Our Constitution

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Revised November 5, 2023

ARTICLE I: Name and Purpose

  1. The name of this organization shall be the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, hereinafter referred to as the HRDC.
  2. The purpose of the HRDC shall be to promote interest in student theater at Harvard College, to organize and administer student participation in the Loeb Drama Center (hereinafter referred to as the Loeb), to produce plays on the Loeb Proscenium and Loeb Experimental Theater, and to act as an umbrella organization for Harvard student theater by encouraging and assisting in the production of plays elsewhere on campus. On-campus productions occurring outside the Loeb may request a Board Liaison from the current President to best utilize the resources of the HRDC.
  3. Upon the dissolution of this organization, assets shall be distributed to the American Repertory Theater or Harvard University for educational purposes in fields related to theater within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a Court of Competent Jurisdiction of the county in which the principal office of the organization is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for educational purposes in the field of theater.
  4. The HRDC shall coordinate with the American Repertory Theater, the resident professional theater company at the Loeb (hereinafter referred to as the A.R.T), to provide contact between interested students and company members, visiting artists, and the staff of the A.R.T.

ARTICLE II: Membership

  1. Students enrolled in a degree program at Harvard College are eligible for membership. Graduate students and non-students may be considered as honorary members of the HRDC, but do not have the right to vote in open meetings.
  2. Members shall be those who have worked on a campus production that auditioned through Common Casting or worked with an HRDC Board Liaison.
  3. A member of the HRDC shall have all the usual parliamentary privileges generally associated with membership, including the right to vote on all issues decided by the general membership, the right to speak and make motions on the floor during the HRDC open meetings, and the right to attend special HRDC functions.
  4. HRDC board members shall be entitled to two complimentary tickets to each opening night of an HRDC Proscenium show.
  5. Membership in this organization shall be open to all students in good standing currently enrolled in Harvard College, regardless of race, creed, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or physical disability.
  6. The HRDC shall be committed to the representation of different identities in all of its activities. Specifically, the Executive Board will encourage critical thinking about inclusion and diversity both onstage and offstage and push for the inclusion of people of all races, gender identities, sexual orientations and abilities in casts and staffs. As a community, we pledge to continue to examine and explore narratives that are underrepresented or excluded from the stage, at Harvard and in the world at large.
  7. To these ends, all productions are strongly encouraged to adhere to policies of color-conscious casting, which emphasizes actively working to include people of color in productions, and gender-inclusive casting, which works to include performers of all genders. We also encourage productions to actively welcome and include people of all religions, sexual orientations, and abilities.
  8. The Executive Board will support training for incoming students and particularly outreach to and mentorship for those who have not yet been provided the resources and opportunities to pursue theater design and production. The Board will actively work with directors and producers to achieve this goal.

