Article I: Election Procedures

A. The Executive Board shall be elected annually by the General Assembly.

B. Elections for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Rush Chair, and Programming Board Chair shall be held in March. Neither the Rush Chair nor the Programming Board Chair is a member of the Executive Board.

C. Elections shall be held at the first meeting following the University's Spring Break.

D. Nominations

   1. Nominations shall open three weeks prior to elections and will be accepted until voting begins.

   2. Any official representative in the General Assembly may submit a nomination.

   3. All nominations must be seconded from the floor.

   4. A nominated individual must be present to accept. If he is not present, he shall not be considered for a vote.

   5. Declined nominations may be accepted at a later date.

   6. An individual may be nominated for more than one office.

E. Voting

   1. Voting shall be presided over by the President. If the President is a candidate, the Vice President shall preside. If both are candidates, the Treasurer shall preside. Of all three are candidates, the Secretary shall preside. If all four are candidates, the Greek Advisor shall preside.

   2. Tie-breaking power is held exclusively by the presiding Executive Board member (or the Greek Advisor).

   3. All votes shall be made by secret ballot. A separate vote shall be held for each office in the order of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Rush Chair, and Programming Board Chair.

   4. Before the vote for each office, candidates may speak for up to five minutes on their own behalf, during which time all other candidates will be directed to leave the room.

   5. Candidates may be asked to leave the room so that comments may be made from the floor and open deliberation may take place.

   6. Results shall be determined by a simple majority. If no candidate receives a majority, the two with the most votes shall be paired in a run off. The presiding Executive Board member shall cast a simultaneous vote that can be used to break a tie.

   7. The IFC Secretary shall count all votes, unless he is a candidate, in which case the Greek Advisor shall count.

F. If there is only one nominee, a voice vote of confidence shall be taken. The opinion of the chair shall make the determination. A request for a secret ballot vote by any representative in the General Assembly must be honored.

Article II: Membership Application

A. All applications must be submitted to the IFC Executive Board, the Greek Advisor, and the General Assembly. The application must include:

1. Mission statement.

2. Names, email addresses, and phone numbers of all prospective members.

3. Present financial status and future budget.

4. List of local chapters and their contacts.

5. List of local alumni references.

6 . Proof of national and alumni support, including official letters.

7. If re-colonizing, the circumstances surrounding the previous dissolution.

8. Chapter goals (social policy, new member education, philanthropy, scholarship, public relations)

9. Other requirements set forth by the Johns Hopkins University, Office of Greek Life, and/or the IFC Executive Board.

B. Letters must be received from the chosen National Organization assuring support and agreeing to withdraw support of the colony if chapter status is not achieved within two years.

C. At least fifty percent of the members must be sophomores and juniors. The total number of members must exceed fourteen.

D. Rush privileges may be extended at the discretion of the Executive Board to colonies meeting both IFC and Johns Hopkins requirements.

E. The approval of a new fraternity is dependent on the modification of the IFC Constitution, and thus requires a three fourths majority vote of the General Assembly.

F. If the fraternity fails to receive approval, the applicant will not be welcomed into IFC membership, nor will the organization be entitled to any IFC privileges.

G. If a new applicant fails to receive a three fourths majority vote, the applicant must wait until the following academic year to reapply.

H. All new general members of the IFC are required to pay all dues ($5/new member) before the group may be recognized.

Article III: Awards

A. Greek Organization of the Year - The General Assembly shall have the power to select the Greek Organization of the Year from among three chapters nominated by the Greek Advisor.

B. The John Darre Award

1. The John Darre award is a cash award given in his memory to an individual who has exemplified the qualities exhibited by Darre, President of the IFC in1991.

2. Nominations are made in writing by members of the Greek community. The nominations should state why the nominee is deserving of the award.

3. Nominations will be opened two weeks prior to voting.

4. Because the award is an honor, not a competition, there will be no open discussion of nominees. Instead, the written nominations will be read aloud.

