Constituition

THE WESTON LATIN CLUB CONSTITUTION

Preamble

We, the members of the Weston Latin Club, in order to maintain a  reputable and successful organization for generations to come, to keep the prolific and immortal classical civilizations of Greece and Rome alive, to represent Weston Middle School, Weston High School, and the broader community of Weston Massachusetts, to forge friendships and bonds between avid pursuers of the classics, and to use the classics as a means to encourage permanent and engaged citizenship in the community both in and beyond school, swear to ordain and establish this Constitution for the Weston Latin Club.

Article I

Name & Purpose

Section I: Name

The name of this organization shall be the Weston Latin Club. 

This organization is an affiliate local chapter of the Massachusetts Junior Classical League, hereafter referred to as MassJCL, and the National Junior Classical League, hereafter referred to as the NJCL.

Section II: Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be: to promote a more thorough knowledge of classical history, life, and literature; to impart a better understanding of the practical and cultural values of the classics; and to foster academic enthusiasm for the studies of the classics.

Article II

Membership

Section I: Requirements for Membership

Subsection I: Individuals must fill out the appropriate forms to become members of the Weston Latin Club.

Subsection II: Individuals must pay eight dollars in dues before the State Convention to be considered members ‘in good standing’ of the Weston Latin Club.

Subsection III: In order to be considered a member of the Weston Latin Club, individuals must be enrolled in a Weston School or a (private) school without a local JCL chapter for that year.

            Subsection IV: Members must renew their membership every school year.

Section II: Rights of Members

Subsection I: Members will be admitted to the Weston Latin Club without inquiry or unwarranted suspicion.

Subsection II: Members cannot be discriminated against based on age, grade, race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and any other views subject to review by the Board.

Subsection III: Members may participate in all JCL events upon fulfilling subsections I and II.

Subsection IV: In order to be considered ‘in good standing’, members must: not have significant disciplinary infractions; have maintained proper behavior at all Weston Latin Club  related events; not intentionally undertaken unconstitutional acts. 

Subsection V: Members may not lose good standing for academic or competitive performance.

Section III: Members-At-Large

Subsection I: Individuals enrolled in a classics course or pursuing self-study after having exhausted all available courses and who do not have a JCL chapter at their school may join the Weston Latin Club as Members-At-Large.

Subsection II:  If a JCL chapter is created at an individual’s school more than three months into a school year during which  they have already enrolled as a Weston Latin Club Member-At-Large, they may remain in the Weston Latin Club for the remainder of the year; however, the following year, they will not be eligible for renewed Weston Latin Club membership.

            Subsection III: Individuals must discuss membership with a Sponsor in order to become a Member-At-Large.

Subsection IV: Individuals who wish to become a Member-At-Large must pay appropriate dues.

Section IV: Removal of Membership

Subsection I:  Sponsors retain the right to remove membership of individuals if they do not uphold the good standing of the Weston Latin Club.

Article III

Officers and Sponsors

Section I: Offices Defined

Subsection I: The student positions of the Weston Latin Club shall be: Consuls (aka President) (2), Praetor (aka Vice President) (1), Quaestor (aka Treasurer) (1), Aedile (aka Secretary) (1), Censor (aka Parliamentarian) (1), Tribunes (aka Executive Board Members) (as many as the sponsor deems necessary). The number of Consuls, Praetors, Quaestors, Censors, Aediles, and Tribunes shall be determined by the Sponsors of a given year. The Sponsors may under special circumstances create additional offices. 

Subsection II: The Consuls, Preator, Quaestor, Censor, Aedile, and Tribunes shall be popularly elected.

Subsection III: The Consuls, Preator, Quaestor, Censor, Aedile, and Tribunes shall be collectively known as “Board members”.

Section II: Elections

Subsection I: Local Elections Eligibility, Requirements, and Limitations

A.  Candidates may only run for one office at a time.

B.  Candidates for Consul must have held at least one office prior to running (except for the first year the club is in existence). 

C.  Anyone is eligible to run for office, as long as they are enrolled in Weston Public Schools, have paid their dues in the new school year, and will be enrolled in a Latin course in the following year.

D.  A Board member may run for the same office multiple times as long as they meet other requirements.

E.  Candidates must first be informed that they are required to read the entire Weston JCL Constitution to be familiar with eligibility, requirements, and the roles of the positions they are running for.

Subsection II: Local Elections Logistics

A.  Local elections shall be run by the current Weston JCL Censor, Sponsors, and Consul(s).

B.  If the current Censor is running for office, then any other officer shall take their place for the designated office.

C.  All candidates must give a speech of no longer than two minutes and participate in a question and answer session. At the discretion of the Sponsors and Parliamentarian, the candidates may be asked to leave the room to allow for the facilitation of a discussion session.