ARTICLE III: Officers

  1. The HRDC shall have nine offices: a President(s), a Vice President/Proscenium Coordinator(s), a Coordinator of the Experimental Theater, a Publicity Coordinator, a Treasurer, a Technical Liaison, a Campus Liaison, a Social Liaison, and a Secretary/Historian. Only undergraduate members of the HRDC shall be eligible to hold office in the HRDC. The officers shall constitute the Executive Board of the HRDC.
    1. The President is a position that has very little written responsibility, but an incredible amount of overall responsibility. The President(s) needs to be the primary liaison with the A.R.T., the Office for the Arts at Harvard,Theater Dance & Media, Deans, and other campus theater groups. They also are responsible for making sure the daily and yearly operations of the HRDC proceed smoothly. Finally, the President(s) is charged with taking new initiatives and coming up with ideas to guide the HRDC over the coming years.
    2. The primary job of the Vice President/Proscenium Coordinator(s) is to act as the main liaison between each Proscenium production and the HRDC Board. The VP runs the Proscenium interview process, which chooses Proscenium productions every semester, attends staff meetings, load-in, and strike for those productions and serves as a general extra pair of hands during tech week and before when help is needed. The VP also helps each show with staffing issues, casting issues, any other logistical problems, and serves as the connection between the production staff and the professionals at the A.R.T. The VP also manages the Board Liaison system, as described in Section III.2 and assists the Secretary/Historian with alumni matters.
    3. The Ex Coordinator’s primary responsibility is to oversee the application and production process for all Experimental Theater productions. The Ex Coordinator officiates during Ex interviews, and, with the approval of the Board, acts as a final decision-maker in determining the semester season of shows in the Ex. The Ex Coordinator is as an advisor and liaison to all Ex productions, and is called upon for various production responsibilities as dictated by the needs of the shows. The Ex Coordinator is also responsible for organizing the WorkBee at the beginning of each semester, in which representatives from each Loeb show clean and organize the theater space, and also oversees the selection of producers for the season of Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theater.
    4. The Publicity Coordinator is in charge of publicity for the HRDC season and for the club as a whole. They liaise with the A.R.T. Marketing department to create the season banner. They also maintain the website, updating as needed. The Publicity Coordinator will be responsible for monitoring and compiling membership of the HRDC email list, sending out weekly newsletters detailing upcoming shows and events of import to the membership at large, and alerting community members to important events and updates. The Publicity Coordinator is also in charge of publicizing any HRDC-sponsored or run workshops or special projects. They are also the go-to person for publicity help/ideas around campus. 
    5. The Treasurer is in charge of the financial planning of the HRDC. The Treasurer manages the HRDC’s accounts in the Harvard Student Credit Union and in University Hall. The Treasurer also sets the club budget and the season budgets provided by the college (through the A.R.T). The Treasurer is responsible for all reimbursements from the club budget and the season budget as well as helping productions apply for grants across campus. The Treasurer monitors and reimburses all shows’ spending. Comfort with managing budgets/current accounts and an interest in financial planning are very helpful. Additionally, the Treasurer is a resource for producers and is responsible for assisting them to create budgets when they request help.
    6. The Technical Liaison is charged with administering the Tech Requirement, organizing Backstage Week and helping to make sure tech on campus proceeds smoothly. In order to make sure tech proceeds smoothly, the Tech Liaison is expected to assist the Loeb Tech Director and College Tech Director in answering questions, directing students towards resources that may help them, and providing advice on design and technical execution for productions in need. The Tech Liaison should also work to strengthen the tech community on campus.
    7. The Campus Liaison’s main responsibility is the organization of Common Casting. This includes running registration, reserving audition spaces and creating the schedule, planning and leading the Producers, Directors, Choreographers, Stage Managers, and other executive staff (PDSM) meeting, creating the Common Casting booklet, leading the Common Casting info session for actors, and being in the space throughout the week of Common Casting up until the signing of the cast lists. They should also try to keep in contact with the different theater groups on campus and with the drama tutors in the houses.
    8. The Social Liaison is in charge of organizing all major social events for the HRDC community, including (but not limited to): PizzaQ, end-of-semester formals, and open campus theater events. They are responsible for providing assistance and support to production staffs for the planning of social events on campus.
    9. The Secretary/Historian has three major roles: acting as a liaison between the Board and the HRDC community, documenting and maintaining the history of the HRDC, and serving as the coordinator of HRDC alumni relations. In regard to being the custodian of the HRDC’s history, the Historian will serve as the primary liaison between the HRDC and the Harvard Theater Collection, regularly submitting HRDC materials to the Collection for preservation. The Historian will also assist in documenting each show presented in the Loeb directly by means of photographs, obtaining programs and posters, scripts, etc, as well as by updating the online Harvard Theater Database with current cast and staff lists. The Historian will work closely with all persons to make sure that information is not lost that may be valuable to future members of the HRDC. Regarding alumni relations, the Historian will send an alumni newsletter every semester with articles written by the board and community members about the theater being produced that semester. The Historian will also spearhead the organization of two alumni events each year. Finally, the Historian will work with the Treasurer on matters of alumni gifts and donations to the club.
  2. In addition to the aforementioned responsibilities, all officers shall be assigned to oversee specific productions in the Loeb as Board Liaisons for the purpose of assisting both the production staff and the actors. In this capacity the officers shall be required to act as a liaison between the HRDC Executive Board and the production, and may be invited to attend the production’s post-mortem meeting.
  3. All HRDC officers shall maintain contact with appropriate Loeb Staff members and be available for consultation with all student theater organizations on campus.
  4. Expenses or purchases made by members of the board for the organization at large shall always be agreed upon by at least two board members, one of whom must be the treasurer.
  5. The term for officers shall be one year. Election of officers shall be held annually in November at an open meeting of the HRDC. Elections shall be scheduled at a date and time determined by the Board to minimize conflicts for all members of the community. The date and time of elections will be shared with the community at least two weeks before elections take place. Directors and producers may not schedule rehearsal, performances, or tech time during an open meeting of the HRDC. Candidates for office should nominate themselves to the current board at least two days prior to the election. An affirmative majority vote by the members of the HRDC present shall be required to elect officers of the HRDC. Candidates may be nominated from the floor. Officers shall assume the duties and privileges of office at the beginning of the following semester.
  6. Members of the HRDC who are unable to attend Elections may vote by proxy by meeting with the President or another member of the Board prior to Elections, and may contact the President to send in questions for the candidates or statements of support or concern about candidates, which will be read aloud at the meeting. Absentee voters may specify in this meeting with the President their intentions in the event that the pool of Candidates for any position changes during Elections by, for example, ranking all the possible candidates for a position.
  7. When resignation, impeachment, unsatisfactory academic standing or other causes disqualify an officer before the natural expiration of the term of their office, the board shall determine the procedure for replacement of the officer.
  8. Any officer of the HRDC may be removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the membership present at an open meeting.
  9. The duties of the board shall be to: select appropriate productions for the Loeb Proscenium, administer the Loeb Experimental Theater, administer and approve expenditure of all HRDC funds and determine all matters pertaining to the finances of the HRDC, attend as many HRDC and other productions as possible, and make all policy decisions regarding student participation at the Loeb.
  10. The board shall offer assistance in the form of workshops, which the Board may make mandatory for Proscenium and Experimental Theater production staffs.

