By-Laws

The Afro-American Alumni Association is part of the overall Bridgewater State College Alumni Association and therefore adheres to the Bridgewater State College Alumni Association's Constitution and By-Laws. Each individual organization under the BSC Alumni Association's umbrella of organizations is required to establish and ratify its own set of by-laws which serves as the infrastructure from which the organization conducts business.  

Article I.  NAME
The name of this organization shall be called: The Afro-American Alumni Association.
 
Article II.  OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this organization are:

  • To serve as a supportive body for students and alumni of all African descent (African American, Cape Verdean, West Indian and Hispanics of African descent) in their activities and educational needs at Bridgewater State College, including the establishment of an alumni network for mentoring, internships and scholarships.

  • To make students aware of the scholarship opportunities available to them and to help them through the application process if necessary.

  • To provide continuing communication among people of African descent who are alumni, students and staff members at BSC.

  • To work closely with the Office of Alumni Relations, the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, the Affirmative Action Office and the Hall of Black Achievement in the planning of programming for alumni and students.
Article III.  MEMBERSHIP
Associate Member
Any BSC graduate of African descent is considered a member of the African-American Alumni Association.  An Associate member can serve on any committee, but cannot hold office or vote until he or she becomes consistently active within the association.  At which time, the nominations committee could consider the associate member for regular membership and put forth his or her name for a member-at-large position with full voting rights.

Regular Member (Member-at-Large)
A regular member is defined as being active in a consistent manner, and one who regularly attends meetings, college functions and interacts with culturally diverse students.  A regular member is eligible to hold office and vote.

Honorary Member
An honorary member is recommended for honorary membership based on outstanding service to people of color and must be approved by 2/3 vote of the governing body.  Honorary members cannot hold office or vote, but may sit on committees.
 
Article IV.  NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The nominating committee shall consist of a Chair (the vice-president of the Association) and two additional active members, as defined in Article III.  This committee shall prepare a slate of officers consisting of one candidate for each of the following offices: President, Vice-President, Secretary,  Treasurer and Membership Officer.  This committee will also accept nominations in May of each year for members-at-large provided those nominees meet the requirements of being a regular member as defined in Article III.
 
Article V.  OFFICERS
The officers of the Afro-American Alumni Association are President, Vice-President, Secretary , Treasurer and Membership Officer. These five officers constitute the Executive Committee.  These five officers must be active members of the Association as defined in Article III.

President
The president shall preside over all meetings.  He or she may also appoint such committee or committees and define the duties of such committees as deemed necessary.

Vice-President
The vice-president shall, in the absence of the president, perform all of the duties and have all of the powers of the president.  He or she will be in charge of budget activities in conjunction with the treasurer.

Secretary
The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Afro-American Alumni Association and post such minutes to the BSC web page in a timely manner.  The secretary shall be responsible for all correspondence of the association.  He or she will keep a directory of the current officers and membership.  In the case of the secretary's absence, the president will direct another member to record the minutes of the meeting.

Treasurer
The treasurer shall oversee the budgetary process and work with the Bridgewater Director of Alumni Relations to account for every detail of business.  The treasurer will work with the vice-president in preparing the fiscal year budget to present to the college for approval.

Membership Officer
The membership officer shall preside over a membership committee and supervise all matters relating to membership in the Association.
 
Article VI.  ELECTIONS
Election of the officers of the Afro-American Alumni Association shall be made every two years and subsequent to solicitation of nominations by the secretary of the association.  The elections will be held at the June meeting.  A majority vote of the active membership as defined in Article III shall elect nominees.

The secretary of the association shall post the election results on the BSC web page in a timely fashion.
 
Article VII.  SCHOLARSHIPS
The Executive Committee will appoint a member of the Afro-American Alumni Association to be a member of the BSC Alumni Association's Scholarship Committee.
 
Article VIII.  AMENDMENTS
Amendments of these by-laws may be made at anytime provided there is a majority vote of the Executive Committee and the other active members, as defined in Article III.

Last Modified: September 1, 2006