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From the

Vice President

Editor’s Note: This column is reprinted from the September 2023 issue. Updates to ACDA's Constitution
and Bylaws must appear twice in Choral Journal under the current constitution. Voting will take place
November 1-15, 2023.

When I began my term as president-elect in 2021, President André Thomas asked me
Edith A. Copley to chair a taskforce to review and revise ACDA’s Constitution and Bylaws. The following
pages represent almost two years of work to ensure our governance document reflects who
we are today and how we will operate into the future.
A representative from each region served on the taskforce with me: Lynne Gackle (SW), Timothy Wester-
haus (NW), Mariana Farah (MW), Vincent Oakes (S), and Peggy Detweiler (E). ACDA executive director,
Robyn Hilger, guided us through the entire process. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to these individuals
for their expertise and insight, and for the countless hours spent revising our Constitution and Bylaws.
I am proud of the transparent process that allowed our membership the opportunity to weigh in
all along the way. The documents were broken down into four rounds. Early in the process, the taskforce
received recommendations from the National R&R and National Standing Committee Chairs. These recom-
mendations, as well as those made by the taskforce, were routed to the Executive Committee and finally to the
National Board for review. After all amendments were carefully reviewed, a vote of the National Board would
move each round to the membership for public comment. Each and every comment was read and reviewed
by the taskforce. We are grateful to those ACDA members who took the time to share their thoughts. The
National Board voted to accept all proposed amendments on June 6, 2023. The final step is now an official
vote by the membership.
The following pages only include sections that were revised. You can view the entire current version of our
Constitution and Bylaws at www.acda.org/bylaws.
A few highlights of the amendments include:

• Expansion of the National Standing Committees from five to seven members

• Inclusion of the Chair of the DIC Standing Committee as a voting member of the National Board

• Addition of National R&R Chairs for 2-year colleges, show choir, and contemporary a cappella

• Clarifying terms, roles, and succession for all elected officers

The official vote will be November 1, 2023, thru November 15, 2023, at 4:00PM, CST. Members who hold
active, life, retired, or international memberships are eligible to vote. The documents may be amended by an
approving vote of two-thirds of the voting members who cast ballots.
ACDA leadership and the taskforce sincerely hope you will take the time to carefully review these amend-
ments in order to learn more about our organization, and then cast your vote. This new governing document
will help ACDA meet today’s challenges and face tomorrow’s opportunities.

Edith A. Copley, ACDA Vice President

CHORAL JOURNAL October 2023 Volume 64 Number 3 5