For Members Only’s executive board added an amendment to its constitution last week to redefine the roles of executive board members, said LeJamiel Goodall, a Weinberg sophomore.
“We want to clarify the positions so everyone running is clear about the positions they’re running for,” Goodall said.
Goodall, FMO’s vice coordinator, said board members wanted to update the constitution to reflect recent changes in the organization. Until about five years ago, FMO received all of the funding for its programs and its 13 satellites from the Associated Student Government. But several of the satellite groups have achieved “A” status and receive funding apart from FMO, Goodall said.
“It was time for us to update our constitution and the roles that we were doing because we had people doing things that hadn’t been clarified,” Goodall said.
According to the amendment, organizing publicity and recording minutes of the meetings, which used to be handled by two different people, have been consolidated into the role of secretary. Separate publicity and fund-raising chairmen also have been added to the executive board. The role of the administrative treasurer has been dissolved since its primary purpose was to help satellites with their funding. Two other positions also have been renamed.
After drafting the amendment, the executive board notified the approximately 600 members of FMO and its satellites by e-mail, asking them to sign a petition at the Black House in support of the changes. Goodall called the amendment an internal administrative decision that did not require a general consensus in order to pass.
“It wasn’t a major revision, so we just needed notice from the student body,” he said. “It’s not a fundamental change in what FMO stands for.”
FMO seeks to satisfy the cultural, intellectual and social needs of Northwestern’s black community, said Coordinator Chavis Richardson, a Weinberg senior.
“Not only is FMO a direct link between the African-American community and the administration at Northwestern, but it’s also a voice for the community to express its concerns,” Richardson said.
While satellite groups such as NAYO and Blackboard hold regular meetings, FMO usually holds one forum per quarter where members can discuss problems and initiatives, such as lobbying NU to increase the enrollment of black students to 10 percent, Goodall said.
The group also worked to address an incident on Martin Luther King Jr. Day where an NU football player was said to have thrown a snowball and yelled slurs at two black students.
“It is our goal to educate others through our programming and our lobbying,” Goodall said.
Elections for next year’s executive board will be held May 18. Goodall said he foresaw no further changes in the constitution or structure of FMO for the remainder of the school year.
“Any other changes will be made by the future (executive board),” he said.
