bylaws.md

The Bylaws of the Gamma Tau Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity

Last modified August 7, 2015

Preamble

The Gamma Tau Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity was chartered December 19th, 1970. The purpose of the Chapter is to remain a relatively small group of friends who hold close fraternal ties in the original tradition of social fraternities. The Chapter strives to achieve the original goals of friendship and service for which the Psi Upsilon Fraternity was founded.

The bylaws of the Gamma Tau Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity have been created to provide order and organization for the Gamma Tau Chapter in any endeavors that they undertake. It is the responsibility of each MEMBER of the Gamma Tau Chapter to abide by these bylaws and to bring to the attention of the other MEMBERs any violations of these bylaws that they may witness.

ARTICLE I: The Bylaws

Section 1: Ratification and Amendments

Law 1: Ratification

1. These bylaws must be approved by a THREE-FOURTHS majority. Once ratified, all previous bylaws and conflicting motions are rendered void.

Law 2: Amendments

1. These bylaws may be amended by a THREE-FOURTHS majority.
2. Any motion to amend the bylaws can be discussed but not voted on until at least one week after it was made.

Section 2: Bylaw Policies

Law 1: Conflicts

1. These bylaws may not conflict with nor violate the precepts of Psi Upsilon, its Constitution, or its Ritual, nor any local, state, or national law.

Law 2: Interpretation

1. In the event that a question of interpretation of these bylaws is brought up:
   1. The Parliamentarian, or in his absence the President, will provide an official interpretation.
   2. Any ACTIVE may move to reject the interpretation, requiring a SIMPLE majority
   3. Should that motion pass, any other interpretation may be brought up and agreed upon by SIMPLE majority. The Internal Committee will then draft an amendment to reflect the new interpretation.

Law 3: Deference

1. These bylaws defer to Robert’s Rules of Order for general procedures and definitions.

Law 4: Limitation

1. Any issues or procedures not described in these bylaws are left to Executive Committee Policy, which may be overridden by SIMPLE majority vote.

ARTICLE II: Membership

Section 1: Members

Law 1: Definition

1. BROTHERs and PLEDGEs are considered official MEMBERs of the Gamma Tau chapter of Psi Upsilon.

Section 2: Brothers

Law 1: Definition

1. A BROTHER is someone who has gone through the Initiation Ritual and has not been expelled.

Law 2: Statuses

1. An ALUMNUS is a BROTHER who is not a student at Georgia Tech,
   1. A BROTHER who is a graduate student or on official semester break at Georgia Tech may choose to be considered and ALUMNUS,
   2. BROTHERs from other chapters are considered ALUMNI for the purposes of these bylaws.
   3. An ALUMNI organization, the Psi Upsilon Society of Georgia (PUSOG), is recognized by these bylaws.
2. A BROTHER may be considered an ACTIVE BROTHER if they are a Georgia Tech student in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA at or above a 2.0.
3. A BROTHER may request PERSONAL LEAVE at the beginning of a semester to withdraw from ACTIVE status for that semester. If the J-Board does not grant this request, the BROTHER may choose to be INACTIVE.
   1. A Brother’s Keeper, a BROTHER whose job is to act as liaison to the BROTHER who is INACTIVE or on PERSONAL LEAVE, will be appointed by the J-Board.
4. An ACTIVE BROTHER who has not met their financial obligation may be placed on PROBATION.
   1. A BROTHER on PROBATION may become ACTIVE if they meet their financial obligations mid-semester.
5. An ACTIVE BROTHER may be placed on SUSPENSION by a THREE-FOURTHS majority vote.
   1. The BROTHER in question must abstain from the vote.
   2. The length of SUSPENSION must be specified in the motion and may not exceed one year.
   3. Any motion to SUSPEND a BROTHER must be tabled for two weeks, and the BROTHER in question must be aware of the motion for the tabling period.
   4. At the beginning of a semester, a SUSPENDED BROTHER may be reinstated early by THREE-FOURTHS majority.
   5. If a SUSPENDED BROTHER lives in the Chapter House, they will be given 60 days to vacate.

