Preamble
Bard Students for Justice in Palestine aims to educate, agitate, and organize Bard College’s student body and its larger community in an effort to end Bard’s support of the Zionist entity and the genocide in Gaza. Bard Students for Justice in Palestine are a Palestine solidarity organization and are committed to the Palestinian struggle for liberation, right of return, and full sovereignty. It is in accordance with these beliefs and goals that we seek to build and maintain an organizational structure that serves both our community and the global struggle for liberation, and it is for these reasons that we do establish and ordain this document as the constitution of this organization.
Article I. Leadership
The Bard Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will have a leadership structure including a Clubhead or Co-heads.
The Club Head(s) will be the on paper leadership in the eyes of the college and will take on the responsibility of being the public face of the organization.
The Club Head will also be a member of the steering committee which will guide the direction of the club. The SJP steering committee aims to spread out the work usually taken on by co-heads.
Members of the steering committee will act as point people who help direct membership in effective action.
Members of the steering committee will lead working groups, and are expected to both meet and direct the interests and abilities of membership. Members of the steering committee will engage in continuous communication with one another and will be the venue through which separate working groups and the larger SJP keep in contact.
Members of the steering committee will take on administrative and managerial responsibilities for running a club such as scheduling and facilitating meetings, handling the budget, maintaining correspondence, and specifically during this transition time helping build a club structure that is democratic, sustainable, and productive.
The steering committee also takes responsibility for managing and maintaining both a shared political line and a healthy and productive club culture.
Article II. Membership
The Bard SJP will operate under the general understanding that membership means an investment in the organization and the taking on of responsibility.
Article III. Non-Leadership Roles
The Bard SJP is committed to maintaining its institutional memory and leaving behind a record for future organizers, for this reason the Bard SJP will have an archivist.
The archivist's responsibility is to build and maintain the archive.
The archive should serve two goals:
Facilitating the organization and running of current movement activities (e.g. keeping track of meeting notes, having important information such as press releases or club structure available and easily accessible to all members)
Recording the movement’s activities so that its history won’t be erased and will serve as a foundation and reference for future Bard SJP generations, as well as for other SJPs and anti-imperialist movements.
The archive will prioritize the security and safety of the students and community members involved in the SJP and will not record identifying information that endangers or exposes organizations or individuals.
The archivist will be selected and trained by the previous archivist, and should be chosen from existing membership based on ability and interest.
The Bard SJP will at times break into working groups which will be led primarily by members of the steering committee but can also be led by committed and active members.
By taking on a leadership position, the working group leader commits to behaving in a manner that enacts the values and principles of the organization.
A working group member can be just as involved as a leader. A leader's responsibilities are to organize meetings, attend each meeting, and coordinate with general club leadership.
Having won its demands and formed a set of agreements with the Bard Administration during the Popular University for Gaza and occupation of Shaima’s Hall, The Bard SJP will have to maintain relationships with Bard Administration in order to enact certain logistical aspects of their agreements and to hold them accountable to their commitments. For this reason the Bard SJP will have administration facing Point People and Negotiaors.
The responsibilities and relevant processes for the Administration facing roles is enumerated in Article VIII. Negotiators and Point People.
Article IV. Accountability and Organizing Culture
The Bard SJP affirms its commitment to creating a sustainable, productive, and healthy organizing space and movement culture.
The Bard SJP understands itself as a community built upon the shared commitment to liberation, compassion, and dignity for all people. As such we commit to acting with mutual respect, following through on the trust given to us by our comrades, and rejecting all forms of discrimination and exploitation.
Membership and leadership are expected to maintain a culture of respect and productivity within all SJP spaces.
This includes within meetings, public events, and group communications such as, but not limited to, any Bard SJP group chats.
These spaces should be used for communication, organizing, and coalition building.
They are not intended for inflammatory, targeted, or antagonizing discourse. Disagreement is allowed and expected, and should be used and intended for positive and productive movement.
Steering Committee members are responsible for individually reaching out to members who are targeting or disrespecting other members in SJP spaces and asking them to discuss their concerns or discourse in more productive ways. This is with the intention of prioritizing a healthy and communicative movement culture rather than a fractured one, and should take place regardless of the content of any member’s point or argument.
Disciplinary action may be taken from within the club against both leadership and general club members who engage in conduct that runs counter to the mission and values of the movement, or that harms individuals within our community.
The Bard SJP understands that it is not our place to publicly denounce people, nor are we as a student club able to enact serious consequences. Instead we will prioritize internal accountability, mediated conversation, and when necessary suspension or removal from leadership, membership, or ejection from meetings.
When issues arise the steering committee will appoint a member of leadership or an active member in good standing to run an investigative committee, facilitate conversations, hold meetings with affected parties, and recommend actions.
Actions taken in regards to accountability will prioritize the comfort and preferences of the victim, if such a role exists, whenever possible.
Club members and community members voicing concerns will be able to meet with any and all members of steering to discuss and present their issue.
Actions will be voted on by the steering committee and will need a two thirds majority to pass.
The Bard SJP will prioritize privacy whenever possible.
Suspension or revoking of leadership or membership will occur in a separate 1 on 1 meeting with a member of the steering committee.
When removing a person from a general meeting we will first call them into the hallway and ask them to leave, confrontation will only happen in front of general membership if the individual refuses to leave.
Article V. Elections & Voting Procedure
The Bard SJP values popular involvement, the collective formation of ideas, and understands that the risks we take as individuals affects us as a community. It is for these reasons that the Bard SJP commits to engaging in democratic decision making.
