Rusk, Texas

ORGANIZATION AND GOALS

GOALS:

The goals of the Rusk High School Alumni Association are to: Foster fellowship of former Rusk High School students. Promote the general welfare of our beloved Rusk High School. Establish a perpetual scholarship fund, raising and endowing funds to it. Award scholarships annually to qualified RHS student applicants. Sponsor a biennial All Class reunion of former RHS students.

ORGANIZATION:

RUSK HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS ARTICLE I - NAME:      The name of the Association shall be the Rusk High School Alumni Association ARTICLE II - OFFICES:      The principal office of the Association in the State of Texas shall be located in the City of Rusk, County of Cherokee. The Association may have such other offices, either within or without the State of Texas as the Board of Directors may determine. The Association shall have and continuously maintain in the State of Texas a registered office, and a registered agent whose office is identical with such registered agent, as required by the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act. The registered office may be, but need not be, identical with the principal office in the State of Texas, and the address of the registered office may be changed from time to time by the Board of Directors. ARTICLE III - PURPOSE:      The purpose of the Rusk High School Alumni Association is to encourage fellowship of the ex-students and to promote the general welfare of the school, including but not limited to, the awarding of scholarships to qualified applicants who will use such funds to further their education at any accredited college, university or technical school of their choice. ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP:      Section 1 - Types of Members: Membership in this Association shall consist of Life, Regular, Associate and Associate Life. All memberships issued in 2001 shall be designated as Charter Members.      Section 2 - Qualifications of Members: LIFE - Any person who is an ex-student of Rusk High and makes a contribution in an amount approved by the Board of Directors at the annual meeting. REGULAR - A renewable biennial membership. Ex-students of Rusk High School and payment of membership dues. ASSOCIATE - A renewable biennial membership. Non-Alumnus spouse of any living or deceased Ex Student; or Non-Alumnus Teacher or Ex-Teacher; or any other person, company or entity who evidences a genuine interest in the welfare of the school and is approved by the Executive Committee and payment of membership dues. ASSOCIATE LIFE - Non-Alumnus spouse of any living or deceased Ex Student; or Non-Alumnus Teacher or Ex-Teacher; or any other person, company or entity who evidences a genuine interest in the welfare of the school and is approved by the Executive Committee and who makes a contribution in an amount approved by the Board of Directors at the annual meeting. Voting members shall be ONLY those who are ex-students of Rusk High School and paid members of the association.      Section 3 - Dues: The amount of the dues for all types of membership shall be fixed by the resolution of the Board of Directors at or prior to the biennial meeting of the Association.      Section 4 - Association Meetings: A biennial meeting of the members shall be held in the fall of the year, the first of which will be in 2002, at Rusk, Texas, at such place and on such date as may be determined by the Board of Directors. Other meetings may be held at the call of the President, on advice and consent of a majority of the Board of Directors. The President shall cause due notice of the biennial meeting to be sent to all members. Special meetings of the Association may be called by placing a notification in the local media.      Section 5 - Quorum: The members present at any meeting shall constitute a quorum and each member shall have one vote. No member shall be entitled to vote by proxy. The act of a majority of the members present shall constitute the act of the Association. ARTICLE V - BOARD OF DIRECTORS      Section 1- General Powers: The affairs of the Association shall be managed by the Board of Directors.      Section 2 - Number Tenure and Qualifications: The Board of Directors will be eighteen in number including officers, all of whom must be ex-students of Rusk High School and be in good standing with the Association. The Principal of Rusk High School and the Past President of the Association will serve as ex-officio members of the Board of Directors without election. The Founding Board of Directors will serve until the first meeting of the Association in the fall of 2002. The directors will be elected by the membership at the biennial meeting of the association and will serve a term of six years. However, beginning with directors elected to begin serving in the year 2002, the eighteen directors will be divided into three classes: one class of six to serve two (2) years, one class of six to serve four (4) years, and one class of six to serve six (6) years. Thereafter, all directors (six every two years) will be elected for a six year term. A board member who has served a full six-year term is eligible to be nominated for succeeding terms. At least six members of the Board of Directors will be ex-students who have attended Rusk High School during each of the six most current calendar decades and one member will be an ex-student who has attended Rusk High School prior to the six most current calendar decades. All officers of the Association will be selected from the active board membership.      Section 3 - Duties: The Board of Directors shall determine in what manner the funds of the Association shall be spent and see that the Association is operating strictly in accordance with its charter exclusively for charitable, educational, scientific, religious or literary purposes. A full report of business transacted shall be reported to the biennial meeting of the Association.      Section 4 - Regular Meetings: A regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Association shall be held in Rusk, Texas, at such time and place as may be determined by the President.      Section 5 - Special Meetings: Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at the call of the President, on advice and consent of the majority of the Directors.      Section 6 - Quorum: A majority of the Directors at all meetings of the Board shall be necessary and sufficient to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and the act of a majority of the Directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum present shall be the act of the Board, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by the statute or by these by-laws.      