Mecha de Yale Constitution

Preamble
Mecha de Yale is a pursuit of greater gains by individuals united with one another, not content with the status quo, but instead striving to bring about respect and equality in an environment which fosters ignorance. The energy to lead Mecha de Yale stems from the creative consciousness of its members, los Estudiantes, driven not by self-righteous motives but by the firm belief that united as an organization, the interests of the greater Latine community can be attained. The spirit that guides these Estudiantes is the roots of their respective histories and the desire for a better tomorrow. As members of Mecha at Yale University, we recognize our founding roots with the National Chicano Movimiento and the National ME(ChA) organization.  Mecha de Yale is its own organization and aims to reflect the diversity of our communities.

Article I: Name
The name of the organization shall be Mecha de Yale. Per reference throughout this document, it shall be “Mecha.”

Article II: Mission Statement/Essence
We, Mecha de Yale, recognize the history of Latines at Yale that has brought us here today. Mecha seeks to foster, empower, and strengthen a Latine community in the Yale and New Haven area, through communication and cooperation while respecting all segments of our community. Mecha de Yale seeks to promote social, cultural, political, and educational empowerment and awareness for the broader Latine community.

Article III: Membership

Anyone shall have the right to join Mecha de Yale.

Section 1: Requirements for member status

Clause 1: Members are entitled within meetings to the following:

  1. Express issues of concern, both personal and those affecting the community.
    B. Propose a new action or activity.
    C. Share expressions of culture.
    D. Social support from the Mecha community.

Clause 2: Members outside of the meeting are:

  1. Expected to participate in and attend Mecha events.
    B. Entitled to express their individual opinions as members of Mecha, recognizing that there are a diversity of views within Mecha.
    C. Expected to promote cultural consciousness.

Article IV: The Steering Committee

Section 1: Offices

  1. Moderators, Treasurer, Secretary, Historian, Social Chair, Conexiones Chairs, Community Action Chairs, New Member Liaison, and Social Media Representative will serve on the Steering Committee. 

Section 2: Responsibilities

  1. The Steering Committee is responsible for:
  2. Meeting on a bi-weekly basis.
    2. Discussing and assembling a working agenda for the semester.
    3. Developing and updating the yearly budget.
    4. Overlooking large-scale activities.
    5. Voting on issues pertinent only to the committee.

Section 3: Voting within The Steering Committee

  1. Voting will take place openly, to pursue channels of discussion when a consensus does not exist.
  2. For a vote to be executed within the Committee, ¾ the presiding steering committee must be present. 
  3. For a vote to pass within the Committee, ⅔ must agree. 
  4. Abstention is an option for members that are not swayed.

Article V. Voting

All decisions on issues, candidates, or otherwise will be reached in the following manner:

Section 1. All election voting shall be done through Yale Connect and verified by an administrator at La Casa Cultural.  If there is no majority for any candidate, then a run-off by the two highest vote-getters must be held. A majority will determine the winner of a run-off.

Section 2. All decisions on issues will be made through an in-person vote via a public raise of hands. A majority will determine the issue. 

Section 3. Voter eligibility: A member must attend four general meetings during the previous or current semester to be eligible to vote. The Secretary shall collect attendance by typing their name down in meeting notes. This requirement is waived for first-semester members (first-years, transfer students, etc.).

Article VI: Committees

Section 1. The general body of Mecha shall establish standing committees. The standing committees are:

  1. Conexiones Committee (CC)
    B. Social Chair (SC)
    C. Community Action Chair (CAC)
    D. Ad-hocs

Section 2. Committee requirements:

  1. Each committee must report to the general membership as needed.
    B. The general voting membership must approve all final committee decisions regarding the entire Mecha body.

Section 3. Conexiones Committee Chair’s responsibilities

  1. Develop relationships with New Haven Latine organizations that will support the Conexiones program. 
  2. Recruit Conexiones mentors and develop a plan to train and support their mentorship (including travel, scheduling, and curriculum).
  3. Outreach to New Haven high school students to participate in the Conexiones program. 
  4. Create and/or update a Conexiones curriculum to guide mentor-mentee discussions. 
  5. Organize a meeting schedule every semester with mentors, mentees, and leadership in the partner New Haven organization.  
  6. Create and maintain records of the Conexiones program.

Section 4. Social Committee Chair’s responsibilities

  1. Head fundraising activities in collaboration with the Treasurer and other Committee members.
    B. Look over social and fundraising events.
    C. Coordinate Pre-frosh events throughout the year in conjunction with New Member Liaisons.
    D. Coordinate annual retreats, initiation, and other general events that are executed.

Section 5. Community Action Committee Chair’s responsibilities

  1. Develop community service and organizing efforts for Mecha.
    B. Establish a working relationship with Dwight Hall.
    C. Maintain relationships and work in solidarity with New Haven-based community partners, including attending weekly Unidad Latina En Acción (ULA) meetings. 
  2. Maintain relationships with sister organizations and other social justice organizations on campus.

Article VII: Elections

Section 1. Terms of Office

  1. Fiscal year begins the last meeting of the Fall semester.
    B. Terms of office of the Moderators, Treasurer, Secretary, Historian, Social Chair, Conexiones Chairs, Community Action Chairs, New Member Liaison, and Social Media Representative will be year-long. They will be elected at the end of the fall term.