Law 3: Honorary Brothers

1. A NON-MEMBER conventionally ineligible for Brotherhood may be initiated into Psi Upsilon as an HONORARY BROTHER in recognition of truly outstanding contribution to the Brotherhood.
2. A person must be brought up for consideration as an HONORARY BROTHER at least two weeks prior to initiation and no more than once per semester.
3. The vote to initiate an HONORARY BROTHER must use Throne Room procedure.
4. HONORARY BROTHERS are otherwise treated no differently than all other BROTHERs.

Law 4: Expulsion

1. Psi Upsilon does not recognize any voluntary withdrawal from Brotherhood.
2. A BROTHER of the Gamma Tau chapter may only be EXPELLED by a THREE-FOURTHS majority vote.
   1. The BROTHER in question must abstain from the vote.
   2. Any motion to EXPEL a BROTHER must be tabled for two weeks, and the BROTHER in question must be aware of the motion for the tabling period.
   3. If the motion passes, the EXPELLED person will no longer be considered a BROTHER.
   4. If a BROTHER who lives in the house is EXPELLED, they will be given 60 days to vacate.

Law 5: Rights and Privleges

1. All BROTHERs may attend all meetings, ceremonies, social events, and other official activities of the Chapter unless they are SUSPENDED or on PROBATION.
2. Only ACTIVE BROTHERs possess the right to vote in matters concerning the Chapter.
   1. This right shall not be suspended or denied except in ways described in these bylaws.

Law 6: Requirements

1. BROTHERs will meet all financial obligations to the chapter.
   1. Any money paid to the Chapter by any BROTHER must first be applied towards any outstanding debt.
   2. ACTIVE BROTHERS must pay semesterly dues by the second Brothers’ Meeting of the semester.
      1. BROTHERS on PERSONAL LEAVE must pay the portion of Chapter dues that constitute International dues.
      2. A BROTHER may instead negotiate a payment plan with the Treasurer to pay dues by the end of the semester.
      3. A BROTHER may petition the Brotherhood to split their dues evenly amongst the rest of the ACTIVES for one semester. Such a motion requires UNANIMOUS approval.
   3. BROTHERS who have not met their financial obligation are referred to the J-Board.
2. ACTIVE BROTHERs will meet attendance requirements.
   1. Events may be made required by Executive Committee Policy as long as the requirement is known two weeks prior to the event in question.
   2. The establishment of a fine for missing an event must be approved by a SIMPLE majority and must be available in Executive Committee Policy at least two weeks in advance.
   3. An absence may be excused by an Officer of the Executive Committee for academic or other reasons provided the absent BROTHER notifies the Executive Committee beforehand.
3. ACTIVE BROTHERs will complete philanthropy requirements found in Executive Committee Policy.
4. ACTIVE BROTHERs will participate in one permanent committee.
5. BROTHERs will maintain secrecy to non-BROTHERs about secret Rituals, Brothers’ Meetings and matters discussed therein, and any other matter considered secret by the Chapter.
6. BROTHERs will maintain appropriately non-intimate relationships with the PLEDGEs.
   1. Any BROTHER who begins an inappropriate relationship with a PLEDGE must disclose so to the Executive Committee and will be stripped of all voting and discussion rights on issues pertaining to the aforementioned PLEDGE in particular.
7. BROTHERs on PERSONAL LEAVE will complete requirements found in J-Board policy.

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Section 3: Pledges

Law 1: Definitions

1. A PLEDGE is a Georgia Tech student who has accepted a bid but has not been through the initiation ceremony or otherwise had their PLEDGEship ended.
2. A PLEDGE TERM is the period between initiations.

Law 2: Requirements

1. To be considered for initiation, a pledge must:
   1. Complete the New Member Education Program found in Executive Committee Policy.

