to remove the officer.
ARTICLE VII: PROBATION
Section 1: Any member removed pursuant to Article VI above may apply for readmission the year following removal. Upon application of a removed member, the President shall refer the request to the Club officers. If approved by a majority vote, the referred member shall be re-admitted and shall be on probation for the rest of the school year. If the referred member is not re-admitted, they can not apply for re-admission ever again.
ARTICLE VIII: POWERS OF THE PRINCIPAL/ __________ HIGH
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
Section 1: The Principal and Vice Principal shall serve as ex-officio members of VACHI. However, the Principal and Vice Principal can not vote on any resolution that comes before VACHI. In addition, they are not mandated to attend any meetings, however if they choose to do so, they may sit with the officers for that meeting.
Section 2: The Principal or his/her representative shall reserve the right to approve all activities of the club, and if need be, has the power to veto any of the activities that have been voted on by the membership. .
ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS
Section 1: These by-laws may be amended by a two thirds vote of the Officers. A potential amendment may be introduced by the President, any officer, or by any member of the club. The amendment shall be discussed at a meeting where every member of the club shall have an opportunity to be heard. Once everyone has been heard, the proposed amendment shall proceed to a vote. In order to be approved, the amendment shall be approved by two-thirds of the Officers and 50% of the members voting at the meeting.
SIGNATORIES
______________________________ Founding President
______________________________ Founding Vice President
______________________________ Founding Secretary
______________________________ Founding Treasurer
_____________________________ Date: __________________
Faculty Advisor
_____________________________ Date: __________________
Principal
APPENDIX 1
Voices
Against Cruelty, Hatred and Intolerance
(VACHI) CLUB
MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT
I, ____________________________, support VACHI’s mission to
spread awareness of the consequences of hate-motivated behavior to
“To educate, students, parents,
and teachers about the consequences of hate- related behavior with the goal of
reducing/ eliminating it in the future.”
As a member of VACHI, I promise not to engage in any hate motivated behavior. Hate- motivated behavior is any act or statement motivated by hostility towards a victim’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, immigrant status, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, or any other physical or cultural characteristic. I shall encourage my classmates to also refrain from such behavior. Should I observe any violations, I am obligated to take at least one of the following actions:
a. Talk personally to the violator and let them know that their actions demonstrate hate motivated behavior. I will remind them of the consequences that could result if they had been caught by a teacher or administrator.
b. If the action resulted in physical or emotional harm to another student, I am obligated to report the violator to a teacher, administrator, or School counselor.
As a member of VACHI,
I hereby authorize
_____________________________________________ _______________
Signature Date
Student Name: ________________________________ Class of: _______
Student E-mail:_______________________________ Student Phone:___________
Parent E – mail ______________________________ Home Phone: ____________
Home Address: _______________________________