© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1999
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From: Tricia Redeker Hepner (redekert@msu.edu)
Date: Thu Feb 15 2001 - 10:16:51 EST
Dear Members,
Apologies for the very long delay sending out the minutes of the last ESA business meeting.
Eritrean Studies Association
Annual Business Meeting
Saturday, November 18, 2000
12:30 PM-1:15 PM
In attendance: Roy Pateman, Tricia Redeker Hepner, Ghidewon Abay-Asmerom, Lyda Favali, Tekie Fessehatzion, Habtu Ghebre-Ab, Nunu Kidane, Krystal Johnson, Tseggai Isaac, Asgede Hagos, Veronica Rentmeesters, Neil McHugh, Awet Tewelde Weldemikael, Debra A. Budiani, Selamawit Hailemariam, Rachel Sponzo, Richard Greenfield, Yacob Fisseha
1. Roy Pateman, President of ESA, opened the meeting with a brief announcement of the meeting's agenda and an attendance list was circulated.
2. The revisions of the by-laws that took place at last year's business meeting were discussed. Some confusion arose due to the fact that revisions agreed upon at last year's meeting were still not reflected in the written by-laws because no feedback was supplied by the membership over the email list, as recommended by Kassahun Checole at the 1999 meeting.
3. Roy Pateman motioned to accept the by-laws according to the changes agreed upon at last year's meeting.
4. Trish Redeker Hepner voiced some confusion because members still had not agreed upon how the wording should be arranged to reflect the changes made last year. She reiterated that this was supposed to occur over email but members had not responded to any requests for feedback. She read aloud minutes from last year's meeting to refresh members' memories and then circulated copies of the by-laws and 1999 minutes.
5. Yacob Fisseha added that the roles and duties of the Executive Committee/Officers should be spelled out more clearly in the by-laws. He suggested that newly amended by-laws be distributed as soon as possible, reflecting changes made last year. (President and Secretary will be responsible for wording the changes and by-laws will then be distributed to the membership over email).
6. Yacob Fisseha moved to spell out the position of Executive officers in the by-laws. Ghidewon Abay-Asmerom seconded the motion. Motion accepted by all.
7. Roy Pateman moved to the next item on the agenda, or a discussion of efforts to obtain non-profit status for ESA. He referred to the 1999 minutes in which Nunu Kidane expressed particular interest in pursuing non-profit status. Ghidewon Abay-Asmerom, also involved in the non-profit status efforts, was asked by Roy to update the membership on the situation.
8. Ghidewon Abay-Asmerom explained that some efforts were made in February to pursue non-profit status. ESA was registered in Michigan by Yacob Fisseha and Trish Hepner.
Ghidewon intended to pursue the issue with Banchi, the wife of Kidane Mengisteab, who had agreed to assist ESA pro bono. One problem is that there are significant filing costs with the IRS. The other problem concerns the conference in Asmara: if ESA obtains funding for the conference and we do not have our tax status worked out, the Eritrean Development Fund has agreed to allow ESA to work through them.
9. Nunu Kidane agreed with Ghidewon's summary of the efforts and issues involved. She noted that they are currently looking for the most beneficial route, adding that we have the state level exemption and now must work on obtaining the federal 501C status.
10. Ghidewon added that for filing purposes we need the ESA's Board of Directors to obtain the federal non-profit status.
11. Yacob interjected that since the Board of Directors contains members of the Executive Committee this should be rather straightforward. A greater concern is the IRS filing fee.
12. Roy Pateman asked for members' suggestions on how to proceed with the matter given this information.
13. Ghidewon advised that ESA continue to consult with Banchi, who is a tax lawyer. There will be no legal fees, but there will be fees for filing. He recommended that we inform members of the options over the email listserv and think about holding a vote.
14. Roy voiced appreciation for both Ghidewon and Nunu's efforts in pursuing this matter. He asked Trish Hepner to remind those in attendance that a motion must be made later in the meeting to accept last year's minutes. He then moved on to the President's Report.
15. Noting that his report would reflect similar themes as his column in the fall 2000 newsletter, Roy opened with a word of enthusiasm about the exciting developments for the Asmara conference. He noted that there have been many Ethiopian Studies conferences held over the years, and that this conference was an excellent moment in Eritrean Studies. He added that the idea of an "annual" conference is too ambitious, but that every three years might be more appropriate. He continued on to say that the years ahead might be difficult, but this conference represents an excellent opportunity to discuss Eritrea's past and future, and the festival will add to the weight of the event. He voiced appreciation to Ed Keller for getting involved and co-chairing one of the thematic sections. Roy concluded by saying that he will be leaving for Eritrea in a few days, where he will liase with the co-chairs of the thematic areas in Asmara and will turn in his abstract for a paper comparing the deportations from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Finally, he stated that his two years of Presidency have been very positive, and that he owes a debt to the Secretary for four newsletters and to the Treasurer for his financial statement. Roy then inquired to the membership about the Eritrean Studies Review, whose distribution and publication seem to have temporarily lapsed.
16. Ghidewon voiced dismay about this development and urged that ESA be certain that one or two issues appear per year, adding that the ESR is the responsibility of the Executive Committee.
17. Roy noted that the Executive Committee, according to the by-laws, is supposed to meet twice a year. Tseggai Isaac inquired about why this has not happened and why we have had problems with the ESR coming out.
18. Ghidewon noted that ESR is a major platform for Eritrean studies, and members have been voicing frustration because the special issue on the border war was never shipped.
19. Trish Hepner added that this is a recurring problem; numerous members have contacted her to complain that they have never received journals that they have paid for.
