Constitution
1. Organization Name:
• Student Nonviolent Action Union, abbreviated to SNAU.
2. Mission and Goals:
• SNAU recognizes the imminent need to strive towards a beloved community where all people are recognized, and treated, as innate equals. SNAU also recognizes that in any society of people, especially one in which self-fulfillment and personal gain is lauded over service to others, this perfect equality may never exist. With the acceptance that the goals of this organization will never be fully attained, SNAU affirms its Mission to procure and protect the Universal Human Rights of all human beings.
• The Mission and Goals of SNAU are identical to those found in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, co-authored by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948. SNAU finds the legal protections afforded in the United Nations’ Human Rights Framework as the minimal humane foundation for true representation of a people to exist. Through this Universal Declaration and Framework, SNAU finds standing to dissent and petition local, state, and federal injustices.
• SNAU recognizes that each injustice done upon a group of people whether legal, social, or physical, is an act of violence, fear, and hate. SNAU exists as a counter force to this corrosive ideology and affirms the beliefs and lives of Mohandes K. Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Rosa Parks, Thich Nhat Hanh, Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta. To this end, the principle of Nonviolence is paramount. Through the words and actions of these individuals, and the organizations and movements they represent, SNAU finds standing to dissent and petition local, state, and federal injustices.
• SNAU accepts, and reaffirms the timelessness of the following statement of purpose, adopted by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the Raleigh conferences of 1960, and 1962, modified only where necessary to foster inclusivity of all members regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof:
“We affirm the ideal of nonviolence as the foundation of our purpose, and the manner of our action. Nonviolence seeks a social order of justice permeated by love. Integration of human endeavor represents the crucial first step towards such a society.
Through nonviolence, courage displaces fear; love transforms hate. Acceptance dissipates prejudice; hope ends despair. Peace dominates war; faith reconciles doubt. Mutual regard cancels enmity. Justice for all overcomes injustice. The redemptive community supersedes systems of gross social immorality.
Love is the central motif of nonviolence. Love is the force by which all are bound to one another. Such love goes to the extreme; it remains loving and forgiving even in the midst of hostility. It matches the capacity of evil to inflict suffering with an even more enduring capacity to absorb evil, all the while persisting in love.
By appealing to conscience and standing on the moral nature of human existence, nonviolence nurtures the atmosphere in which reconciliation and justice become actual possibilities.”
• All activities and functions of the organization must be legal under University, local, state, and federal laws.
3. Membership:
A) The Student Base of the Action Union
•Any Texas State University student organization shall be eligible for affiliation with SNAU which shall consist of not less than five members, and which subscribes to the principles of nonviolent direct action.
•Any local protest group shall be eligible for affiliation with SNAU which shall consist of not less than ten members and which subscribes to the principles of nonviolent direct action.
• All individual members of an affiliate group are admitted to the Conference, and all General meetings. All individual members have a voice at General meetings and may voice dissent to votes cast by their organizations’ spokesperson without fear of retaliation.
• All Texas State University students shall be eligible for individual general membership.
•The Executive Committee of SNAU shall have the power to grant affiliation to local protest groups and student organizations upon application
• The Executive Committee shall have the power to grant honorary, membership to any member of the general public. Honorary members shall have a voice, but no vote.
•No affiliate, organization, or individual shall ever be compelled to protest or petition or aid in the protest or petition which the affiliate, group, or individual disagrees with on any basis.
SNAU is determined to hear and represent all voices and people, and allows for opting-out of any event or movement, while continuing to offer an equal seat at the table.
•Texas State University is committed to an inclusive educational and work environment that provides equal opportunity and access to all qualified persons. Texas State, to the extent not in conflict with federal or state law, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, veterans’ status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
B) The responsibilities of affiliates to SNAU
•Each affiliate shall elect one of its members to serve as a voting member of the Student Nonviolent Action Union. This person shall serve for a term of one year, shall be eligible for re-election, and shall be a representative to SNAU in the manner of a Congressperson to Congress.
•Affiliates shall give every consideration to cooperating with the projects decided upon by SNAU or its Executive Committee
4. Organization of SNAU:
A) The Action Union
•The Action Union shall be composed of one representative from each of the local protest groups
• The Action Union shall meet three times a year: immediately before and immediately after the annual conference, and in early fall.
