Constitution
1. Constitution: We, the members of the Taekwondo and Shito-Ryu club at CMU, in order to create a place where all students whose rights are protected by the Carnegie Mellon Statement of Assurance including the assurance that we will not discriminate on basis of gender, sexual orientation, race religion, ethnicity, country or nation of origin, handicap, veteran’s status or previous rank in other Martial Artforms may learn and grow in their knowledge of Taekwondo and Shito-Ryu do hereby found TKD@CMU.
2. Purpose: We will endeavor to provide a teaching and learning environment for Taekwondo and Shito-Ryu Karate Do, being unique and separate Martial Artforms from any currently supported on the Carnegie Mellon University campus. Taekwondo is a traditional Korean Martial Artform and Shito-Ryu is a traditional Okinawan Japanese Martial Artform.
3. Club Structure: The Club government (TDK@CMU Committee) will consist of one Head with two Committee members (collectively, Officers of TKD@CMU Committee). While all Officers will contribute to the club’s educational goals, one Officer will function as a Chief Financial Officer, while the other will be responsible for Public Relations. The Head is responsible for determining curriculum with input from the Officers and will work with the Officers on long-term club management.
4. Changing by-laws: To change a by-law there must be a two-thirds voting majority of members in favor of that change. This vote must be taken live (not online) with only members voting. This will be the procedure for emergency elections, forced and voluntary Officer removal.
5. Definition of Membership: Membership is awarded to those who have attended three meetings or more in the course of a semester. A member must attend 3 or more meetings in a semester to be considered active. Officers must be members. Members who are more casual in their attendance are free to participate and come to TKD@CMU meetings whenever they want: however they will not have voting rights until they are active members. An Officer will be assigned at the beginning of each semester to track membership. Membership may be denied by the vote of a majority of the Officers
6. Leadership Transition: Each year in the last week of April or the first week of May the highest ranking members (ie those who hold the highest level belts) who submit their names to the outgoing TKD@CMU Committee Officers will be voted on by the membership to determine who shall be officers in the next yearly cycle. A majority must exist for each officer. In the case where an Officer must be removed there shall first be a vote of all officers where if a majority votes for the removal the officer must be removed. Some instances where an officer must be removed are: they are neglecting their duties to the club; are not teaching in accordance with the goals of the club; show hurtful disrespect for any member; they wish to discontinue their relationship with the club; violate any of the above provisions; or any other reason which has to do with conduct by an officer. If the Officer vote is inconclusive, the vote must go to the active membership, where a 2/3rd majority must prevail. This is most undesirable as it would force the membership of TKD@CMU into a direct political conflict which is not conducive to the instruction of Taekwondo or Shito-Ryu Karate-Do.
7. History of Founding: TKD@CMU was founded by Nicole Dangelo and Jessica Dickinson Goodman. Nicole is a black belt in Taekwondo and Jessica is a black belt in Shito-ryu Karate Do.
See us on Facebook under the group title: CMU Martial Artists
