Preamble

In order to promote a better America – with equality, opportunity, and freedom – within a justand strong society, we dedicate ourselves to organizing the participation of Democratic collegestudents in the State of New York. Our mission as a student organization is to help electDemocrats from the grassroots level up, train and engage new generations of democratic studentactivists, shape the Democratic Party with voices from America's youth, and to become a potent political voice on the issues that impact the student population. In this mission, we call for full participation of all New York students, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin,religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation or gender identity.Understanding the importance of participation in the Democratic Party to the preservation of our values and principles, we, Democratic college students, do hereby associate ourselves and adoptthis Constitution as the College Democrats of New York. The College Democrats of New York isthe official student outreach arm of the New York State Democratic Committee and is part of theCollege Democrats of America, the official student outreach arm of the Democratic NationalCommittee.

Article 1:

Name, Purpose, and Structure.

Section I

. Name. The name of this organization shall be the "College Democrats of New York,"hereinafter referred to in the document as CDNY.

Section II

. Purpose. CDNY, as the collegiate arm of the Democratic Party, pledge to support the philosophy and purpose of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, CDNY declares their intention tosupport efforts to increase the participation of college students in Democratic Party affairs. Tothese ends, CDNY shall educate and train their members so that they may be better able to:A.Educate students about the philosophy of the Democratic Party;

Assist in the election of local, state, and national Democratic candidates and;C.Work to bring more people into the political process.D.Overall, to achieve the goals of CDNY and the Democratic Party

Section III

. State Regions. For the purposes of assuring that colleges in all areas of New York are represented, the state shall be divided into seven state regions: the Capital Region, theCentral New York Region, the Finger Lakes Region, the Hudson Valley Region, the New York City/ Long Island Region, the North Country Region, the and the Western New York RegionA.The New York City/Long Island Region shall include all colleges in the Bronx, NewYork, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties;

The Hudson Valley Region shall include all colleges in Greene, Columbia, Dutchess,Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, Putnam, Westchester, and Rockland counties;

The Capital Region shall include all colleges in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady,Saratoga, Fulton, Montgomery, Schoharie, Fulton, Montgomery, and Washingtoncounties;D. The Central New York Region shall include all colleges in Oneida, Oswego, Madison,Onondaga, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Broome, and Tioga counties;

E.The Finger Lakes Region shall include all colleges in Cayuga, Seneca, Yates, Ontario,Wayne, Monroe, Livingston, Schuyler and Tompkins counties;

The North Country Region shall include all colleges in the Warren, Essex, Clinton,Franklin, Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Herkimer, Lewis and Jefferson counties; andG.The Western New York Region shall include all colleges in the Orleans, Genesee,Wyoming, Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua counties Chemung, Steuben andAllegany counties;Starting in 2011 and following once every two years, the CDNY executive board shall reevaluatethe makeup of chapters in individual regions, and vote on any changes necessary to keep regions balanced and viable. A majority of the Executive Board members are needed to make anychanges.

Section IV

. Members.Members of CDNY organization shall consist of the following entities:A.The Executive Board;B.The State Council;C.The chartered Campus Chapters; andD.Membership at large

Section V.

Structure. CDNY shall serve as an umbrella organization for chartered CampusChapters. While CDNY will coordinate with each organization, they remain separate entitiesunder the CDNY. The overall structure of the CDNY shall be as follows:A.The Executive Board, which shall define and carry out the direction of goals of CDNY.

The State Council shall be the official voice of chapters within CDNY.C.The chartered Campus Chapters shall be the most basic and fundamental unit withinCDNY.

The membership at large shall be composed of all the members of the chartered chaptersas well as

college students wishing to be known as College Democrats at institutions in New York that lack a chartered chapter. These individuals must

have the best interests of the Democratic Party, College Democrats of America, and CDNY at heart, regardless of sex, race, ethnic origin, religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, or sexualorientation.

Article 2

Executive Board.Section I

. Authority and Responsibility.The responsibilities of the Executive Board shall be as follows:A.Determine the agenda and policy of CDNYB.Coordinate all statewide activities and eventsC.Formulate a state platform, to be approved and adopted at each year’s Convention.D.Hold the right to independently endorse candidates engaged in Democratic primaries thatreflect the values and goals of CDNY.i.CDNY shall endorse a candidate with a 2/3rds vote of the executive board.

Section II

. Executive Board Composition

The Executive Board shall consist of: The President, the Vice-President, the Legislative Director,the Communications Director, the Finance Director, the Development Director, the MembershipDirector, the Secretary, as well as the Chairs of the seven regions.

**The positions of Vice President, Membership Director, and Development Director werecreated as of the 2009 CDNY Convention. These changes are reflected in Amendment III.

All positions will be elected once yearly at the General Elections at the CDNY convention for terms beginning on May 15th of the year in which they were elected until May 14th of thefollowing year. The procedure for Executive Board elections is stated in Article 7.

Section III

. Duties of the President.The President shall:

Attend and preside over meetings of the Executive Board, and provide seasonalreports to the Executive Board;B.With the assistance of the Vice President, will be responsible for the implementationof the goals of the CDNY as set by the Executive Board;C.Reaching out to and maintaining ties with Democratic elected officials, Democraticcampaigns, and Democratic-leaning organizations in the State;D.Appoint ex-officio members of the Executive Board with the advice and consent of the Executive Board;

Establish committees to facilitate CDNY’s goals as needed and appoint members tothem with the advice and consent of the Executive Board; andF.The President, with the advice and consent of the Executive Board, shall have theability to create additional non-voting positions, and appoint individuals to fill those positions.

Section IV.

Duties of the Vice President.The Vice President shall:A.Assist the President in the performance of his or her duties;B.Act as President when the President is unavailable or unable to perform his or her duties;C.Assume the office, powers and duties of the President upon the President’s death,resignation, removal, or inability to perform duties;

Oversee current projects of the Executive Board in CDNY in consult with thePresident;

Have the authority to deal directly with leaders of other State Federations and CollegeDemocrats of America with consent of the President;