Terms of Service

Effective 10 August 2026 · Last updated 10 August 2026

These terms govern this website and PCO membership. They are written to be read, not to trap anyone. In short: be decent to other members, do not misuse your membership card, and understand that we are a volunteer organization doing our best.

01Agreement

These Terms of Service form an agreement between you and the Palestinian Cultural Organization (“PCO”, “we”, “us”), a nonprofit organization in Charlotte, North Carolina. They apply when you use pcouncc.org, when you hold PCO membership, and when you use a PCO membership card or wallet pass.

By using the site or holding membership, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please do not use the site or join. Our Privacy Policy is part of this agreement.

02Who may use this

The website is open to everyone. Membership and the member portal are for people aged 13 and over. You must give accurate information when you join, and keep your email address current, because it is how you sign in and how we reach you.

PCO is open to every student and community member, Palestinian or not, Arab or not. Membership is granted at the discretion of the organization’s officers in accordance with our bylaws.

03Your membership account

There is no password. You sign in by requesting a single-use link sent to your email address, valid for fifteen minutes.

Your sign-in link is personal. Do not forward it. Anyone holding it can sign in as you until it is used or expires.
Keep control of the email account you register, since access to it is access to your membership.
Tell us promptly at mshawar@charlotte.edu if you believe someone else has used your account.
Do not attempt to sign in as anyone else, or to obtain the roster or any member’s information without authorization.

Officers can add members, change roles and deactivate accounts as part of running the organization. Deactivation ends portal access immediately.

04Membership cards and wallet passes

Membership includes a digital membership card carrying your name, member number and a QR code, which you may add to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

A card identifies you as a PCO member. It is not a government ID, a student ID, a payment instrument, a ticket, or proof of any legal status, and it must not be presented as one.
Your card is for your use only. Do not lend, sell, copy, alter or forge it, and do not let another person use it to claim membership benefits.
Cards remain PCO property and stay valid only while your membership is active. If your membership ends, the card is void, and any pass you have installed may stop being updated.
Adding a pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet is optional and also subject to Apple’s or Google’s own terms. We do not control those services.
We may reissue, change or revoke a card, and may change what benefits membership carries.

05Acceptable use

When using this site, the member portal or PCO spaces, you agree not to:

harass, threaten, defame or discriminate against anyone;
attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, the portal, the roster or any account;
probe, scan, overload or disrupt the site, or circumvent any security or rate limit;
scrape, harvest or republish member information, including names and email addresses;
upload anything unlawful, malicious, or that you do not have the right to upload. A photograph you submit must be of you, and yours to give;
impersonate another member, an officer, or the organization;
use PCO’s name, logo or materials to imply endorsement you do not have;
use the site or your membership for commercial solicitation.

Our members’ names, email addresses and photographs are held in confidence. Collecting, publishing or passing on that information without consent is a serious violation of these terms and will end your membership.

06Content and intellectual property

The text, photographs, video, design and code on this site belong to PCO or to the people who made them, and are protected by copyright. You may read, link to, quote briefly with attribution, and share our pages. You may not republish substantial portions, or use our photographs or videos commercially, without written permission.

Photographs of PCO events may include images of attendees. If you appear in a photograph on this site and would like it removed, email us and we will remove it.

If you give us a photograph for your membership card, you keep ownership of it and grant PCO permission to store and display it for the purpose of identifying you as a member. That permission ends when you ask us to remove the photo or your membership ends.

If you believe material on this site infringes your copyright, email mshawar@charlotte.edu identifying the material and your rights in it, and we will review it promptly.

07Donations

Donations to PCO are voluntary and, unless we state otherwise in writing, are not refundable. Donations are processed by third-party platforms under their own terms. Where we describe a fundraising purpose, we apply funds to that purpose; if it becomes impracticable, we apply them to the organization’s general charitable purposes. We are not able to give tax advice. Consult your own adviser about deductibility.

08Third-party services and links

This site links to and relies on services we do not control, including Google Fonts, Instagram, Facebook, Niner Engage, Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. We are not responsible for their content, availability or practices, and your use of them is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

09Ending membership

You may leave at any time by emailing us, and we will deactivate your record. We may suspend or end a membership if these terms are violated, if the roster entry is inaccurate, or where required by our bylaws or by law. Where circumstances allow, we will tell you why. Sections 06, 10, 11 and 13 survive the end of your membership.

10Disclaimers

THE SITE, THE MEMBER PORTAL AND MEMBERSHIP CARDS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY INFORMATION ON IT IS COMPLETE OR CURRENT. EVENT DETAILS MAY CHANGE OR BE CANCELLED.

PCO is run by volunteers. We keep the site and portal running as best we can, but we cannot promise they will always be available.

11Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PCO AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, MEMBERS AND VOLUNTEERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, USE, GOODWILL OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SITE, THE MEMBER PORTAL OR A MEMBERSHIP CARD.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID PCO IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

NOTHING HERE LIMITS LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, INCLUDING FOR FRAUD, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, OR WILFUL MISCONDUCT. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO PARTS OF THIS SECTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

12Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top of this page always shows the current version. If a change materially affects members, we will email members before it takes effect. Continuing to use the site or your membership after that means you accept the updated terms.

13Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and you and PCO consent to their jurisdiction. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force.

These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and PCO regarding the site and membership.

14Contact

mshawar@charlotte.edu
Palestinian Cultural Organization · Charlotte, North Carolina