20. Tekie Fessehatzion suggested that those who received their journals and those who did not report to Ghidewon (ghidewon@vcu.edu).
21. Debra Budiani noted that she has never received a journal in her two years of membership in ESA.
22. Roy issued a formal apology for the problem and endorsed the concern of the membership that people have not received their journals. He also added that ESR is an important resource.
23. Asgede Hagos added that ESR is a big responsibility for the editors, and suggested that ESA work on having guest editors assist more regularly. He noted that much attention has been focused on the recent war and many people have not been able to devote as much time and energy to their regular activities.
24. Tekie noted that some of the problem might be with the Red Sea Press. Yacob added that Gebre Tesfagiorgis, the regular ESR editor, doesn't have enough materials to put together the journal. Yacob agreed with Asgede that the war has been a preoccupation.
25. Vicki Rentmeesters stated that we are all responsible for not submitting enough articles to the journal. Roy concurred, saying that the membership is really the backbone of ESR. Asgede added that the editors need to encourage people to submit articles. Yacob inquired about whether having guest editors would help the situation and Asgede agreed that it would. Tekie noted that we need to identify themes and then ask someone to take responsibility for soliciting articles. He noted that being a guest editor is a good experience. Ghidewon concluded that we should pressure the ESR editorial board to be more proactive.
26. Lyda Favali asked whether there are plans to publish the proceedings of the Asmara conference. Yacob stated that Gebre Tesfagiorgis is considering it.
27. Nunu Kidane noted that at last year's ASA meeting there were several papers on Eritrea and asked whether those had been solicited for publication in the journal. Roy noted that he thought Christopher Clapham had solicited them. Tekie reiterated that we should have a guest editor solicit the papers and have the Executive Editor step in later in order to share the workload. Roy concurred that this problem of the journal should be given priority. Lyda added that there had been some mention last year of asking Ruth Iyob to edit an issue on gender with some of the papers presented at the 1999 meeting.
28. Roy asked for a motion on this.
29. Nunu suggested that we wait another year on this because the conference in Asmara will generate more interest in ESA and increase our membership and thus the pool of potential publishable papers.
30. Roy added that the minutes should reflect our concern about the journal and noted that it is good to see people presenting Eritrea related research on a variety of panels at ASA. He also briefly addressed the fact that nominations for officers would be next on the agenda after the financial report. Trish briefly asked the membership to keep in mind that she plans to be in Asmara next year and any re-nomination for the position of Secretary should be viewed in light of her absence.
31. Ghidewon, the ESA Treasurer, presented the annual financial report. He reported that we have about 200 members of ESA in Asmara, although they have their own treasurer and we have no information about the association beyond that. The major issue of dues involves whether or not we should roll over the sub-fees from unreceived journals and only collect membership dues.
32. Nunu interjected that due to the conference planning, it may be too much to expect another ESR issue this year.
33. Tekie motioned to accept the financial report. Motion seconded and approved.
34. Roy expressed gratitude to Ghidewon and asked members to move on accepting last year's minutes.
35. Tseggai Isaac motioned to accept the minutes; Asgede Hagos seconded. Motion approved.
36. Roy opened up the issue of nominations for the office of President. Yacob nominated Tekie Fessehatzion. Nunu Kidane seconded. Tekie accepted the nomination and membership agreed to the appointment unanimously.
37. Roy noted that according to our by-laws, the offices of Secretary and President must be staggered, and therefore Trish should stay in office if Tekie is to be the new President. He noted that the issue of Trish being in Asmara for part of the year (and also unable to attend next year's business meeting) should be considered.
38. Nunu suggested that we consider having a back-up Secretary if Trish's absence is going to be problematic.
39. Ghidewon noted that with Internet access in Asmara it should not be a problem for Trish to continue her duties.
40. Membership agreed that Secretary should stay in office, Trish Hepner accepted.
41. Nunu added that the conference is very exciting, but we should not forget how many challenges we face in planning for it. She urged everyone to support the effort to do a great deal with few resources, and commended Yacob in particular for his dedication.
42. Roy added that we should also recognize and appreciate Tekie and Gebre Tesfagiorgis.
43. Asgede agreed with Nunu that we should all put our weight behind making the conference a success. He mentioned that Yacob had requested that he put together a panel on media and so he makes a public commitment to do so. He added that many people are intrigued by Eritrea although they may not know very much about it, and we should work on the public relations front to gain as much support as possible.
44. Roy added that all Eritreans should be encouraged to attend regardless of their views.
45. Ghidewon announced that he would accept dues immediately following the meeting.
46. Yacob added that we need more contacts and support from people in Europe and Australia.
47. Richard Greenfield expressed thanks to Roy Pateman for serving as President. Membership applauded Roy's work.
48. Tekie Fessehatzion concluded by saying a few words about accepting the post of President. He stated that it is an honor to be part of the conference planning, and sees the greatest challenge ahead as bringing in younger scholars to replace those who are now the "elders." He added that there are two major sources for these younger scholars: those in Eritrea, and those who see themselves as members of the opposition. He stated that these people must be brought into Eritrean studies and be given a platform to speak openly. He added that he feels a personal responsibility to take this on. He concluded that we must continue to work on developing scholarship on Eritrea.
49. Meeting adjourned.
**************************
Tricia Redeker Hepner
Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology
Michigan State University
Secretary, Eritrean Studies Association
"Betri HaQis teQeTen ember aytseberen"
The rod of truth grows thin but does not break.
--Tigrinya proverb