Studying the Union Constitution is no simple task. Documentation about the Union is scarce and inconsistent, especially when it comes to minor amendments.
Firstly, in my book, I choose to analyze the Union Constitution’s major revisions (1913, 1936, 1948, 1961, and 1970). This helped me cut out the noise and focus on larger governance trends and not “can the manager be from division B?” In reality, there are a few major revisions of the Union Constitution, punctuated by smaller amendments to more minor details.
Many of the early sources of the full text of the Union Constitution come from the Student Handbooks, which usually provided the text of the Constitution but not always the context. Context is often captured in newspapers like the Polytechnic, but in early years, they did not always cover individual amendments. Even in later years, the Polytechnic did not always print the full text, sometimes opting to print only a selection being amended.
I transcribed most older Union Constitutions from a scan to a PDF for the purpose of legibility. For each Union Constitution below, I will provide a description of the original source, so that you can use it in your analysis and if you would like, you could track it down yourself.
Notes: The first available Union Constitution.
Sourced: Found in the Rensselaer Library Archives. 1913-1914 Student Handbook. Earlier student handbooks describe the Union but do not include the full text of the Constitution. Official Citation: 1913-1914 Student Handbook. Publication 27, Student Hand Books, 1908-1915. Institute Archives & Special Collections, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY.
1913-1914 Handbook Extracts.pdf
Notes: Added amendments, bylaws, and liability. Added honorary members.
Sourced: Found in the Rensselaer Library Archives. 1915 Student Handbook. Official Citation: 1915 Student Handbook. The Rensselaer Hand Book, 1915-16 to 1936-37, Publication 5. Institute Archives & Special Collections, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY.
1915-1916 Handbook Extracts.pdf
Notes: Modified committees. Removed honorary membership clause, dues clause, student secretary officers.
Sourced: Found in the Rensselaer Library Archives. 1919 Student Handbook. Official Citation: 1919 Student Handbook. The Rensselaer Hand Book, 1915-16 to 1936-37, Publication 5. Institute Archives & Special Collections, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY.
1919-1920 Handbook Extracts.pdf
Notes: Re-added student secretaries. Modified elections rules, managerial, and R Rules.
Sourced: Found in the Rensselaer Library Archives. 1922 Student Handbook. Official Citation: 1922 Student Handbook. The Rensselaer Hand Book, 1915-16 to 1936-37, Publication 5. Institute Archives & Special Collections, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY.