Constitution

CONSTITUTION

Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC), NYC

1. Name of the organization: Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC), NYC.

2. Flag of the organization: Red flag with acronym.

3. Tasks of the organization:

1) To build and support national-in-form campus-based organizations (Black Student Unions, Puerto Rican Student Unions, Dominican Student Unions, etc.) or multinational (third world) campus-based organizations that connect the academic, cultural, economic and social needs of students with militant and progressive politics.

2) To educate, organize and mobilize the broadest numbers of students to join the peoples’ struggles in the community against white supremacy and capitalism-imperialism, e.g. struggles against police brutality and mass incarceration.

3) To fight for a democratic and scientific education system to replace the current reactionary white-supremacist patriarchal capitalist education system. To struggle against all officials, administrators and teachers who perpetuate the current system. As descendants of slaves and/or colonized peoples, our communities must have an education that informs us of our true history and prepares us to struggle for liberation.

4) To launch a cultural movement to raise the revolutionary consciousness of our oppressed communities by speaking in classrooms, in the streets and over social media; publishing articles, leaflets, pamphlets, newsletters and blogs; holding Serve The People programs, cultural events, lectures, forums, conferences and study groups; organizing demonstrations, walkouts and other mass actions; etc.

4. Publication of Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC): Newsletter and/or blog.

5. Requirements, Rights and Duties of Membership:

1) Membership is open to students and allies who agree with the points of unity, platform and constitution of the RSCC, and are engaged in building campus based organizations in CUNY or in NYC public high schools that are:

A. National-in-form (Black Student Unions, Puerto Rican Student Unions, Dominican Students Unions, etc.), with a militant and progressive direction, or;

B. Multinational (third world) in composition, with a primary focus on integrating students into the struggles in oppressed-nationality communities.

2) Members have the right to:

A. Participate freely and fully in all General Membership meetings.

B. Propose changes to the agenda of General Membership meetings.

C. Propose activities and vote on all decisions at General Membership meetings.

D. Run for and be elected to the Secretariat of the RSCC.

E. Express criticisms and disagreements to the Secretariat and General Membership of the RSCC.

F. Propose amendments to the points of unity, platform and constitution.

G. Resign from the RSCC.

3) Members have the duty to:

A. Uphold the points of unity, platform and constitution of the RSCC and carry out its tasks.

B. Propagate revolutionary politics among students and the masses.

6. Organizational Structure:

1) General Membership: The General Membership is the highest decision making body of the organization. It meets at least twice during a semester (at the beginning and in the middle of the semester). It elects a new Secretariat at the first meeting of the academic year. It makes decisions by majority vote (50% + 1). Quorum to conduct business is a majority of the membership (50% + 1).

2) Secretariat: The Secretariat is responsible for carrying out the day-to-day work of the organization. It is responsible for educating, organizing and mobilizing the General Membership. It meets at least once a month and should stay in frequent contact. It makes decisions by majority vote (50% + 1). It can replace resigned members of the Secretariat with new interim members by majority vote (50% + 1) who serve until the next General Membership meeting. It consists of the following officers, each of whom must get a majority vote (50% + 1) at the General Membership meeting:

Positions in the Secretariat:

A. Chair (1): Creates the agenda for General Membership and Secretariat meetings and facilitates the meetings. Drafts and signs press releases in consultation with the whole Secretariat. Main representative of the organization in rallies and other external activities. Investigates and stays informed on community struggles. Proposes mobilizations to the whole Secretariat. Communicates from the secretariat to the Campus captains and organizes the CUNY/City-wide strategy. Leads the RSCC in mobilizations with each campus leader in leadership of campus cells.
B. Deputy Chair (1): Facilitates work among the secretariat. Is in contact with all non-campus orientated political entities, effectively the main external affairs person. Keeps timeline and calendar of events, meetings and other functions while reminding secretariat of intended goals. Investigates and stays informed on community struggles. Proposes mobilizations to the whole Secretariat.
C. Secretary-General (1): Calls General Membership and Secretariat meetings in consultation with the vice-chairs. Notifies membership of meetings. Maintains membership roster. Handles all administrative responsibilities. Investigates and stays informed on community struggles. Proposes mobilizations to the whole Secretariat. Communicates from the secretariat to the Campus captains and organizes the CUNY/City-wide strategy. Leads the RSCC in mobilizations with each campus leader in leadership of campus cells.
D. Education Officer (1): Organizes study courses for the General Membership and the Secretariat on revolutionary theory and practice. Runs membership orientation. Leads a committee of 1-3 general members. Facilitates or prepares facilitators for political discussions or workshops. Organizes and meets with those who will lead studies, and material that will be put out on RSCC media.
E. Agitation Propaganda Officer (1): Edits, manages and solicits materials for the RSCC newsletter/blog. Leads a publication committee of 3 RSCC members. Updates any other media that RSCC is involved with. Is the Contact person for Media outlets with the help of the Deputy Chair.

 

3) Campus Captains:
Each campus will have a campus captain that will:

1. Organize RSCC meetings among campus cells regularly (weekly/bi-weekly)
2. Communicate at least once a week with the Secretary-General on the Work that week.
3. Function as the leader of  the RSCC by campus and serve as security of the RSCC at demonstrations

4) Secretariat members can be recalled by a majority vote (50% + 1) of the General Membership.

5) After investigation and due process, the Secretariat by a 2/3’s vote of itself can warn, suspend or expel members of the organization for harming the interests of the people and the organization.

7. The Women’s Work Team: 

1) Creates a space for women in the organization to develop their politics.

Its aim is to politicize, mobilize, and organize women. It facilitates RSCC members in understanding the woman’s question and its application to our work in CUNY, including raising women’s issues as campaigns in our mass work.

We need to strive for the full integration of women into the organization. This means that we must come up with solutions to make it easier for women in RSCC to develop and participate in the struggle and that we must condemn patriarchal behavior against women, including trans-women. Those in leadership must also play a role in facilitating that. Patriarchal errors both in the general membership body and the leadership body will be dealt with by the Women’s Work Team.

2. Principles of the Women’s Work Team:

A. Our guiding theory is proletarian feminism. We approach women on the basis of their class interests.

B. We must understand the basic needs of the masses of proletarian and oppressed-nationality women. We must organize the people to fight.

C. We must raise the political consciousness of the masses in the midst of the class struggle. We must be scientific in our investigation and analysis.

8. Amendments: The points of unity, platform and constitution of the RSCC can be amended by a 2/3’s vote of the General Membership.