You are hereby notified that, pursuant to Kappa Alpha Laws Article 1, Section 131, the 34th Executive Council has designated that the 73rd Session of the Convention shall be held July 1-3, 2009, at the J.W. Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.   The Opening Session for the Convention is currently scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 1st at 2:00 pm Eastern Time.

Composition and Voting - Article 1, Section 121 of the Kappa Alpha Laws provides in pertinent part for representation at the Convention as follows:

“The Convention shall be composed of the Former Knight Commanders, the General Officers, the Province Commanders, the National Undergraduate Chairman, the Chief Alumnus and one delegate from each qualified Active and Alumni chapter in attendance.  Each member of the Convention shall vote in person and shall be entitled to one vote only.

Alumni Chapter Representation - In order for an Alumni Chapter to qualify for representation at the Convention, it must meet the requirements as stated in Article 11, Section 122 of Kappa Alpha Laws:

“Every Alumni Chapter to be recognized as a unit of the Order and to be qualified for representation at… Convention shall from year to year comply with requirements as follows:

(1)     Hold at least one meeting in each calendar year.

(2)     Elect officers annually and report their election to the National Administrative Office.

(3)     File an Annual Report of the activities of the alumni chapter in the prescribed form, on or before June 1, which Annual Report shall contain the names and current addresses of the officers of the alumni chapter, and the names and current mailing addresses of all enrolled members of the alumni chapter.

(4)     Pay annual alumni chapter dues in the amount set by the Executive Council, which dues shall be due and payable by June 1.

(5)     Maintain a membership of at least ten enrolled members who have currently paid dues to the chapter.

An Alumni Chapter which has accomplished all of the foregoing requirements by June 1, shall be entitled to representation at Convention….” 

Credentials - Article 2, Section 213 of the Kappa Alpha Laws states:

“Upon the election or designation of delegates and alternate delegates to any Convention, The I and III of each active chapter and any two officers of an Alumni Chapter shall execute Convention credentials provided by the Executive Director.  For Active Chapters, such credentials shall be filed prior to opening meeting of Convention.  For Alumni Chapters, such credentials shall be filed at least 10 days prior to the opening meeting of the Convention.  Each delegate and alternate delegate shall present a copy of his credentials to the Credentials Committee of the Convention.”

Further, Kappa Alpha Laws R2-213 provides:

 “Credentials addressed to the Executive Director and delivered to the United States Postal Service or an express mail or package service (e.g. Federal Express, United Parcel Service, Airborne Express, etc.) on or before that date which is 10 days prior to the convening date of the Convention, shall be considered filed with the Executive Director, although actually received by the Executive Director after said date.  Credentials received by the Executive Director within 10 days of the convening date of the Convention shall qualify under this Regulation only if they bear a legible postmark, or if a receipt for their delivery to the express mail or package service showing the date of delivery thereto is furnished.

Credentials received by the Executive Director by facsimile on or before that date which is 10 days prior to the convening date of the Convention, shall be considered filed with the Executive Director provided the original executed credentials is received by the Executive Director on or before the convening date of the Convention.

Credentials must be filed by Alumni Chapters no later than Sunday, June 21, 2009.  This is a Sunday, and the National Administrative Office will be closed but facsimile transmissions and scanned documents sent by electronic mail can be received.  In order for staff to confirm receipt, however, any credentials sent by these methods should be received not later than 5:00 pm Eastern time on Friday, June 19.

Amending the Constitution or Bylaws - Article 1, Section 711 of Kappa Alpha Laws states:

 “A proposal to be presented to the Convention to amend this Constitution shall be filed with the Executive Director of the Order at least sixty days prior to the opening date fixed for the Convention and the Executive Director shall mail copies of any proposed amendments to each Active and Alumni Chapter, to the National Undergraduate Chairman, and to each General Officer, each Province Commander, and each Former Knight Commander thirty days prior to the opening date fixed for the Convention.  In any year in which the Convention is to be held during the month of June, July, August or September a proposed amendment to this Constitution shall be filed with the Executive Director not later than March 15 of that year and the Executive Director shall, not later than April 15 of that year, transmit copies of any proposed amendments, properly filed, to the recipients enumerated herein.”   

Article 15, Section 211 of Kappa Alpha Laws states:

“The Bylaws of the Order may be amended

(a)                 By majority vote of the Convention if the proposed amendment was submitted at least 24 hours in advance of the date and time of the vote thereon, or

(b)                 By a two-thirds vote of the Convention on a proposal presented less than 24 hours prior to the Convention vote thereon.”

This concludes the Call to Convention.  Additional information may be obtained on the website at www.kappaalphaorder.org or by calling the National Administrative Office.

LSW/nc

xc:       Executive Council
KAOEF
Trustees
Deputy Chief Alumnus
Staff
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