Tips for Constitutional Success

Details, details, details. Much of drafting a good constitution has to do with small details. Approximately half of the constitutions that come before the TCUJ for approval have some sort of technical error - sometimes small, sometimes large. Below are a few guidelines for generating a technically correct constitution:

  1. Under the membership article of your constitution, you MUST have a clear definition of voting membership. Groups cannot bar access of individuals to their meetings, but they can restrict who votes. The rationale behind this is that TCUJ approved groups are eligible to receive TCU funding, and people who have not paid the student activities fee should not decide how that money is spent and thus are barred from voting. Basic voting members must be "Tufts undergraduates paying the student activities fee." This is an absolutely necessary clause. You can include that verbatim in your constitution. Voting can be further restricted, as in the case of a group mandating that a "voting member" must be an individual who has BOTH paid the student activities fee (current undergraduate) AND an individual who has attended x number of meetings, for example. While the stipulation of a voting member having attended x number of meetings is not required to draft a valid constitution, the stipulation that a voting member must be "Tufts undergrad who had paid the student activities fee" is so.
  2. Under the amendment article of your constitution, you MUST have a clause stating that "any changes made to the constitution shall be approved by the TCUJ prior to enactment." Note: the process for amending your constitution can be done however you like. You could require that 12.5% of the group needed to be in favor of an amendment to pass it and then submit it to the TCUJ. This would be stupid, yes, but also legal. Just to reiterate, the legally important part is that you clearly state that the amendment, once it has passed whatever regulations your group has in place for amending the constitution, shall be submitted to the TCUJ (via email) for approval prior to its enactment in your club.
Remember that, aside from points 1 and 2 which are mandates, your group is given considerable latitude to draft a constitution. Your group can be run however you like, excepting cases where doing so would be discriminatory. These cases are rare, but if you have questions regarding this issue, feel free to contact the Judiciary.

The technical details of a constitution that are required are illustrated in points 1 and 2. However, remember that your group will (hopefully) continue thriving once you have graduated. In that light, it‚ important to consider the "what if" scenarios that might arise at some point in the future. Brainstorm with your co-members and think up some situations that might involve a difference of opinion between future members, agree on a good solution, and stipulate the course of action that should be followed in the event of said action occurring (impeachment clauses, for example). We strongly encourage you to involve your co-members in writing a constitution and also in examining the constitution when preparing for re-recognition. Constitutions are able to be amended, quite easily in most cases. If there is something that‚ needs to be changed because it is outdated, no longer applicable, or something that needs to be added, do so! Just remember to submit it to the TCUJ prior to enactment of the new policy. Whether you're reading this in preparation of a new constitution or for re-recognition purposes, adhering to the points outlined above before coming before the Judiciary or submitting paperwork can help to expedite the process for everyone. We wish you the best of luck in the re-recognition process.