THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF
PEMBROKE COLLEGE WINNIE-THE-POOH SOCIETY
BE IT ENACTED by the Society's most excellent majesty, and with the consent and counsel of the Lord Temporal and Fantastical, in this present first Annual General Meeting assembled, in the year when Helen Masters was president, elected for the first time, as follows:
Description of the Document
- This document and all rules and regulations in it are the constitution of the society known as the Pembroke College Winnie the Pooh Society
Name of the Society
- The name of the society shall be as specified in the first clause of the constitution
Membership
- All undergraduates, graduates and senior members of Pembroke College, Cambridge, in residence within the University, shall be entitled to be members, and membership applications from these people are not subject to ratification, although they may be refused membership by a standard motion at any two consecutive Elevenses meetings
The President
- There shall be an officer, called the "President", who shall be a member of the society, and shall be elected in renewable terms of approximately one year at the General Meetings
- The duties of the President shall be to provide general guidance for the society, to preside at meetings, to liasise with senior members of the College concerning Society matters, to act as the point of contact between the Society and others, and to carry out such other duties as may be necessary and appropriate
The Secretary
- There shall be an officer, called the "Secretary", who shall be a member of the society, and shall be elected in renewable terms of approximately one year at the General Meetings
- The duties of the secretary shall be to arrange and notify members of the General Meeting and other meetings, to keep the records of the society, to arrange freshers' events, and carry out such duties as may be necessary and appropriate
- The secretary shall be the president's deputy
The Treasurer
- There shall be an officer, called the "Treasurer", who shall be a member of the society, and shall be elected in renewable terms of approximately one year at the General Meetings
- The duties of the treasurer shall be collect subscriptions and arrange, in consultation with the Secretary and President, such matters as may concern the financial business of the society, and any other duties as may be necessary and appropriate
The Under Secretary
- There shall be an officer, called the "Under-secretary", who shall be a member of the society, and shall be elected in renewable terms of approximately one year at the General Meetings.
- The duties of the under-secretary shall be to keep duplicate copies of the minutes and records ot the society, and to provide such assistance as the secretary may require
- The under-secretary shall be the secretary's deputy
The Christopher Robin
- There shall be a position for an officer, called the "Christopher Robin", who shall be a retired officer of the society, but still a member
- The Christopher Robin shall be appointed at the General Meeting for the duration of his/her membership, and shall have no duties or powers, and shall not be a member of the Supreme Praesidium, with regard to veto capabilities, but in all other respects shall be a member of the Praesidium, although he/she shall have the casting vote in matters on which the Praesidium is divided
- The appointment of a Christopher Robin is a qualified majority motion
- The Christopher Robin shall have the right of speaking first in debates
Membership Fees and Subscriptions
- Members reqistered as full members of the Society, must pay, on or before the first Monday in November, such membership charges as the General Meeting of the Society shall from time to time decide
- Members who have not paid their membership fees by the specified date shall be non-voting associates until the end of full Michaelmas term, after which time their membership shall end if they have not paid
- Associates may not renew their membership except by paying their membership fees
Special Dispensation for Membership
- Any person who shall be proposed by one member of teh Supreme Praesidium [viz. the President, the Secretary, the Under-Secretary, the Treasurer, the Propaganda Officer, and the Christopher Robin], and confirmed in membership by the next Elevenses meeting following his/her admission, shall be a member as if they had been a member of Pembroke College, mentioned above, save that such members must still be in residence in the University, unless special dispenstion has been obtained from three members of the Supreme Praesidium
Annual General Meetings
- An Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held during the second quarter of the Lent term, at such a time as might be arranged
- Decisions taken at the General Meeting shall not be valid unless 3 members of the Supreme Praesidium and at least 33% of the membership are present
- Only the General Meeting may elect officers, change the constitution, or set the membership fees
Extraordinary General Meetings
- If an officer resigns, or 33% of the membership request it, or three members of the Supreme Praesidium request it, an Extraordinary general meeting shall be held within two weeks and shall be subject to the same rules as the General Meeting
Elections
- Providing he/she is proposed in writing to the Secretary or Under-secretary, and supported in signature of two members, which proposal is delivered into the hands of the relevant officer within 24 hours of a General Meeting, a member may stand for election for one or more Praesidian or other post, but may not hold two simultaneously. If such a situation arises, the lesser office shall be given to the next on the ballot, or, if there be no such, then to the next on the ballot for another position, selected by sortition. The voting shall be in the General Meeting, and the candidate having the most votes shall be elected to the post, given the exception above. If there be a tie, the two candidates who obtained equal numbers of votes shall stand again as teh only candidates for election. If the vote be tied a second time, the election shall be by sortition.
