ViCE revises constitution, expands executive board

Sam Bloch Staff Writer

Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) has drafted a new constitution which outlines a sea change in structure and student involvement in the organization. ViCE Music Chair Max Freed ’06 presented the document to the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council on April 2.
“We think we had a very successful year,” said Freed at the Council meeting, “but there are a few issues we’d like to deal with.”

Chief among the proposed changes to the ViCE Constitution is the switch to internal elections for the positions of CEO (re-named director) and treasurer. In the past, these positions have been elected by the student body.

According to Freed, ViCE proposed the changes due to the possibility of students winning elections based on popularity and, as in past years, based on “the hilarity of their statements.” Freed cited one year in which the work allocated to the CEO was done mostly by the Assistant Director of Campus Activities.

“This is not an unprecedented change,” said ViCE CEO Jeremy Robinson-Leon ’07. “All other organizations, including the big ones... elect internally.”

Though only members of the ViCE Executive Board will be able to elect students to these positions, candidates are not required to have prior involvement with ViCE to run for any Board positions, including the positions of director and treasurer.

In the revised constitution, ViCE outlines plans to form specific committees which will be comprised of members of the general body. Members will be required to join at least one of the music, non-music, jazz, publicity, films, or After Hours committees. Members of the general body may switch committees after initial selection. Furthermore, these committees will not be exclusive, as suggestions and participation between the committees will be encouraged, and individuals may serve on more than one committee.

Additionally, each committee will have a representative chair serving on the Executive Board. The chair will be responsible for providing recommendations from their respective committees to the Executive Board.

These recommendations may include proposed acts, or budget and booking information. The Board will be comprised of the director, treasurer, secretary, music chair, non-music chair, publicity chair, assistant director of campus activities, and the new ViCE Jazz, After Hours, and Film League Chairs.
The formation of committees and representative chairs is part of an effort to fully reincorporate current subsidiary organizations (such as After Hours, ViCE Jazz, and Film League) back into ViCE.

Though the organizations are under the umbrella of ViCE, they essentially function as separate entities, according to Robinson-Leon. But by incorporating these organizations into the Board and through committees, all of the groups will be able to collaborate efficiently, and centralize publicity and budget processes.

“A larger Board and a larger general body will translate into a wider range of ideas and opinion,” said Robinson-Leon.

Freed elaborated on the structural changes at the Council meeting, noting that ViCE has “been looking for more effective ways to get people involved in decision making process…by bringing other groups in, we can encourage them to have more diverse programming.”
According to VSA Secretary Laureen Cantwell ’06, the changes to ViCE’s Board will benefit inter-ViCE relations and the College overall.

“Proposing a larger executive board is a fantastic idea; if one group isn’t that strong in leadership, but there’s still a necessity for it on campus, ViCE and people from other entertainment committees could help them, and [they can] join up together to get bigger events,” said Cantwell.

Other changes to the ViCE Constitution include a full ViCE calendar with all events to increase organization, a revamped fund application procedure with a formal application submitted to the ViCE secretary, and the creation of a Recording Studio Representative to act as a liaison between the ViCE Executive Board and the recording studio management. Currently, Freed said, he “wears two hats” as both the Recording Studio Representative and the Music Chair.

ViCE voted on the proposed constitution on April 5.