Asked to Resign from Club

[Dark_Phoenix]

I've been President of the Middle Eastern Heritage Club.... until yesterday.

Our school has a few dozen girls from the Middle East, or are Arab Americans so in 1999 the original MEHC was formed. I took over as President in '05 during my Sophmore year. But now I'm being asked to resign by our faculty sponsor. Why? Apparently I don't give an accurate representation of the Arab community on campus.

O_O what? They ELECTED me, they have every semester since '05. And now the teacher wants me to resign since parents of some girls complained about my values and how they reflect on the club. I don't get it. We aren't a Muslim organization, so me being an atheist should not matter.

Ugh. This is really, really bad. I love the club, we do alot of community service projects, political activism, or unusually random s*** like watch Arab language movies after school. (and we allow in non-Middle Eastern students too, btw).

But I'm really torn over this.
Do I tell my club that I've been asked to resign because some of their parents don't like me?
Or just resign without giving a reason?

I wish I knew who blabbed to their parents about me. We have twenty three members who are of Middle Eastern decent/from the region, and twelve members who are not. If I worked on it I bet I could narrow it down to two or three but why bother... It's just really odd to elect someone UNANIMOUSLY and then turn your back on them by complaining to your parents.

 

[MAC is love]

Some girl is probably jealous & wants to be the President so she went & cried to mommy and daddy. Puh-leeze. This is college, that's pretty damn sad. It's a heritage club, not a religious club. I say you confront them.

 

[glamdoll]

Well since they elected you, they have a right to know why you are resigning. It is only fair. Tell them that someone went to complain to their parents about you, and that is why.

Its really stupid.
In my HS they sued the principal because he told 2 lesbians to
stop making out in public. ITs dumb because he would say that to EVERY couple making out on campus. For petes sake ur in school.
wanna make out? get an effin room!

then they started a Gay Straight alliance,
but the dumb part was that the principal was never
anti gay or anything.

 

[caffn8me]

Don't resign. Parents have no right to interfere in an elected post. They aren't part of the electorate or governance. Many years ago I was elected to be the graduate computing officer at my college in Oxford. I uncovered serious problems with the way one of the staff was spending money, allegedly for graduate computing, so I complained. He immediately told me I was "sacked". The end result was that he was severely disciplined for breaking the rules and I remained the representative elected by the graduates themsleves.

You stand down when those you represent no longer want you to represent them. Until then, you have a mandate to continue.

Perhaps your faculty sponsor would be kind enough to define what an "accurate representation of Arab community on campus" should be so that anyone who doesn't fit that profile can be thrown out of the club.

Does your club operate under a written constitution? If so, referring back to that may be useful as it should define how a president is elected as well as the aims and purposes of the club. If the aims and purposes aren't religious then the dissenting parents can take a running jump or get their darlings to form a religious society of their own.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Your club has a charter or something like that? Use that to your advantage. I'd take it to the principal, explain that there's nothing in there that you show yourself to be in opposition of, and that asking someone to resign for a religious reason is discriminatory. I bet your school has procedures about club presidents and membership, too. Check to make sure that there has to be found reason for you to be asked to resign. Those documents exist for a reason; use them to your advantage

If you do resign (and I wouldn't), I would definitely give a reason. From a member point of view, I'd be really confused if a president suddenly resigned without telling me. If you give a reason, you'll prevent some rumors from starting.

 

[prinzessin784]

That's crap - I would bring it to the dean. Put up a fight, there's no way you should have to resign!

 

[Hawkeye]

Babe, you are in COLLEGE.
Just because some students call their mommy and daddy just shows how immature they are. Don't resign. If they don't like it make them come to your face and say it.
It's COLLEGE where people act like ADULTS and I hate to say it but in the real world mommy and daddy won't always be there to fight battles. The sooner they learn this the better.

And if in High School- the same rules apply.

If they will let their children go partying every night then there is absolutely no reason they should have you resign.

Screw them.

 

[Dark_Phoenix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye Babe, you are in COLLEGE. Just because some students call their mommy and daddy just shows how immature they are. Don't resign. If they don't like it make them come to your face and say it. It's COLLEGE where people act like ADULTS and I hate to say it but in the real world mommy and daddy won't always be there to fight battles. The sooner they learn this the better. And if in High School- the same rules apply. If they will let their children go partying every night then there is absolutely no reason they should have you resign. Screw them.

I'm in high school. But everyone (except 50ish students) are from out of state or are foreigners (myself included). Same rules DON'T apply. We don't party, we don't leave campus after 10 pm, we don't allow boys on campus unless it's a formal/school sponsored function, and overall, they're pretty strict. The school is Christian (Moravian) but many students are not Christian, so in that respect they're decently liberal.


Our constitution allows for faculty override, all club constitutions allow for it or we aren't allowed to exist (also allowed in a non-discramanatory clause... we can't expel someone from the club for not being from the Middle East. BUT there's no provision against demoting an officer, which is what's worrying me).

I think I'm going to tell the club what's happening at our meeting tonight. That I'm being asked to resign by a member of the faculty because someone's parents do not approve of me.

It's supposed to be a pretty light, we're just watching "Paradise Now"... I hope I know who did tell their parents, I'd just want to know what I'm doing wrong, you know? Like if it's because of religion, they just want to be president, or something totally random I can't think of.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Is there procedure for how to demote an officer or how get a motion carried? And how much power does the faculty actually have?

