Rules of the Society

RULES OF THE SOCIETY

1. The Society shall be composed of past and present Members of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and shall be called the ‘PEMBROKE COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE SOCIETY’.

2. The objects of the Society shall be: (a) To promote closer relationships among Pembroke Members, and between them and the College. (b) To publish an Annual Gazette, and to issue it free to all Members of the Society.

3. The subscription for Life Membership of the Society shall be decided from time to time by the Committee.*

4. The Officers of the Society shall be a President, one or more VicePresidents, a Chair of Committee, a Treasurer, an Honorary Secretary (who shall be a Fellow of the College), the Dinner Secretaries, an Editor of the Gazette, and such local Secretaries as may be desirable.

The Officers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall hold office for one year. Nominations, with the names of the Proposer and Seconder, shall be sent to the Secretary six weeks before the Annual General Meeting. The retiring President shall not be eligible for re-election for a period of three years after his or her retirement.

The office of President is held annually and alternately by a Fellow and by a non-resident Member of the College. He or she is normally expected to give the address at the London dinner, proposing the toast to the College (if a non-resident Member) or responding (if a Fellow).

5. The Management of the Society shall be entrusted to a Committee consisting of the following Officers, namely the Chair of Committee, the Treasurer, the Honorary Secretary, the Dinner Secretaries, the Editor of the Gazette, a current Fellow (who has not been a Junior Member of the College), and not fewer than twelve other Members of the Society to be elected annually. Nominations for the Committee shall be sought in advance of and later recommended by the spring meeting of the Committee, to be ratified at the Annual General Meeting. Of the elected members of the Committee, six shall retire annually by rotation according to priority of election, and their places shall be filled at the Annual General Meeting; a retiring member shall be eligible for reelection after a period of one year from his or her retirement. The Committee shall have power to co-opt additional members for a period of one year.

6. Members of the Committee shall have, as their primary considerations: (a) The relationship between the College and its non-resident Members. (b) The assistance they can give to the College in encouraging attendance at events and participation in other College activities. (c) Evaluation of ways of improving the connection between the College and non-resident Members. (d) The quality of the events that are organised under the aegis of the Society.

7. The Committee shall meet at least twice in every year, a week after the end of the Lent (spring) and Michaelmas (winter) Terms respectively. At all meetings of the Committee seven shall form a quorum. The spring meeting shall review nominations for committee membership and the annual accounts of the Society.

8. The Committee shall arrange an Annual Dinner or other Social Meetings of the Society in London and elsewhere.

9. The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held on the day fixed for the London Dinner. The Secretary shall send out notices of the Meeting at least one month before it takes place.

10. The Committee in their discretion may, and upon a written request signed by twenty-four Members of the Society shall, call a Special General Meeting. Fourteen days’ notice of such a Meeting shall be given and the object for which it is called stated in the notice.

11. No alteration shall be made in the Rules of the Society except at a General Meeting and by a majority of two-thirds of those present and voting, and any proposed alteration shall be stated on the notice calling the Meeting.

*The Committee decided (10 December 1982) that, for the time being, the Life Membership subscription shall be nil. This decision was made possible by an offer from the College of an annual subvention from the Bethune-Baker Fund which, it was hoped, would provide a sufficient supplement to the Society’s income to enable expenses to be met, particularly the expenses of printing and postage of the Annual Gazette.