ARTICLE IV: Advisors

  1. The directors of the Loeb shall be faculty advisors to the HRDC.
  2. The faculty advisors may attend Executive Board meetings.
  3. The advisors shall have no vote on the Executive Board.
  4. The advisors should participate in the selection of the Proscenium season.

ARTICLE V: Meetings

  1. Only members of the HRDC and other persons individually invited by the President may attend open meetings of the HRDC during each semester.
  2. The President may call all open meetings of the HRDC at their discretion. However, the President shall be required to call a general meeting when a petition, signed by at least 50 members of the HRDC, requesting a general meeting, is submitted to them.
  3. The President, or someone appointed by them, will govern over and maintain order during the meeting, and at least half of the  HRDC officers must be present.
  4. The Publicity Coordinator will make sure that all open meetings are publicized in a reasonable manner.
  5. The board shall meet at the discretion of the President. The board shall meet at least twice each month.
  6. The board shall strive for transparency in regards to what occurs at private board meetings.

ARTICLE VI: Selection and Production of Loeb Shows

  1. The selection committee shall consist of all members of the board except those members who are applying to direct a production in that venue. The board may choose to further alter the voting status of members of the selection committee based on conflicts of interest. The selection committee will determine the format and contents for preliminary and final application and make those applications available at least two weeks before their respective deadlines.
  2. Officers from both the current and incoming boards will constitute the selection committee for the spring season.
  3. The selection committee shall interview the production staff for each show that submits an application, discussing the proposed show as well as the staff and the state of the application.
  4. Members of the executive staff of Proscenium productions are typically expected to have experience at Harvard and competence in their intended role.
  5. The committee shall select directors and productions at the end of each semester, creating a unified one-semester season.
  6. The board shall oversee all productions chosen by the selection committee for presentation in the Loeb. The Executive committee shall have final responsibility for all student Loeb productions.
  7. The producer(s) and director(s) of a Loeb show shall have authority and responsibility for their particular production.
  8. The staff of a Loeb production shall consult with the staff of the Loeb.
  9. Loeb productions must be cast through an open casting process, typically Common Casting, unless granted an exception by the Executive Board. As such, the majority of the cast and staff of a Loeb production should be comprised of Harvard undergraduates.
  10. The board reserves the right to accept an application provisionally, and to request additions to the application or the production staff if the acceptance is to be finalized. The board also reserves the right to accept fewer than the maximum number of productions if, in the opinion of the board, none of the rejected applications are fully qualified for the Proscenium or the Ex.

ARTICLE VII: Common Casting Week

  1. During the first week of each term the Campus Liaison shall organize casting for all Loeb productions over a few nights in common places. Productions elsewhere on campus shall be allowed to participate in Common Casting Week at the discretion of the HRDC Board.
  2. Executive staff of participating productions will be responsible for running their own auditions, providing audition materials within guidelines set forward by the board, and attending required meetings.
  3. Participants shall also conduct callbacks, posting of callback and cast lists, and subsequent casting within the guidelines set forth by the board.
  4. The Campus Liaison shall clearly explain the rules and regulations for Common Casting Week, including the technical theater requirement for actors.
  5. Productions casting through Common Casting shall cast exclusively from Harvard undergraduates as well as community members who have previously performed in HRDC productions, except when granted an exception by the board.

ARTICLE VIII: Funding

  1. Funding for the Proscenium and the Experimental Theatre productions shall be provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences through the auspices of the Loeb staff who shall authorize and disperse the funds to the producers of the shows.

ARTICLE IX: Amendments

  1. Any proposed amendment to this constitution shall be initially introduced, discussed, and drafted at an open meeting of the HRDC, but final voting shall not be held until at least one week after the amendment’s initial proposal, following notification of members.
  2. Amendments shall be ratified by two-thirds of the community present at an open meeting.

ARTICLE X: Ratification

  1. This constitution becomes effective immediately after it is ratified by two thirds of members present at an open meeting.

ARTICLE XI: Technical Theater Requirement

  1. All actors involved in a Loeb Ex or Proscenium production must provide approximately ten hours of assistance to a different Loeb show than the one in which they will be performing that semester by; holding a staff position for another Loeb show, attending one dress/tech rehearsal and running sound/lights/set/wardrobe for a minimum of three performances; or providing behind-the-scenes support to a production, such as assisting with build or electrics.
  2. All actors must sign up for a tech requirement position during Common Casting signing in order to accept a role in an Ex or Proscenium production. Anyone who does not fulfill their tech requirement will be unable to audition next semester through Common Casting.
  3. Productions may opt out of the technical requirement pool up until Common Casting cast lists are released, by notifying the board, in which case their performers will not need to provide technical assistance to other Loeb productions, but they will also not receive assistance from others fulfilling the technical requirement.
  4. This technical theater requirement shall be administered by the Technical Liaison.