D.  Candidates may not refer to other candidates in any way in their speeches. Violation of this clause may result in disqualification.

E.  All Weston JCL members in good standing may vote.

F.  For the offices of Consul and Tribune, members may vote for up to the designated number of candidates. The designated number of candidates who receive the most votes shall be elected. For the offices of Praetor, Quaestor, Censor, and Aedile, members may vote for up to one candidate. The candidate with the most votes shall be elected.

Subsection III: State Candidacy 

A.  In order to run for State Office individuals must currently be or previously have been a member of the Weston JCL Board. 

B.  Individuals who meet MassJCL and Weston JCL qualifications for State Candidacy must inform the designated Sponsor of their intent to run by the specified date.

C.  A Weston JCL Board meeting will be held in which all candidates must give a speech of two minutes or less and participate in a question and answer session.

D.  Members of the current Weston JCL Board who are not running for State Office will discuss each candidate. No candidates may be present in the room for this at any time.

E. All members of the Weston JCL Board and candidates in attendance are permitted to vote for up to three different candidates; in the case of a contested position, voters may indicate that they would prefer certain candidates for that positions to candidates for any other position; in the case that their first-choice candidate for that position does not receive the majority of votes, their votes would transfer to their next-ranked candidate.

F.  The Sponsors will count the votes and notify the three candidates who receive the most votes.

G. In the event of a tie for the third slot, the Sponsors will choose between the tied candidates.

Subsection IV: State Elections

A. The Weston JCL Censor must attend the MassJCL Constitutional Meeting and Candidates Open Forum at the State Convention. 

B. Any willing members of the Weston JCL chapter may assist the Censor at the Constitutional Meeting and/or the Candidates Open Forum. 

C. The Censor is responsible for submitting the results of the Weston JCL Fellowship to the MassJCL Parliamentarian.

D.  Any member of the Weston JCL running for state office may not be present for discussion on their desired office during the Voting Fellowship.

E.  If the Weston JCL Censor is running for state office, the responsibility of attending the Constitutional Meeting, Candidates Open Forum, and Voting Fellowship shall fall to any Weston JCL Board member who is not running.

Article IV

Duties of Executive Board Members and Sponsors

Section I: Consuls

Subsection I: The Consuls should actively lead and represent Weston JCL throughout the school year.

Subsection II: The Consuls are responsible for facilitating communication between Board members and Sponsors. 

Subsection III:  The Consuls are responsible for overseeing Board meetings and the coordination of all Weston JCL events.

Subsection IV: The Consuls are responsible for supervising Board members and seeing to the completion of their respective duties. 

Subsection V: The Consuls are responsible for delegating tasks and projects to Board members. 

Subsection VI: The Consuls will be responsible for the direct communication with the faculty of the World Language Department in regards to the promotion of Weston JCL-related events.

Subsection VII: The Consuls will work with teachers to promote Classics Electives during Course Selection.

Section II: Praetor

Subsection I: The Prateor is responsible for compiling the Weston JCL Publicity Binder and Activities Binder and submitting it for review to the State and National Convention.
Subsection II: The Praetor is responsible for organizing any publicity-related events.  

Subsection III: The Preetor is responsible for maintaining Weston JCL social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Subsection IV: The Preator is responsible for Community Outreach and submitting it for review to State and National Convention.

Subsection V: The Praetor may appoint a committee of Weston JCL members at the discretion of the Sponsors and Consuls to assist in the compilation of binders and in the coordinating of events.

Section III: Aedile

Subsection I: The Aedile is responsible for taking the official minutes at all Board Meetings and Fellowship at State Convention.

Subsection II: The Aedile must submit the minutes to the Board within 48 hours after meetings. 

Subsection III: Minutes from the State Convention may be submitted by midnight on the Tuesday after the Convention. 

Section IV:  Quaestor

Subsection I: The Quaestor is responsible for being aware of all Weston JCL funds and communicating the funds to all Sponsors through a digital program. 

Subsection II: The Quaestor shall be responsible for ensuring that all members have paid their dues.

Subsection III: The Quaestor are responsible for creating and organizing fundraisers for Weston JCL.

Subsection IV: The Quaestor shall be responsible for counting money from events where items are sold or money is raised.

Section V: Censor

Subsection I: Weston JCL Constitution

A. The Censor is responsible for the well-being and maintenance of the Weston JCL Constitution.

B.  The Censor is responsible for being familiar with the Weston JCL and MassJCL Constitutions.

C.  The Censor is responsible for applying the Weston JCL Constitution when appropriate, including but not limited to impeachment, meetings, and elections.

D.  The Censor shall supply the Constitution to members upon request.

E.  The Censor is responsible for communicating the Constitution digitally to the Aedile for upload to the Weston JCL website.