- If a member refuse to take up a post, the office shall be given to the next on the ballot, or if there be no such, then to the nearest on the ballot for another position, selected by sortition
- The General Meeting may create temporary offices, for not more then six months, by a simple motion, and the person elected to that office shall be a member of the Supremem Praesidium, but shall not have veto rights
Quora and Qualified Majority Motions
- A simple motion, at any meeting, shall be quorate by the presence of 10% of the membership (except as provided for at General Meetings), and may be vetoed by any member of the Supreme Praesidium, at which point it becomes a Qualified Majority Motion, and must be passed as below.
- If a motion is a qualified majority motion, it must be approved by 75% of the members present, or 50% of the members present and two veto-holding members of the Supreme Praesidium
The Loyal Toast
- During every Annual General Meeting, a toast shall be drunk in tea, or whatever liquid be convenient, as follows: "A toast to A.A. Milne, the enduting glory of Helen Masters, our wise foundress, Paul Smith, the first Secretary, Monty Adkins, the composer of the society anthem, all the founder members, Solon the Wise, law giver of the Society, and all the members past and present"
Constitutional Changes
- Alterations to and exemptions from the constitution are all super-qulaified motions, that is to say that they require the unanimous approval of the Supreme Praesidium, and the approval of 75% of the members present
The University
- The Society shall be on amicable terms with the University society of similar name, but shall not enter into any power-sharing agreement without the University Society agreeing to abide by the constitution of the Society as it then stands
Financial Arrangements
- Expenditure of moneys on the Society's behalf must be authorised by two members of the Praesidium or the treasurer alone
Motions which are Qualified Majority Motions
- The following motions shall be Qualified Majority Motions, in addition to any that may later be added, by constitutional amendments or otherwise, and in addition to any implicit or explicit elsewhere in this constitution:
- Expulsion of members,
- Deposition of Officers,
- Matters not within the constitution which are central to the existence or otherwise of the Society [e.g. it's dissolution
Clause Numbering
- The clause numbered L is the last clause of the original constitution. All alterations shall be numbered as "Amendment x to Clause y" or "Amendment x to Amendment y amending Clause z" where x, y, and z are Greek numberals, and dated as passed on the "xth day of y in year z, when n was president, elected for the qth time." [Arabic numbers referring to sub-sections]
Ratification of Qualified Majority Motions
- All qualified and super-qualified motions must be ratified at the next elevenses meeting.
Elevenses Meetings
- Elevenses meetings must occur at least one in each quarter of Full term
[There follow the amendments to the first draft of the constitution]
- Meetings shall be held in members' rooms on a voluntary basis, unless other provision has been made, and the host shall provide refreshments as they may consider to be necessary and appropriate (expenses on which in no way and by no means other than a simple motion be refundable out of the society's funds).
- The location of a meeting shall be decided at the previous meeting
The James
- There may be, if a candidate presnet himself/herself, an officer called the "James", who shall not be a member of the Praesidium and may be voted out of or into office at any time.
- The duties of the James are to abstain from voting on any matter, and provide honey and condensed milk sandwiches at one meeting per year, at a time which may be convenient to him/her.
The Lesson
- At the start of each meeting, there shall be a reading, selected by the reader, from the extant corpus of A.A. Milne, which shall immediately be followed by the benediction "GRATIAS AGIMUS A.A. MILNEI", or, alternatively, "THANK BE TO A.A. MILNE", as may be provided for.
The Anthem
- The anthem of the society, which should be played (although it need not be) at major events, shall be "Cottleston Pie", as set to music by that most sweet-voiced bard, Matthew [Monty] Adkins
Ownership of the Constitutional Manuscript
- Given the proviso in the nxt article, the manuscript of this work shall be the society's in perpetuity
- In the event of the dissolution of the Society, as provided for, the manuscript shall become the inalienable property of the foundress, Helen Masters, or her descendants by either male or female line, the Salic law not applying, or, if her line has failed, the library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, which property shall not be alienable from the person or body to whom it belongs by dcree or motion of any body, from either College or Society
- The preceding two articles, and this article, may not be contradicted or repealed, or amended by any vote of the society or any action of any person, all other rules and regulations notwithstanding
The Foreign Secretary
- There shall be an officer, called the "Foreign Secretary", who shall be a member of the society, and shall be elected in renewable terms of one year at the General Meetings
- The duties of this officer are to specifically facilitate liaison with the College and University organisations, inter alia, to be referred to as Josif Göbbels during meetings, unless they specifically request otherwise, and in general, to carry out such duties as may be necessary and appropriate in accordance with their office
- The foreign secretary shall be the Under-Secretary's deputy
Return To Archives
©The Pembroke College Winnie-The-Pooh Society.
Disclaimer: The views given on this page are those of the Pembroke College Winnie-The-Pooh Society and do not necessarily correspond to those of Pembroke College