Major club undertakings, and high stakes decision making, will be brought by leadership to membership to be voted upon. These votes will occur within standardized meetings which have been appropriately advertised. Thorough discussion will be held regarding any issue that is to be voted on.
Varying degrees of consensus will be required for the varying levels of risk involved in respective decisions. In order to pass, a low risk decision will need a simple majority, a medium risk decision will need a two thirds majority, and a high risk decision will need 85%. Risk level will be determined by steering but any member in good standing can motion to change the level of consensus needed, such a motion would require a two thirds majority to pass.
Additions to leadership will be voted in by membership.
New club heads will be appointed from the existing steering committee by the steering committee and voted in by membership.
New steering members will be selected from active and committed membership by members of the steering committee and voted in by membership.
All changes to leadership will occur at a well advertised public meeting and will require a simple majority.
Efforts will be taken to avoid spending time or energy on campaigning.
Barring unforeseen circumstances there should never be more than 3 club heads, and never more than 12 members of the steering committee.
Article VI. Meeting Procedure
The Bard SJP aspires to hold weekly, public meetings, and aspires to organize these meetings in a manner that is efficient, democratic, and makes conversation and decision making accessible to the larger Bard community.
For these reasons we commit to announcing an agenda before meetings, and following it during meetings.
We commit to moderated debate before voting.
We commit to the use of a speaking list, and a time limit for individual speakers, when necessary.
Article VII. Transition of Responsibility
Bard SJP leadership and membership are responsible for maintaining a continuity of organization and action.
To achieve this, both leadership and membership are expected to communicate clearly about the responsibility they have taken on.
If needed, leaders and members should reach out for support for tasks or responsibilities which they are unable to complete without assistance or guidance.
Stepping down or back from roles, or any other relinquishment of responsibility is to be announced publicly rather than individually.
If a member of the Steering Committee decides to step down from their position, they are expected to add this intention to the next Steering Meeting agenda and discuss it with the Steering Committee in that meeting.
This will involve the member in question explaining what they are unable to continue doing.
The Steering Committee will then find people in membership or leadership to fill each position being relinquished during that meeting.
If a member of the Steering Committee decides to step down, they are expected to attend the next general SJP meeting and announce to membership their intentions and what responsibilities they will be turning over.
If a member of the Steering Committee misses 3 Steering meetings in a row or is non-communicative/unreachable by other members, steps will be taken to allow the Committee to continue effective decision making and collaboration.
This means there will be an automatic temporary reallocation of the missing member’s decision making powers and responsibilities to another member of leadership who is able to continue their work.
If a member of leadership is not present for a decision but was expected at the meeting where it was decided, their decision making power is necessarily waived.
Article VIII. Negotiators and Point People
Bard SJP commits to a democratic process of selecting representatives, and insists upon being represented by trusted community members who will best represent the needs and intentions of the organization.
To ensure this, negotiators will first be vetted by the Steering Committee and then voted upon by general membership.
Any individual member of the Steering Committee will propose negotiators based on involvement in demands or other relevant SJP undertakings to the rest of the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee will then vote on the proposed negotiator based on involvement and behavior within the community. This vote will require a unanimous consensus in order to pass, the vote will occur only after serious discussion.
Following this, a potential negotiator will be asked if they are interested in being an outward facing representative of SJP. SJP leadership will act under the obligation to fully and accurately explain to any potential negotiator what the role entails.
Public facing roles can and will include interactions with administration, faculty, club coalitions, community members, student government, et cetera.
Negotiators should be strongly encouraged to consider the risk they can take on as someone publically affiliated with SJP, and their ability to remain calm, collected, and goal-oriented under pressure. It is crucial that negotiators for SJP single-mindedly represent the larger decisions, goals, and values of the organization in all negotiations, meetings, and similar events.
If a proposed negotiator decides they are willing and able to accept a representative role, they must be voted in by membership at a general meeting before any instance in which they serve as a representative for SJP. This vote must pass with a 2/3rds majority.
Negotiators and Point People for Bard SJP are expected to uphold the values of the organization in full. An understanding should be established that as a representative of the SJP one should prioritize the interests of the club, its membership and its cause, over personal interests. If at any point they are unable or unwilling to perform this duty, SJP is collectively responsible for replacing them. This is crucial to the outward functioning and success of SJP.
This standard will be maintained using the judgement of both the Steering Committee and negotiators themselves.
Concerns about a negotiator or Point Person could include a failure to uphold Bard SJP values, an inability to fulfill meeting commitments (ie: meetings, meeting prep, debriefing), an inability to negotiate with clarity and representative intentions, or a change in personal status of the negotiator or Point Person.
If a negotiator comes to the conclusion that they are unable to continue their role for any reason, they are expected to step down using the Transition of Responsibility protocol outlined in Article VII.
If a negotiator is deemed an unfit representative by a Steering Committee or SJP member, this concern and the reasoning for it should be brought to the Steering Committee, who will assess and discuss concerns at the next Steering Meeting.
A 2/3rds majority amongst the Steering Committee is required in order to pass the removal of a negotiator.
The negotiator being removed will then be notified as soon as possible regarding this change.
The negotiation team should be the next group notified, and shall be consulted as to whether another negotiator needs to be installed to continue representative functioning. If so, the process to vet and bring on another negotiator will be implemented, as outlined in Article VIII, Section 1.
At the next SJP meeting after the negotiation team is made aware of the change in the representative lineup, general membership will be notified. Elaboration on the reason for removal is not required, though it is allowed if deemed relevant and not a violation of privacy.