Caucus Constitutional Amendment

Caucus Membership

INFO

Current

Proposed

Article VII: Caucuses … Caucuses must maintain a membership of 10 Homewood undergraduate students to maintain status as an SGA body. Caucus membership shall be defined in the Bylaws. If a caucus fails to meet the membership requirement by the last day of classes of a semester, that caucus will be considered to hold advisory status and the Secretary shall notify the Caucus Representative of their new status. A caucus will no longer hold advisory status by meeting the membership requirement for a semester. If a caucus does not meet the membership requirement by the end of their second consecutive semester of holding advisory status, the Caucus will be considered inactive and the Secretary shall notify the Caucus Representative of their new status. In such cases, the portion of the bylaws which established the caucus shall be considered null and void. The Caucus Chair shall remain an ex-officio member of the Senate, with no voting power, until such time as their Caucus is reestablished by the Senate.

Article VII: Caucuses … 7. Caucuses are expected to maintain a membership of at least 10 Homewood undergraduate students in addition to members of SGA. Caucus membership shall be defined in the Bylaws. If a caucus fails to meet the membership requirement by the end of fall break as scheduled by the Registrar for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences/Whiting School of Engineering, the Caucus Representative will be required to meet with the Student Body Vice President and SGA advisor to develop a strategy for increasing student interest and engagement with the caucus. If the caucus has still not met the membership requirement by the end of the Fall Recess (colloquially known as “Thanksgiving Break”), the respective Caucus Representative will be thanked for their services and dismissed. The search for their successor shall begin immediately after. The section above shall not take effect if the caucus has met the ten-member threshold during the Fall semester but falls below it before the Fall Recess. If the caucus is below the membership requirement by the end of Spring Break, the Caucus Representative shall be required to meet with the Student Body Vice President and SGA advisor to develop a strategy for increasing student interest and engagement with the caucus.

Rationale

This amendment improves on recent efforts to preserve minority representation. It holds caucus chairs accountable for ensuring the representation of their populations rather than inactivating the caucuses for low engagement. It also decreases the time before accountability measures are taken to encourage efforts to increase student interest and engagement with the caucus Section 7b (when untouched) conveys that minority groups' representation is a privilege, not a right. By recognizing the necessity of the caucus and granting them the appropriate powers, steps to revoke voting power would hurt the interest of the Student Body. No other Senate representative has this particular section, so it is deemed unfair to place such restrictions on a minority group Caucuses and minority groups should not be punished by revoking their representation due to negligence on the part of a Caucus Representative Recognize the importance of advisory status without laying punishment Lack of membership does not reflect lack of identity