Section 2. Nominations

  1. Nominations are open to any Yale-Mecha affiliate.
    B. Nominations for each office should be made at a Mecha meeting at least one week in anticipation of the election.
    C. Nominations will remain open until one week before the elections.
    D. Nominees must be present (physically or virtually) at the election and present a speech to be considered for elections.
  2. Nominees must be eligible to vote to be nominated. 

Section 3. Resignations

  1. In case of a resignation, the Steering Committee will appoint an emergency replacement.
    B. These new officer(s) are temporary until the meeting following the resignations; at this point, elections will be held as described in Article VII.

Article VIII: Offices

Section 1. Types of offices.

  1. The offices shall consist of a Moderator, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a PAC Chair, an SC Chair, a CC Chair, and New Member Liaisons.
    B. An individual cannot hold more than one position 

Section 2. The Moderator.
Responsibilities:

  1. To call and conduct general meetings.
    B. To call and conduct Steering Committee meetings.
    C. Moderator must create a weekly agenda before the general meeting and share it.
  2. Moderators must submit a weekly newsletter to the Secretary.
    E. Moderators must meet monthly with the Cultural Center Assistant Director.
    F. Moderators are responsible for keeping in contact with alumni.
    G. Moderators are official spokes person for Mecha de Yale.
  3. Moderators must meet with the Treasurer bi-monthly. 
  4. Moderators must document contact information for graduating Mecha members.

Section 3. Treasurer
Responsibilities:

  1. To act as Moderator in the absence of the acting Moderator.
    B. To draft and update a budget for the semester’s expenses.
    C. Treasurer must meet bi-monthly with the Associate Director of La Casa.
    D. Responsible for applying for funds from the university every semester (UOFC, Dean’s office, Dwight Hall, etc).
    E. To be the contact person for other campus organizations for collaborations that require funding. 
  2. Call meetings regarding event requests and funding interests from the Steering Committee and the general body. 
  3. Be transparent with the budget and manage the bank account.

Section 4. Secretary
Responsibilities:

  1. Must record and distribute minutes for the Steering Committee and general meetings.
    B. Must take attendance at each general meeting and upload notes into google drive.
    C. Must write up and distribute the agenda provided by the Moderator.
    D. Must coordinate with Moderators about the weekly newsletter and send it out.
    E. Must record any Mecha statement to alumni, administration, press, etc.

Section 5. Social Media Chair
Responsibilities:

  1. Create aesthetic, engaging posts for Mecha events and collaborations
  2. Maintain upkeep of Mecha’s website, mainly updating the scholarship information and the scholarship recipient page
  3. Maintain upkeep of Mecha’s Linktree with relevant events for the semester
  4. Connect with campus clubs and grassroots organizations alike for solidarity purposes (i.e., promoting their events/protests/fundraisers, attending said events)

Section 6. Conexiones Committee Chair
Responsibilities:

  1. Develop relationships with New Haven Latine organizations that will support the Conexiones program. 
  2. Recruit Conexiones mentors and develop a plan to train and support their mentorship (including travel, scheduling, and curriculum).
  3. Outreach to New Haven high school students to participate in the Conexiones program. 
  4. Create and/or update a Conexiones curriculum to guide mentor-mentee discussions. 
  5. Organize a meeting schedule every semester with mentors, mentees, and leadership in the partner New Haven organization.  
  6. Create and maintain records of the Conexiones program.

Section 7. New Member Liaisons
Responsibilities:

  1. Must focus on establishing and developing a relationship between new members and other Mecha members.
    B. Plan activities for new members.
    C. Coordinate a forum within Mecha to open a medium of communication.
    D. Coordinate activities like initiation, retreats, and club bazaars

Section 8. Social Committee Chair 

  1. Submit event proposals to the Treasurer at the beginning of every semester for tentative funding. 
  2. Connect and collaborate with exterior organizations to host events at Yale and the broader New Haven community. 
  3. Submit funding requests to the Treasurer for said events.
  4. Collaborate with the Social Media Chair to promote events. 

Section 9: Historian Chair 

  1. Maintain the institutional memory of Mecha de Yale through critical historical projects which display current and past histories.
  2. Organize, curate, and preserve physical materials in the archive in the Mecha room at La Casa Cultural and digital materials in the Mecha Google Drive. 
  3. Work with the Secretary and the Social Media Representative to collect new Mecha physical/digital memorabilia and document Mecha events. 
  4. Connect and collaborate with researchers, archivists, and librarians at the Yale Manuscripts & Archives on issues relating to the “MEChA de Yale” archive and future archives held by the Yale University Library. 
  5. Assist researchers in accessing Mecha’s physical and digital archive materials while upholding ethical and reciprocal research practices. 
  6. Protect sensitive information of Mecha and community members in the archives held by Mecha. 

Article IX: Amendments

Section 1. Amendments to the Constitution should be proposed in writing to the membership at a general meeting and will be voted on during the second general meeting thereafter.

Section 2. Amendments can only be passed by a two-thirds vote of the voting members.

Article X: Impeachment

Section 1. All offices can be subject to impeachment.

Section 2. Impeachment shall be conducted by a vote.

Section 3. A petition containing fifty-one percent of the members’ signatures must be submitted for a motion of impeachment to be voted on.

Section 4. A two-thirds vote by the voting members is required for a motion of impeachment to carry through.

Section 5. Regarding sensitive information, the Steering Committee reserves the right to handle impeachment proceedings internally. Still, it MUST document all proceedings, and ⅔  of the Steering Committee shall be in consensus.