5. Voting will be by secret ballot and a simple majority is required for selection of the winner. If no nominee obtains a majority, a run-off shall be held between the two top candidates.

Article IV: Policies

A. Pledge Policies

1. Members of all Greek organizations are expected to respect the right of all individual pledges.

2. Brothers may not force any actions onto individuals who do not voluntarily want to perform them.

3. Kidnapping of pledges or brothers is not allowed.

4. Hazing is not permitted by any active member of any IFC member organization. Hazing is defined as any action taken or situation created, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule.

B. Community Relations Policies

1. Neighbors shall be notified of all social events and be provided with contact information.

2. Organizations are encouraged to have the grounds patrolled by a third party security service.

3. All music and entertainment must remain inside when the events is held in a residential area.

C. Social Policies - All open parties or social events shall:

1. Comply with Maryland State laws regarding legal drinking age. Wrist bracelets and/or other identifying marks will be given to those with proper age identification and only those so distinguished will be served alcoholic beverages.

2. Be sure that only one drink at a time is served to any single person.

3. Make non-alcoholic beverages at least, if not more, accessible as alcoholic beverages at parties. These beverages must be served free and advertised. Food is also encouraged.

4. Have at least two members who will remain completely "dry" during the event.

5. Have two additional monitors to work outside the party to promote the orderly passage of guests to and from the party.

6. Be announced at the IFC meeting prior to the event. A representative may be sent to report any violations or unsafe activities.

7. Stop all music at 2:00 a.m., or earlier at the request of neighbors and/or legal authorities.

8. Have proper lighting.

9. Have members available to provide safe, directional assistance or an escort for those guests who may have trouble returning home.

10. Be considered as such unless:

a. It is a private fraternity function such as an alumni event, formal, or parent organization sponsored event.

b. It is a function explicitly and exclusively with other groups, such as mixers.

c. It is a non-sanctioned fraternity event (such as individual barbecues). If more than one fourth of the fraternity membership is present, it no longer qualifies as non-sanctioned.

d. Any party held on-campus.

11. Adhere to all federal, state, local, and University policies including, but not limited to, alcohol consumption and advertisement, postering and flyering (including degrading women and alcohol), and security.

D. Rush Policies

1. The dry rush policy states that all fraternities will refrain from serving alcohol at any function between spring registration and the end of rush. This includes events:

a. Sanctioned by the majority of the chapter or the officers of that chapter.

b. Sponsored by several members with or without the approval of the officers or general membership.

c. Of an individual member providing alcohol to a prospective pledge or encouraging a prospective pledge to drink.

Article V: Dues and Fines

A. The following dues shall be assessed to the members of the IFC:

1. Membership dues shall be assessed at the beginning of each school year, based on the number of active brothers in each organization, at a flat rate of five dollars ($5) per brother.

2. Pledge dues shall be assessed once each semester based on the number of pledge each organization takes in for that semester, at a flat rate of five dollars ($5) per semester.

B. Fines may be assessed to an organization as a disciplinary measure by the IFC Judicial Board or, when based on attendance, by the Executive Board and/or the IFC Treasurer.

1. Failure to have proper representation (at least one brother at the Executive Committee meetings is punishable by the following fine system:

a. First offense - warning
b. Second offense - twenty dollars ($20)
c. Third offense - forty dollars ($40)
d. Fourth offense - sixty dollars ($60)
e. Fifth offense - eighty dollars ($80)
f. Every offense thereafter - one hundred dollars ($100)

C. All dues and fines must be paid on the second week after the assessment and announcement of monies owed. After that period, the money owed shall be considered an outstanding debt.

D. Any chapter having debts outstanding shall immediately lose all voting privileges.

E. Any chapter having debts outstanding grater than fifty dollars ($50) shall be placed on social probation until the dues are paid in full.

F. All dues and fines must be paid in full prior to the last meeting of the school year or the chapter in question immediately loses IFC recognition.

Ratified 10/02/2000