Section 7 - Vacancies: Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors shall be filled by the majority vote of the Directors. A person elected to fill a vacancy shall be elected for the unexpired term of his predecessor in office.      Section 8 - Informal Action by the Directors. An action required by law to be taken at a meeting of the Board of Directors may be taken without any meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the actions so taken shall be signed by all of the directors. ARTICLE VI - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE      Section 1- Members: The executive committee shall consist of the seven duly elected officers of the Association.      Section 2 - Duties: The Executive Committee shall attend to all business of the Association between the annual meetings of the Board of Directors.      Section 3 - Meetings. The President shall determine the need, time, and place for the meetings of the Executive committee and cause due notice to be issued to members.      Section 4 - Informal Action. Any action required by the Executive committee may be taken without a meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken shall be signed by all the members of the committee. ARTICLE VII - OFFICERS:      The Association shall have seven (7) officers, all of whom will be elected by the membership of the Board of Directors at the first Board of Directors meeting following the biennial meeting of the Association.      Section 1 - President: It shall be the duty of the President of the Association to preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and the Association. The President shall act with the rest of the Directors in transacting business during term of office, as provided for in Article V of the By-Laws of this Association. The President shall have the power to appoint such committees as the President or the Association sees fit to create, provided the Association itself does not designate some other method of selection.      Section 2 - First Vice-President: The First Vice-President shall act as President in the absence or disability of the President and shall be in charge of the membership of the Association. The First Vice-President , along with the Board of Directors shall have the authority to do whatever is reasonable and necessary towards establishing and maintaining membership of the Association, including, but not limited to, recruiting and supervising membership drives, establishing qualifications for members, types of membership, and promulgating any and all acts and matters towards perpetuation the membership of the Association.      Section 3 - Second Vice-President: The Second Vice-President shall act as the President in the absence or disability of the President and the first vice-resident. In addition thereto, the Second Vice-President shall be in charge of program development including, but not limited to, scholarships, foundations, gifts, grants and devices.      Section 4 - Secretary: The secretary of this Association shall attend duties usually allotted to such office. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all the meetings, annual, called, or otherwise, and shall maintain the files of the Association..      Section 5 - Treasurer: It will be the duty of the Treasurer to receive all monies paid into the Association, have custody of, make disbursements as required, and keep an accurate record of all papers, documents, and records of the Association and shall make an annual report to the Board of Directors of all funds received and disbursed.      Section 6 - Corresponding Secretary: It will be the duties of the Corresponding Secretary to assist with correspondence with all members in regard to business of the Association, plan and conduct membership campaigns, appoint assistants as required to help in locating ex-students in their areas and in conducting membership campaigns, and to maintain an Ex-Students Directory of Information.      Section 7 - Publicity Director: It will be the duty of the Publicity Director to plan and conduct a well-rounded publicity program for the Association. ARTICLE VIII - FUNDS OF THE ASSOICATION      Section 1 - Deposits. All funds of the Association shall be received by the Treasurer, who shall issue a receipt thereof. The Treasurer shall deposit said funds in the depository bank, designated by the Board of Directors.      Section 2 - Drafts, etc. No funds of this Association shall be disbursed except by check drawn on the depository bank, signed by the Treasurer and either the President, First Vice-President, or Second Vice-President. No disbursement of funds shall be made except as duly authorized by the Board of Directors.      Section 3 - Gifts. The Board of Directors may accept on behalf of the Association any contributions, gift, bequest, or devise for the general purposes or from any special purpose of the Association. ARTICLE IX - BOOKS AND RECORDS      The Association shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of Board of Directors and members and shall keep at the registered or principal office a record giving the names and addresses of the Directors and members entitled to vote. All books and records of the Association may be inspected by any Director or his agent or attorney for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. ARTICLE X - FISCAL YEAR      The fiscal year of the Association shall be the same as the calendar year. ARTICLE XI - SEAL      The Association need not have a seal and may conduct all activities in furtherance of its purpose, and execute all instruments necessary to any transaction conducted by the Association without the imprinting of a seal on said instruments. ARTICLE XII - WAIVER OF NOTICE      Whenever any notice is required to be given under the provisions of the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act, the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation or By-Laws of the Association, a waiver thereof in writing signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice whether before or after the time stated therein shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice. ARTICLE XIII - AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS      By-laws of the Association may be amended by a majority of members present at any meeting of the Association or by a resolution passed by a majority of the Board of Directors. Rusk High School Alumni Association Mary Madden, Secretary