•Membership on the Action Union shall be from annual conference to annual conference
•National and International Human and Civil Rights groups at work in the state are invited to serve in an advisory capacity, or as observers, with voice but not vote on the Action Union. Such permission is to be reviewed by the Executive Committee and finally approved by the Coordinating Committee.
B) The Executive Committee
•The Action Union shall elect from its voting membership at the time of the annual conference six persons to the Executive Committee. The Chairperson of the Executive Committee and the Executive Secretary shall also serve as members of the Executive Committee. These eight persons shall compose the Executive Committee
• The Chairperson of SNAU shall be elected by the Action Union, and shall serve both as a Chairperson of the Action Union and the Executive Committee. They shall devote full time to the work of SNAU and officers and members.
•The Executive Committee shall act on behalf of the Action Union between meetings of that body. It shall be directly responsible for the program, for direction and supervision of staff, for the financial operation of the organization, and for any matters of policy which need action. It shall be responsible to SNAU and implement its programs.
• The Executive Committee shall meet five times a year: In May, in mid-summer in Fall with the Action Union, during the Winter holiday, and at the annual conference. It may also meet at unscheduled times when necessary.
• The Executive Committee shall have the power to appoint whatever committees it may consider helpful to the work of SNAU.
C) The Advisory Board
• The Action Union shall elect its own advisory board, the number to be elected is flexible and to be determined by the Action Union. Advisors shall serve for a term of one year, and shall be eligible for re-election.
• One member of the Advisory Board shall be be chosen to represent the board as a voting member of the Executive Committee.
D) Staff
•The staff shall be responsible for the implementation of the program of SNAU, at the direction of the Executive Committee.
• The head of the staff shall be an Executive Secretary, who shall be responsible for the day-to-day operations of SNAU. They shall supervise and be responsible for the activity of the other staff.
• There will be a Treasurer, who shall keep financial records for SNAU, perform fundraising duties, purchase supplies or resources where directed, be responsible for the organization’s account and, along with the Chairperson and Executive Secretary, put their name on the account.
• There will be a Communications Director, who shall publicize all meeting and events to the university media as well as off campus media, handle all press releases and media contact, maintain active and appropriate social media engagement. The Communications Director will keep minutes at meetings and disseminate to appropriate member parties.
•The Executive Committees shall employ whatever staff it understands to be necessary for the operation of the program. All staff appointments shall be for one year and subject to annual review by SNAU.
• All members of the Staff shall be admitted to Executive Committee meetings and will serve as observers, with voice but not vote, on the Executive Committee.
• The Chairperson, Executive Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Director, and all other subsequent Staff positions held by Texas State University Students must maintain a 2.25 Texas State cumulative GPA.
5. Meetings:
• General meetings shall be held at least every other week during the Fall and Spring semesters. The current Executive Committee will determine meeting frequency before the semester begins.
• Quorum for an Executive Committee vote shall be two-thirds majority
6. Finances:
• Advisors are not to have control of the funds and financial records of the organization.
• In the event SNAU becomes defunct, all assets shall be given to a predetermined organization chosen by the Executive Committee at the annual Executive Committee meeting immediately following the conference.
7. Advisor:
• Any member of the Executive Committee and Staff may nominate an Advisor for consideration.
• The Executive Committee will determine the Advisor(s).
• Upon confirmation, an Advisor is placed on the Advisory board (ref. 4c).
8. Amendments:
• Any member of the Executive Committee may propose an amendment by submitting their proposed change to the Chairperson, who will announce the proposed amendment at the next Executive Committee meeting. Upon a two-thirds vote of approval, the amendment will be proposed at the next conference, where all voting members will vote to ratify, with a two-thirds approval of attending voting members required for ratification.
• Any member of the Executive Committee may propose an emergency temporary amendment if an there is a perceived imminent need for one to preserve the standing of the organization. An emergency temporary amendment requires a three-fourths quorum, and a unanimous vote from the attending members of the Executive Committee. This emergency temporary amendment shall be disseminated immediately to all SNAU members and affiliates along with reasoning and any dissent from unattended voting members of the Executive Council. The emergency temporary amendment shall expire prior to the conclusion of the next scheduled Executive Council meeting which immediately preceded the annual conference, at which point it is subject to standard Amendment procedures described in this section.
9. History:
• This Constitution was created on December 17, 2024
• This Constitution took effect via ratification by unanimous vote on ________, 2025
• State: “This document must be submitted for review to the department of Student Involvement every three (3) years or when changes occur.”