Subsection II: Amendments

A. The Censor shall review the Weston JCL Constitution and propose amendments according to Article VI.

B. The Censor shall be responsible for proposing amendments for the MassJCL Constitution to the State Parliamentarian.

Subsection III: Local Office

A. The Censor is responsible for encouraging members to join Weston JCL and to run for office. 

B.  The Censor shall oversee elections in the manner of Article III Section II Subsection II.

Section VI:  Tribune

Subsection I: The Tribune shall be assigned special duties as necessary by the Consuls or Sponsors.

Section VII: Sponsors

Subsection I: Sponsors should advise JCL Board members as needed throughout the school year.

Subsection II: Sponsors are responsible for maintaining the Weston JCL account and overseeing other monetary matters in coordination with the treasurers. 

Subsection III: Sponsors may assist in publicizing Weston JCL by communicating JCL events, opportunities, and fundraisers with their classes.

Article V

Removal from Office

Section I: Resignation

Subsection I: If a Board member deems it necessary to resign in their duties as a BLSJCL officer, they must communicate it with the Executive Board.

Subsection II: The Board member must submit the resignation in writing, either digitally or non-digitally at least two weeks prior to resignation.

Subsection III: The Parliamentarian and/or Sponsors will keep record of resignations.

Section II: Impeachment & Removal from Board

Subsection I:  If an officer is in any way derelict in their duties, any member of the Executive Board may notify the Consuls and Sponsors.

Subsection II: Following notification, the Consuls are responsible for communicating concerns with the officer in question and creating a reasonable ‘reintegration plan’.

Subsection III: If the officer in question continues to be derelict in their duties, the Consuls and Sponsors will submit an official warning of impeachment.

Subsection IV:  The Executive Board will meet to discuss and vote on the officer in question. There must be at least a ⅔ vote for removal. 

Section III: Removal Aftermath

Subsection I:  If an individual has been removed from office, they may not use their previous title on any official documents, including but not limited to resumes, college applications, and work applications.

Subsection II: If an individual has not complied with Subsection I, the individual is subject to consequences at the discretion of the Sponsors. 

Section IV: Process of Replacement

Subsection I: In the event of a vacancy resulting from resignation or impeachment, the Sponsors and Executive Board may choose to submit an application to Weston JCL members wishing to apply for the position.

Subsection II: The candidates will be subject to approval by the Sponsors and will be voted into office by the Executive Board by simple plurality.

Subsection III: The vacated position must be filled within two weeks of the officer’s removal. 

Subsection IV: In the case that no adequate replacement is found, the Sponsors and Executive Board may choose to assign the duties of the vacant office to another officer. This shall be known as an in locō position and shall be held until a suitable replacement is found.

Article VI
Amendments

Section I:  Constitutional Amendments for Weston JCL

Subsection I: Any member of Weston JCL in good standing may submit an amendment to the Weston JCL constitution. It must be submitted by the specified date.

Subsection II: Any proposed amendments to the constitution will be reviewed by the Executive Board and passed with a ⅔ majority.

Subsection III: All accepted amendments shall be copied and sent to all members of the Weston JCL Board and Sponsors. 

Subsection IV: The amendments must be added to the constitution by the Censor of the current school year. 

Subsection V: All accepted amendments shall take effect immediately.

Section II: Constitutional Amendments and Bylaws for MassJCL

Subsection I: Any member of the BLSJCL who wishes to submit an amendment or bylaw to the MassJCL Constitution must first submit it in writing to the BLSJCL Parliamentarian for review by the Executive Board.   

Subsection II: In order to be submitted to the State Board for review, a proposed amendment or bylaw must be voted on and passed with a simple majority by the Weston JCL Executive Board

Article VII

Undefined Situations

Section I: Deferring to Higher Constitutions

Subsection I: In the event that an action is not defined by the Weston JCL Constitution, the Executive Board may vote by ⅔ majority to defer to the State Constitution.

Subsection II:  In the event that an action is defined neither by the Weston JCL Constitution, nor the State Constitution, the Executive Board may vote by ⅔ majority to defer to the National Constitution.

Section II: Acting extraconstitutionally

Subsection I: In the case that a constitutional requirement cannot be met and complying with said requirement presents significant interference with running the Weston JCL, with the consent of all the head Sponsors and a ⅔ majority vote, the Executive Board may choose to take action not defined in the constitution.

Subsection II: Extraconstitutional actions the Board may choose to take are: expanding the powers of an office; removing requirements for office or membership; adding additional offices during the school year.

Subsection III: The Board may not vote to take action explicitly forbidden by the Constitution.

Subsection IV: In the case of an extraconstitutional action, a constitutional amendment addressing the situation must be proposed during the next election cycle. If the amendment is not approved, the action may not be repeated in future years.