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:
- 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.
- To present and preserve the Greek history and culture in the University
and general community.
- To support and help the Greek students of the University of Minnesota
as well as every other Greek person.
- To organize cultural events and programs for the realization of the
above stated goals.
Article 3: Principles
We accept as our principles:
- The Human Rights laws given under the constitution of the United Nations.
- The respect of the just struggle of every human being against
oppression and any kind of human rights violation, as indicated above.
We accept the cooperation of every person and organization that approves
of our principles.
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:
- 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.
- Performs the financial audit of the events and takes initiatives for
the involvement of members in various tasks and functions.
- Maintains a member list and keeps books with assets and expenses.
- Convenes the General Assembly, stating the date, time, and place of the
meeting.
- 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