I'm just wondering, because even though I'm guessing it's a private school, it seems fishy that faculty would be allowed to do what they please in the clubs; to me, that would allow for all sorts of favoritism to leak through.

 

[prinzessin784]

You should call the local news and tell them your story. They love stuff like this and you'll really have a lot of attention and people supporting you!

 

[user79]

I wouldn't back down either, you were elected, that goes against democratic decision making to ask you to resign.

 

[caffn8me]

If they force you to resign, are they able to prevent you standing for re-election? If so, on what grounds? If you could stand again and were re-elected (which is probable), what could they do then? These are things you need to find out.

 

[Dark_Phoenix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prinzessin784 You should call the local news and tell them your story. They love stuff like this and you'll really have a lot of attention and people supporting you!

I would never do that. I don't want to draw attention to myself, make this into a spectacle, and I don't need community support. The community around the school sucks.

Anyways, we just had the meeting, watched "Paradise Now" and I learned that everyone is increadibly shocked. We've submitted a petition to the faculty, asking that I remain president for a series of outlined reasons and attached a formal essay of what we have accomplished while I've been President of MEHC and why I should remain.

I'll find out after break whether or not I'll need to be reviewed by the ICC (Inner Club Council) which is a group of faculty and representative students from all 12 clubs at the school.

Faculty has a complete override because of problems with club discrimination (including the MEHC, in '02 they were disbanded for that school year for not allowing members of a certain religious group to join and the ASC (Asian Students Council) which had banned all of their American born students at one point *sigh*), problems with club hazing, and other issues.

Parents do have alot of say in what goes on. It's a private school, and it's very expensive and a high quality education. I, and other students, wouldn't travel from as far away as South Korea or Jordan to come here. I think they have an expectation of a strict, high quality, conservative setting education.

I went through the roster after the movie, asking each girl if they were comfortable with having me as President, in private while we put some Bollywood movie on (don't ask... the company we use to buy foreign movies from sends us Indian ones every month by mistake *sigh*). Lol, it's either that or everyone else goes back to their dorms.

Anyways, everyone told me that they were fine with having me be president. All but three girls. All three from KSA. All three don't like me very much (i.e. completely bitchy). And I do have the feeling they just want me out the club. They gave stupidly mean reaons like "You just aren't very Middle Eastern", "You haven't been a strong leader", "The MEHC has turned for the worst since you were elected" or "You don't represent what MEHC stands for"... Uh... okay. I told them if they were uncomfortable to please appeal to the ICC for review. They told me they already have. You know what makes it worse? One of them is the club VP. Which means, I get kicked out, she takes my place.

Ugh, I'm seriously dreading this shitstorm that's going on. I'm not telling other girls the names of the three, it would be wrong. But I have a VERY good feeling their appeal will be rejected (uh 3 out of 37, lol). On the other hand, the ICC could take them seriously for fear of backlash - that they discriminated against Muslim students. Or their parents could put up a fuss. If they do, I'm asking my parents for help also.

 

[caffn8me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma_Frost there's no provision against demoting an officer, which is what's worrying me)

I'd say that means there isn't a provision allowing elected officers to be demoted either. If it's not in the constitution, then it's unconstitutional - unless of course "faculty override" is invoked. If it is, then it means the constitution is worthless.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Good luck with all of that. Those little brats will get theirs sometime in their lives. Mommy and Daddy aren't always going to be around to help them get their way.

 

[faifai]

That's so sad that they're trying to bully you into resigning just because they suddenly think you're not a good president anymore (and you're just as Middle Eastern as anyone there. it's not an MSA!). Chances are that you can't just be taken out for no reason (unless you're in high school, in which case your teachers or sponsor or whoever might have veto power over whatever happens), so I wouldn't go down without a fight.

 

[Dark_Phoenix]

So, I'm back in Amman, Jordan right now, just chilling out after vacation.
Received an e-mail from my school that I will have to undergo evaluation by the ICC for
1) Possible discrimination against members of a different religion (i.e. we have no Jewish members, the ICC has a problem with that, uh, maybe they don't want to join?... Not my problem but the ICC wants to ask me about it)
2) Failing in my duties as president of the MEHC
3) Misrepresentation of the MEHC

 

[caffn8me]

As far as I understand it, the MEHC isn't a religious group so can't discriminate against "another religion" as it doesn't have a religion itself. Let's hope that common sense prevails at the ICC.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Are any members willing to vouch that you fulfilled your duties and dispute the first claim?

I would also, if you're feeling up to it, look into whether the other ethnic clubs have members of the non-ethnicity.

It sounds like they're grasping for straws.

 

[Dark_Phoenix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark Are any members willing to vouch that you fulfilled your duties and dispute the first claim? I would also, if you're feeling up to it, look into whether the other ethnic clubs have members of the non-ethnicity. It sounds like they're grasping for straws.

Well, the petition and essay we submitted should help.

MEHC has 12 non-Middle Eastern/Arab members. But all of them are Christian. The ICC wants evaluate if I have been discriminating against Jews at our school (I haven't, I'm giving them the applications of all members for the MEHC, none applied).

They are kinda desperate *sigh*. It's those stupid girls; But I guess they have to evaluate their complaints. As long as I tell them everything straight up and provide the accurate documentation, I should be fine.