Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics

Official Constitution

Article 1: Statement of Name and Purpose

Section 1: Name- This group shall be known as the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, abbreviated as SOMA.

Section 2: Purpose- To educate, organize, and unite students and members of the community by promoting the ideals of rationality, science, secularism, and human-based ethics and to promote a positive view of Atheists and Agnostics.

Article 2: Membership

Section 1: Membership can be extended to any interested KU student or faculty member, as well as members of the surrounding Lawrence community. There is no official “joining process” and their shall be no official dues.

Section 2: People who do not live in Lawrence and/or are not a student of KU may still be considered members, and have all the privileges as other members, as noted in Section 3.

Section 3: Privileges- All members have the right to the following: 1) run for an officer’s position (unless the position in question is only available to students, as per University rules); 2) vote in any type of vote, including elections and general votes; 3) voice their opinion about SOMA during meetings; 4) show up to any and all meetings/events held by SOMA.

Section 4: In the rare case that a member becomes a problem for the group, their rights of membership may be revoked at the discretion of the SOMA officers. Membership can also be terminated at the discretion of the member.

Article 3: Officers

Section 1: There shall be three Official Officers Positions, as required by the University of Kansas. These positions are: President, Vice-President, and Treasurer. These positions can only be filled by STUDENTS of KU.

Section 2: Other officer’s positions may be created in order to facilitate the group’s needs. These may include, but are not limited to, the following: Secretary, Webmaster, Community Organizer, Media Outreach, etc. These positions can be filled by any member of the group.

Section 3: Roles- The roles of each position should be clearly defined at the beginning of each year, and these definitions are at the discretion of the officer’s.

Section 4: Removal/impeachment: For the three primary officer’s positions, a general meeting must be called in order to remove the officer from power. A majority vote is required, and all other officers must be in attendance and cast a vote. A replacement then must be found for the position. For any appointed positions (positions other than President, Vice-President and Treasurer), only the officers need to vote. A majority vote is required for removal.

Section 5: If any officer is unable to perform his/her duties and wishes to resign, they are allowed to do so. A replacement for any official positions will require an election during a general meeting, whereas an appointed position will simply require a new appointee, as granted by the President or the collection of Officers.

Section 6: The President reserves the right to veto any decision and to terminate any position at his/her discretion. If abuse is suspected, the Vice-President may call a general meeting to vote for the President’s impeachment.

Article 4: Amendments to the Constitution

Section 1: Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by any member of SOMA.

Section 2: The Amendment must be presented during a general meeting. In order to pass the Amendment, a majority vote is required.

Section 3: Officers reserve the right to veto any amendments, and may do so by calling a vote between officers. A majority vote is required to pass a veto.

Article 5: Voting

Section 1: All voters must be in attendance at the general meetings or officers meetings in order for their votes to count. Votes cannot be called in, mailed in, or otherwise.

Section 2: The right to vote cannot be suspended for any member of SOMA.