Business Meeting Details

The 2025 business meeting will be held on Sunday, January 5, 2025, from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. ET in the Mercury Ballroom of the New York Hilton. The “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza,” with the requisite number of member signatures, is on the meeting agenda. As required by the AHA Bylaws, the Council has established procedures to enable a democratic and fair discussion that includes a variety of perspectives and voices and that adheres to the time limitations of the meeting.

Read the Proposed Resolution

AHA Business Meeting Community

In advance of the 2025 business meeting, AHA members are invited to discuss the resolution on the AHA25 Business Meeting online forum. We encourage all members who wish to participate in the conversation to join the online forum via the AHA Communities site.

To join, visit historians.org/business-mtg-forum. Log in with your email address and your AHA password. Then click the blue Join Community button. If you have a problem, please email business-mtg@historians.org, and someone will reply within 24 hours on weekdays.

This forum will be open for submissions from December 2, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET through December 20, 2024, at 4 p.m. ET. Final posts must be submitted by December 19 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Guidelines for the forum are posted here.

Amendments to the Resolution

In furtherance of Bylaw 12 (4)(f), any amendments to the resolution must be submitted via email to business-mtg@historians.org. No amendments will be accepted after 5:15 p.m. ET on January 2. Any amendments to the resolution will be posted at historians.org/business-mtg by 11:00 a.m. ET on January 3.

Submit an Amendment

Speaker Selection

To enable a fair and democratic debate through a diversity of voices on the resolution and to provide enough time for adequate consideration of various positions during the business meeting, some speakers will be chosen in advance. Others will be chosen by lottery, selected at random from an online sign-up form available at historians.org/business-mtg during the annual meeting through the morning of Saturday, January 4.

In the past, our procedure has been for speakers to line up at microphones without prior sign-up. Yet this format does not lead to an optimum diversity of voices, and when a controversial issue is on the table, there often is not enough time for everyone to speak. Our goal is a fair process that generates an informed discussion with a variety of perspectives. Therefore:

 

  1. Five slots of two minutes each will be allocated for speakers in favor of and against the resolution.
  2. Of the five speaker slots in favor of the resolution, three speakers will be designated by the resolution’s sponsors. The names, affiliations, and contact information for designated speakers should be emailed to business-mtg@historians.org no later than December 9, 2024.
  3. Of the five speaker slots against the resolution, three speakers will be designated by the AHA Executive Committee. AHA members who would like to speak against the resolution during the business meeting should complete the speaker sign-up form by December 9, 2024. Speakers against the resolution will be selected based on diversity of arguments and angles of vision.
  4. Speakers designated in advance to speak during the business meeting will be notified by December 20, 2024, and announced as soon as possible on the AHA website at historians.org/business-mtg.
  5. If no amendments to the resolution are received by the deadline (January 2 at 5:15 p.m. ET), four speaker slots (two in favor of the resolution and two against the resolution) will be reserved for members to be selected by lottery during the annual meeting. Lottery sign-ups will be open from Friday, January 3 at 11:00 a.m. ET when annual meeting registration opens and close on Saturday, January 4 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
  6. Speakers selected through the lottery will be notified of their speaking assignment by Sunday, January 5 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
  7. If any amendments are proposed, in the interest of time, speaker slots regarding the original resolution will be reduced to the six preselected speakers (three in favor of the resolution and three opposed to the resolution). No lottery slots will be available.
  8. Speaker slots for amendments will be limited to two in favor and two opposed. The person who proposes the amendment will be the first speaker; the additional speakers, both opposed and in favor, will be recognized from the floor by the president.
  9. Preselected speaker slots are nontransferable.
Complete the Speaker Sign-Up Form

Debate at the Business Meeting

The “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza” is on the agenda of the 2025 business meeting of the AHA, following standard scheduled items/reports and immediately before “Other Business.”

To expedite debate on the resolution and any amendments, the time limits on debate will be as follows:

  • No more than 30 minutes for the entire discussion of the resolution and any amendments and motions regarding them.
  • No more than 10 minutes for any amendments or motions.
  • No speaker shall speak for more than 2 minutes.
  • The president is authorized to extend the limits for debate in all the above instances when she believes such an extension is necessary to assure full and fair debate, and within the context of protocols in Robert's Rules of Order.

To assure fairness and confidence in votes:

  1. Votes on passage of the resolution, and votes on any amendment in the nature of a substitute for the original resolution or a significant alteration as determined by the president in consultation with the parliamentarian, will be by paper ballot.
  2. Votes on any motion that would have the effect of deciding the question on the original resolution or the resolution as amended will be by paper ballot.
  3. The president is further authorized to order a vote by paper ballot whenever she believes that a question calls for confidentiality in voting. Otherwise, votes can be by show of hands.

After the Meeting

As per the Constitution, article 7(3–5), all measures passed by the business meeting shall come before the AHA Council for acceptance, nonconcurrence, or veto.

  • If accepted by the Council, the measure will be binding on the Association.
  • The Council may veto any measure that it believes to be in violation of the AHA Constitution, in violation of law, or if it believes the measure financially or administratively unfeasible. The Council will publish an explanation for each such veto.
  • If Council refuses to concur in a measure, within 90 days it must submit that measure to a majority vote of the entire membership, with proponents and Council provided an equal opportunity to set forth their positions. If approved by a majority of the voting members, the measure shall be binding on the Association.