THE CONSTITUTION OF THE HELLENIC STUDENT ASSOCIATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Note: The following document was written on October 1998. It includes amendments from the original constitution that was written in October of 1974, and was revised and printed in December of 1991. The following organization originated from the Greek and Cypriot Student Associations.

Article 1: Name

The name of the organization is "Hellenic Student Association at the University of Minnesota" and the abbreviated title is "HSA".

Article 2: Purpose

The organization shall exist for the following purposes:

1. To inform the University community, the Greek students and the Greek/American community on the political, social and cultural events of Greece and their relevance to similar developments in the international community.
2. To present and preserve the Greek history and culture in the University and general community.
3. To support and help the Greek students of the University of Minnesota as well as every other Greek person.
4. To organize cultural events and programs for the realization of the above stated goals.

Article 3: Principles

We accept as our principles:

1. The Human Rights laws given under the constitution of the United Nations.
2. The respect of the just struggle of every human being against oppression and any kind of human rights violation, as indicated above.

Article 4: Organization

• Paragraph 1 : The General Assembly is the highest authority and provides proper administrative direction and framework of action.
• Paragraph 2 : The HSA committee must call three formal meetings each year. The first meeting must take place within the first two weeks of the fall semester, the second meeting is to occur in the beginning of January, and the third at the end of the spring semester.
• Paragraph 3 : The General Assembly decides upon events and functions of the organization. It can designate subcommittees to act on specific functions and it audits previous functions and welcomes new members in the organization.
• Paragraph 4 : During the Spring meeting there are voting procedures to elect the council of the group, that takes over leadership duties in the Fall meeting.

Aricle 5: Formation of the HSA Committee

The ruling committee is made up of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and one member. These positions are elected from the General Assembly with a secret vote. The members of the HSA committee are the representatives of the group toward third parties or organization

Aricle 6: Functions of the administration

The HSA committee:

1. Organizes and coordinates the functions and events that have been decided by the General Assembly. It can also act independently within the organizations principles when deemed necessary.
2. Performs the financial audit of the events and takes initiatives for the involvement of members in various tasks and functions.
3. Maintains a member list and keeps books with assets and expenses.
4. Convenes the General Assembly, stating the date, time, and place of the meeting.
5. Can call urgent meetings if there are reasons for it, or if one third of the members request it.

Aricle 7: Validity of meetings, conferences and decisions

• Paragraph 1 : A majority of the members has to be present in the Spring meeting for any decision making to be valid (i.e. the election of a new HSA committee). If a majority of members is not present, a second meeting must be called within a week. In this case, the presence of the majority of members is not required for the meeting to be valid. The views of the minority are respected and recorded if requested.
• Paragraph 2 : The HSA committee can convene if the majority of its members is present and a voting majority is required for any decision to be valid.

Aricle 8: To amend the Constitution

The amendment of the present constitution is possible if 75% of the members of the General Assembly vote to do so. Any provisions of this constitution that contradict the rules of the University of Minnesota regarding the function of student associations are automatically revised to be in accordance with the rules of the University.

Aricle 9: Participation

• Paragraph 1 : Membership is open to all students, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, creed, marital status, public assistance status, or sexual orientation.
• Paragraph 2 : All the enrolled students of the University of Minnesota that accept the present constitution are welcome. Each student of Greek origin that accepts the constitution becomes immediately a member of the HSA. Up to 1/3 of the HSA members may be non-student members, if they: (a) accept the constitution, (b) participate in events of the HSA and (c) are proposed by a current member and become accepted by the general assembly. The non-student members can be up to 1/3 of the total number of members. If at any time the non-student members are more than 1/3 of the total members, then enough number of non-student members will have to, either voluntarily or by random drawing, abstain from any voting procedures so that their total voting power shall not exceed the 1/3 of the total members.
• Paragraph 3 : A member, in view of the HSA purpose and principles, has no meaning as a mere name on a list. It is understood that members actively contribute and participate in the various functions according to their abilities. Under this spirit, every member should volunteer their services to achieve the group goals and try to support everyone of the programs involved. Every member must participate and pay a yearly fee, collected annually in the Fall meeting for the needs of the group.
• Paragraph 4 : Any member who violates these principles or does not participate in any of the activities of the HSA for a period of one year ceases to be a member, provided that the majority of the General Assembly votes on this.

Minneapolis, Minnesota October 30, 1998