Article I: Name

The name of this organization shall be Penn Israel Coalition.

Article II: Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be to educate the members of the University of Pennsylvania community in an effort to achieve the following goals:

1.    To stimulate interest in Israeli social, political, military and economic affairs,

2.    To endorse and impact a strong and prosperous relationship between the Penn Community, the United States and Israel,

3.    To encourage active participation in the political process that relates to general U.S.-Israeli relations.

Article III: Membership

Section 1.    Any member of the undergraduate body of the University who is a full-time, regular student shall be eligible for full membership of Penn Israel Coalition.

Section 2.    Faculty members and students other than full-time, regular undergraduates shall be eligible for membership in Penn Israel Coalition, but not permitted to hold elected office.

Section 3.    Active members shall be those who have attended at least two of the Penn Israel Coalition general meetings of the academic year.

Article IV: Officers

Section 1.    The officers of Penn Israel Coalition shall consist of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Public Relations Officer.  These officers shall constitute the Executive Board. A fifth elected position may be made available if deemed necessary by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board. If Penn has an AIPAC cadre, those members may be made Executive Board members by the discretion of the President.

Section 2.    It shall be the duty of the Executive Board to organize all activities for Penn Israel Coalition members.

Section 3.    The officers of the Executive Board shall be elected for a term of one school year by active members and must disclose any intent to leave the University for an extended period of time during their time in office with the exception of school closings.

Section 4.    An active member of Penn Israel Coalition may hold only one Executive Board position at any given time. Only members who have attended at least three Penn Israel Coalition meetings and participated in at least one Penn Israel Coalition initiative may run for an Executive Board position.

Section 5.    Should any Executive Board member cease to be an active member of Penn Israel Coalition, their Executive Board position shall be considered vacant.

Section 6.    If, during the regular term, any of the offices becomes vacant, elections shall be held within two general meetings to fill the post or posts for the remainder of the term.

Section 7.    A quorum at an Executive Board meeting occurs when all but one board member is present providing that the missing member is not the President.  Such a quorum is required for the Executive Board to make any decision requiring a vote.

Article V: Duties of Officers

Section 1.     It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all general Penn Israel Coalition meetings; to supervise and direct the work of Penn Israel Coalition;; to ensure that all of the functions set forth in this Constitution are achieved; to be an ex-officio member of all committees and the chairman of the Executive Board; to speak for Penn Israel Coalition before the campus and community with the approval of the majority of the Executive Board;; and to maintain the finances of the club in conjunction with the Treasurer.

Section 2.  It shall be the duty of the Vice President to aid and assist the President as the President deems necessary and to be prepared at all times to assume any or all of the duties of the Presidency.   In the absence of the President, the Vice President shall preside at general organization meetings.  The Vice President is responsible for planning, implementing and overseeing all programming as described in Article II, including all duties therein; the Vice President is also responsible for executing any other programs promoting involvement in Penn Israel Coalition.

Section 3.     It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to make all disbursements approved by the Executive Board. The Treasurer will audit the financial status of all functions of Penn Israel Coalition, keep accounts of the same, and present a full financial report at each meeting of the Executive Board. The Treasurer shall be responsible for preparing and maintaining a budget of which the Executive Board must approve by a majority vote. The Treasurer shall serve as the Student Activities Council (SAC) representative for Penn Israel Coalition.

Section 4.     It shall be the duty of the Public Relations Officer to keep the minutes of each general meeting and Executive Board meeting; to be responsible for all correspondences; to inform all members of general meetings; to keep attendance records and a record of active members in the organization, such as by maintaining the list-serve; and to publicize all Penn Israel Coalition events, both on and off campus.  The Public Relations Officer will take on the responsibilities of recruiting new membership and keeping record of members’ feedback to enable programs evaluation by the Executive Board.

Article VI: Elections

Nominations for elections for Executive Board positions shall be done via e-mail for one week prior to the elections, closing at 12:01 two days prior to the elections.  Elections shall be held at a general Penn Israel Coalition meeting during the last two weeks of the Spring semester, under rules put forth in Article VII.  Newly elected Executive Board members will take over their responsibilities immediately after elections with the assistance of the outgoing officers.

Article VII: Election Rules and Procedure

Section 1:  All elections shall be determined by a majority vote based upon a secret ballot among those eligible to vote.

Section 2:  Should no candidate attain a majority, run-offs will be held among all candidates except the candidate who received the least amount of votes.  This procedure will be repeated until a candidate receives a majority of votes.

Section 3:  Absentee ballots shall not be allowed.  Only eligible members present at the meeting shall be able to cast a ballot.

Section 4:  Any candidate who wishes to address the general body before the vote on his office shall have the right to do so.

Section 5:  Elections shall be conducted by the highest board member not running, or if no such officer is available, then an Executive Board-appointed neutral member shall conduct the election.

Section 6:  There shall be a question and answer period preceding all casting of ballots.

Article VIII: Impeachment

Any officer on the Executive Board may be removed from office for misfeasance or malfeasance by a vote of all four other members of the Executive Board and two-thirds of a quorum of active members. Due notice of said impeachment must be given at the previous general meeting.

Article IX: Executive Board Meetings

The Executive Board shall meet at least biweekly during the academic year and additional meetings may be called at the discretion of the President.  The meeting will follow an agenda decreed by the President.  Any item may be added to the agenda by requesting the President to do so and speakers shall be chosen at the discretion of the President.  Minutes of each Executive Board meeting shall be made available to active Penn Israel Coalition members.

Article X: Committees

All Executive Board members may form and chair committees approved by the board to help fulfill their constitutional duties.

Article XI: Rights

At no time shall Penn Israel Coalition take a politically-partisan or religious stance on issues or permit its name to be used in connection with any politically-partisan or religious appeal.  No member may use the name of Penn Israel Coalition in such ways, but each member is free to state his individual views as he sees fit.