Skip to main content

Constitution & Bylaws

INTERFRATERNITY  COUNCIL  CONSTITUTION

Preamble

The Interfraternity Council of Roanoke College exists under the authority of the Board of Trustees and its designated Executive Officers. The IFC's purpose is to promote the welfare of the recognized Greek Social Fraternities on campus.  The IFC also is committed to supporting the mission of the institution and upholding the college's standards of honesty, respect, and personal responsibility. This commitment is achieved by advising faculty, administrators and trustees about matters of concern to the college's fraternities, and by promoting scholarship, service, leadership, and citizenship among fraternity members.

Articles

Article  I - Name

The name of the organization shall be the Interfraternity Council of Roanoke College.

Article  II - Objectives

SECTION 1. The objectives of the Interfraternity Council of Roanoke College shall be:

  • To establish, maintain, and foster a close spirit of cooperation among the fraternities which are and/or shall be members of this Council,
  • To promote harmony and unity among individual fraternity men,
  • To encourage and maintain cooperation between the individual fraternities and the administration of Roanoke College, and
  • To promote and enforce an orderly and effective system of recruitment and pledging.

SECTION 2. The IFC shall have such responsibilities and authority as its members delegate to it.   These responsibilities and authority shall be enumerated in this constitution or the By-Laws.  Responsibilities and authority not specifically delegated to the IFC shall remain with the respective fraternities.

Article  III - Membership

SECTION 1.  The Interfraternity Council of Roanoke College shall consist of three voting delegates from each of the college recognized Greek Social Fraternities.  The President and Vice President of each fraternity shall constitute two of the three delegates.  Voting delegates may be represented by a proxy so long as the proxy is a member of the delegate's fraternity and is a full time student.

SECTION 3.  Delegates shall serve for a period of one year from the time they begin representing their respective fraternity on the IFC.

SECTION 4.  Nominations for officers shall occur within four weeks prior to Christmas vacation and elections shall be conducted at the next meeting. Individuals running for an IFC office must be present at the IFC meeting at which elections are conducted in order to be eligible.

SECTION 5. A representative of the Office of Student Affairs shall serve as an ex-officio advisor to the council.

SECTION 6.  The council shall elect one faculty/staff member as an advisor after the new officers are elected.  The advisor shall serve for a period of one year and may be re-elected. The advisor shall be expected to attend all meetings.

SECTION 7. It shall be the duty of all delegates to report to the council president (1) any violations of this Constitution and By-Laws, (2) rules made in pursuance of this Constitution such as recruitment rules, or (3) any regulations of the College governing the conduct of fraternities.

Article IV  -  Officers

Section 1. The officers of the Interfraternity Council shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a Director of Public Relations.

Section 2. The officers shall be elected as soon as all new delegates have been selected by their respective fraternities.  Prior to the election, each candidate shall have the opportunity to address the other delegates.  The elections shall be conducted by secret ballot.  A candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected.  The new officers shall assume office upon being elected.

Section 3.  The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Director of Public Relations shall be elected in that order.  The winner of each election shall be the candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast.  Officers shall serve for a period of one year beginning with their respective elections.

Section 4. An individual must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better in order to be eligible to hold an office.  If an individual's grade point average drops below a 2.0 during his time of office, then he must resign his office.

Section 5. All IFC officers except the president shall be voting delegates for their respective fraternities.  The fraternity from which the president is elected shall have three votes not counting the president. The President shall have a vote only in cases of a tie vote.

Article V  -  Meetings

Meetings of the council shall be held at least twice a month.  They also may be called at any time by the President.  Meetings must be announced at least 24 hours in advance unless special circumstances warrant otherwise.

Article VI  -  Quorum

The presence of at least two delegates or proxies from each fraternity shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.  If a delegate or his proxy fails to attend a regularly scheduled meeting, then his fraternity may be levied a ten dollar fine.

Article VII  -  By-Laws

The By-laws of the Interfraternity Council of Roanoke College shall be adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members of this council, following the ratification of this Constitution.

Article VIII  -  Amendments

A proposed amendment to this constitution must be made in writing and submitted to the council at a meeting.  At the next meeting, a vote shall be taken.  The amendment shall pass if it receives two-thirds of the votes cast.

Article IX  - Admission to Membership

SECTION 1.  All Greek Social Fraternities recognized by the college automatically become members of the council upon their recognition by the college.

Article X  - Conduct Board

The Conduct Board shall hear all violations of IFC policies and rules, and shall determine appropriate consequences when a fraternity is found to have violated such policies or rules.

SECTION 1. The Conduct Board shall consist of the faculty advisor to the Interfraternity Council who shall serve as the chair of the board, the administrative advisor to the Interfraternity Council, the College Advisor of each member fraternity, and one delegate from each of the member fraternities. Neither the undergraduate delegate(s) of the accusing fraternity(ies) nor the undergraduate delegate of the accused fraternity shall serve on a sitting board.  A majority vote of the sitting members is required to find a fraternity guilty.

SECTION 2. Anyone may bring a charge(s) against a fraternity.  The alleged charge(s) must be in writing and must be given to the Interfraternity Council Faculty Advisor within two working weeks of when the accuser discovered the alleged violation(s) occurred.

SECTION 3. A hearing shall be held as soon as possible.  The accused fraternity shall have at least 48 hours in which to prepare its case.  Both the accuser and the accused organization(s) may have up to two representatives at the hearing for the purpose of presenting evidence and asking and answering questions.  The IFC Faculty Advisor may grant a longer period for the accused fraternity to prepare its case if he deems such action necessary.

SECTION 4. A request for review based on procedural error in the hearing or new evidence which could not reasonably have been presented at the time of the hearing must be submitted in writing within a reasonable amount of time, usually 48 hours, to the Faculty Advisor.  If the procedural error or new evidence is determined to be significant enough to possibly change the outcome of the hearing then a new hearing shall be scheduled.

SECTION 5.  An accused fraternity has the following rights:

  • The right to know the charge(s) being brought against it.
  • The right to know who is bringing the charges against it.
  • The right to a hearing at which the fraternity may respond to the charges.

IFC  BY-LAWS

1. THE  RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE is charged with promoting fraternity recruitment and establishing rules which will ensure an orderly, fair process.  The membership shall consist of the IFC Vice President, who shall serve as the committee chair, one IFC delegate from each member fraternity, and the Recruitment Chair of each member fraternity.

2. THE  PUBLIC  RELATIONS  COMMITTEE is charged with promoting a positive image of the council and its members to the college community and the larger community. The membership shall consist of the IFC Public Relations Director, who shall serve as the committee chair, one IFC delegate from each member fraternity, and the Public Relations Chair of each member fraternity.

3. THE NON-HAZING PLEDGE shall be signed by every new member of each fraternity within two weeks of signing his bid to that fraternity.  If the non-hazing pledge is not signed, he will not be allowed to continue his membership in that fraternity or be initiated.

Each member of the Council shall also sign the non-hazing pledge within two weeks of taking office.

All members of the Executive Councils of each fraternity shall also sign the non-hazing pledge.

Failure of any member of the Council or respective Executive Councils shall result in a $50 fine to his respective fraternity.

4. The schedule (including, but not exclusive to dates for recruitment, smokers, Bids Days, Greek Weeks, philanthropy weeks, etc) for the following school year shall be organized by the IFC President and the faculty advisor to the Council no later than the second week in April of that year.  The schedule shall be submitted to the Council at large for a majority approval.