Chicago Debate Society
The University of Chicago
1212 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637

BY-LAWS - Ratified November, 1989

Amended April, 2006

Article I - Name
The name of this organization shall be "Chicago Debate Society", hereinafter: "CDS," or "the CDS."

Article II - Purpose
The purposes of CDS shall be:
A. to assemble a group of members from whose ranks debate teams can be fielded to compete in off-campus intercollegiate parliamentary debate tournaments,
B. to hold on-campus meetings to provide training and practice in the parliamentary debate style,
C. to sponsor on-campus intercollegiate tournaments,
D. to expose member of the University community to debate by sponsoring quarterly call-outs, and
E. to sponsor a Reunion debate involving College alumni each Reunion Weekend at the team’s discretion.

Article III - Membership
Section 1. A member of CDS in a quarter shall be any registered student of the college or any of the graduate schools who meets any of the following criteria:
A. Is currently a member of the Officer Board, or holds the office of Chancellor or Tournament director.
B. Has attended at least one intercollegiate debate tournament through CDS in that quarter, or any of the two quarters preceding
C. Has helped to run, judge, or tabulate scores at a CDS-sponsored tournament for at least three rounds in the current quarter. A vote by the officer board is required to designate such a student as a member in the quarter.

Section 2. Membership on the competitive teams shall be limited by the rules and regulations of the national debate associations sanctioning the debate format.

Section 3. Debaters shall be selected for the competitive teams according to the following criteria in this specific order:
A. number of practices attended
B. number of years on the team
C. number of tournaments attended

Officers will determine selection according to these criteria except under extenuating circumstances, in which case the officers must agree unanimously.

Article IV - Meetings
Section 1. CDS meetings shall be scheduled biweekly, with days and times to be set quarterly by a majority of the officers.

Section 2. A quorum at meetings shall consist of one half of the members of the CDS in that quarter.

Article V - Officers
Section 1. The Elected Officers of the Society shall be:
A. The President. The President is a registered student in the College who is a current member of the CDS. S/he appoints all "Appointed Officers" and is responsible for opening meetings. S/he also acts as liaison with the Student Activities Office, University of Chicago administrators, faculty, and students; and debate teams from other universities.
B. The Vice President and Director of Novice Affairs. The Vice President and Director of Novice Affairs is a registered student in the College who is responsible for public relationships, including team recruitment and contacting alumni. S/he has authority to set the agenda for all debate-related practice meetings and to conduct all training and practices by his/her discretion.
C. The Treasurer. The Treasurer is a registered student in the College. S/he prepares annual and quarterly budgets, submits expense request forms, pays all bills, and oversees the Society accounts as per Article VIII.
D. The Convener. The Convener is a registered student at the College. S/he is responsible for encouraging on-campus oratory and debate, including faculty debates and public debates, and for bringing speakers to campus.

E. The Secretary. The Secretary is a registered student in the College. S/he shall maintain a list of all members of CDS in the quarter. S/he shall also write correspondence for the team, keep attendance for the meetings, and maintain the Constitution, as well as a database of alumni names. S/he shall preside over all administrative meetings of the assembled team, and over meetings of the officer board.

Section 2. The Appointed Officers of the Society shall be:
A. Tournament Director(s). One tournament director is appointed for each debate tournament hosted. They oversee all aspects of planning and administrating the tournaments, including, but not limited to, invitation, housing, registration, judging, tabbing, meals, and awards. Tournament Directors may delegate authority over one or more of these areas to other CDS members as they see fit.
B. The Chancellor. The Chancellor is a registered student in the University who has had prior college parliamentary debate experience at this or another school. S/he assists the assists the Officer Board as appropriate and may be chosen at the Officer Board’s discretion.Section 3. In votes among the Officer Board the five voting officers shall be the President, Vice-President and Director of Novice Affairs, Treasurer, Secretary and Convener.

Section 4. The order of seniority among the offices is President, Vice-President and Director of Novice Affairs, Treasurer, Secretary and Convener. If at any time the designated officer is unavailable to preside the most senior officer available shall preside.
An Officer of the CDS may delegate any of their duties to any other member of the team provided both parties agree. The Officer retains final responsibility for the performance of the duty.

Section 5. A member of the Society may hold only one elected office at any time.

Section 6. Terms of office for all Officers shall begin and end on the Sunday preceding the eighth week of Spring Quarter. In the event that an Officer resigns or is removed from office, a new Officer will be selected by the Officer Board through election or any other process the board may choose.

Section 7. An Officer can be removed from office for mis-, mal-, or nonfeasance of duties during his or her term. Unless otherwise noted removal uses the same procedures as amending the constitution with regards to voting, tabling, and other processes. An Officer may not preside over his or her own removal.

Article VI - Elections
Section 1. Elections for officer positions shall be held during the first, second, or third weeks of spring quarter. The President shall announce the date of election two weeks in advance at a meeting of the CDS and through email. At that time the President shall accept nominations for the offices to be elected. One week prior to the date of election the President shall announce nominations for the various offices. After this time there may be no new nominations, though nominated candidates may withdraw their candidacy at any time.

Section 2. A majority vote by the Officer Board will allow a member who cannot be present for the entirety of elections to vote by proxy if they are unable to attend due to disability, travel abroad, or any other reason the board considers sufficient.
The proxy vote shall be delivered to all members of the Officer Board at any time after nominations have been announced, and before voting. A proxy vote for any individual office shall not be delivered to a member of the Officer Board who is a candidate for that office.
A proxy vote will be for one or no candidates for each office. In the case of a run off, proxy votes continue to count if they are for a remaining candidate.

Section 3. All members of the team in the current quarter who are present at the election may vote. A quorum for an election shall be one half of all members of CDS in the current quarter, with those voting by proxy considered present.

Section 4. The order of election shall be President, Vice-President and Director of Novice Affairs, Treasurer, Secretary and Convener. Before voting on each office the membership shall hear a speech from each candidate. After delivering speeches all the candidates shall leave the room during which time the members may discuss the candidates. The officer board shall establish speaking times. The president shall preside at elections.

Section 5. Each member shall cast a vote for one candidate. A member who leaves before any vote for a specific office may not vote in that election. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes shall win. If there is no majority winner there shall be another run off vote for the candidates with the two highest vote totals. This process shall continue until a single candidate receives the majority of votes.

Section 6. The entire Officer Board excluding any candidates for the office voted upon shall count votes. The Officer Board, by unanimous vote, may choose to appoint any persons to count the votes. At any time there must be at least two vote counters.

Article VII - Faculty Advisor(s)
Section 1. The Society shall have one or more faculty advisors who assist the president in dealing with the University faculty, staff, and administrators or in other Society endeavors.

Section 2. Potential advisors shall be selected from among the faculty by a majority of team officers. The president will ask those selected to serve.

Section 3. The president shall meet not less than once per quarter with each advisor to inform him or her of CDS programs and events.

Article VIII - Handling of Funds
The Treasurer shall keep an income and expense ledger for each account and report all changes at the meetings. The Treasurer shall make a detailed report to the officer board on the state of the budget every three weeks. All team financial information shall be directly reported to the Treasurer.

Article IX - Amendments
Section 1. The Constitution may be amended by a vote of two thirds of the members present at a meeting in which quorum is obtained.

Section 2. Amendments introduced at one meeting will be tabled after discussion and brought up for vote at the next meeting.