Law 3: Rights and Privileges

1. PLEDGES will have a BIG BROTHER to act as their liaison to the Brotherhood.
2. There shall be NO activity or function required of a PLEDGE by any MEMBER of Psi Upsilon which violates the precepts of Psi Upsilon, the National Constitution, the Chapter bylaws, or which violates any national, state, or university laws or regulations.

Law 4: End of Pledgeship

1. A PLEDGE may at any time terminate their PLEDGEship voluntarily.
2. A PLEDGE may be DEPLEDGED by a SIMPLE majority at any Brothers’ Meeting.
3. The vote to initiate a PLEDGE must follow Throne Room Procedure.
   1. Failure to pass the Throne Room vote will result in DEPLEDGING.
4. Any PLEDGE whose PLEDGEship ends as a direct consequence of any Brotherhood vote, including Throne Room voting, or as a decision of the Judicial Board is ineligible to become a PLEDGE again.

Section 4: Throne Room Procedure

Law 1: Necessity

1. No candidate may be initiated without passing the Throne Room vote.

Law 2: Eligible Voters

1. The ACTIVE BROTHERs of the semester encompassing the majority of the current PLEDGE TERM will constitute the voting body of the Throne Room vote.

Law 3: Procedure

1. After discussion, vote will be held by secret ballot.
2. The four types of votes are as follows:
   1. YES - I wish to initiate the candidate.
   2. NO - I wish not to initiate the candidate.
   3. VETO - I have irreconcilable issues with the candidate and strongly oppose initiation.
   4. ABSTAIN - I wish to remove myself from the voting body. BROTHERs wishing to abstain from the vote must formally cast this vote.
3. The votes will be tallied by the President and the Vice President of Member Education, or in their absence appointed representatives, and if applicable their elected successors. These counters will not ever reveal specific vote totals.
4. If the number of votes does not equal the size of the voting body, the vote will be retaken.
5. The TOTAL VOTE will be defined as the total number of non-ABSTAIN votes.
6. The possible results are as follows:
   1. If the total of YES votes is less than THREE-FOURTHS of the TOTAL VOTE, the candidate will not be initiated.
   2. If the total of YES votes is equal to or greater than THREE-FOURTHS of the TOTAL VOTE and there are zero VETOes, the candidate will be initiated.
   3. If at least 10% of the TOTAL VOTE rounded down with a minimum of two are VETO, the candidate will not be initiated.
   4. If the total of YES votes is equal to or greater than THREE-FOURTHS of the TOTAL VOTE and at least one VETO was thrown, but not enough to satisfy the case in 6.3, the votes will be discarded and discussion will be re-opened. At the end of discussion, an identical vote will be held, with the exception that should this case be reached again, the candidate will be initiated.
7. Regardless of the result, the counters will report only the following:
   1. Whether or not the candidate will be initiated.
   2. Whether or not the total of YES votes reached THREE-FOURTHS of the TOTAL VOTE.
   3. Whether or not any VETOes were thrown.

Section 5: Non-Members

Law 1: Residence in the Chapter House

1. A Non-MEMBER may reside in the Chapter House only after SIMPLE majority approval.

ARTICLE III: The Executive Committee and Officers

Section 1: The Executive Committee

Law 1: Definition and Scope

1. The Executive Committee (EC) is a body of 5 elected ACTIVE BROTHERs that will serve as the primary governing body of the chapter.
2. The EC will consist of these five Officers in order of rank: President, Vice President of the House (House), Vice President of Member Education (Member Ed), Vice President of External Affairs (External), and Vice President of Internal Affairs (Internal).
3. The EC will have the following responsibilities as a whole:
   1. To execute the operation of the Chapter.
   2. To make decisions on behalf of the Chapter when a Brothers’ Meeting is impractical and report those decisions as soon as is practical.
   3. To enforce these Bylaws and all Brotherhood decisions.
   4. To delegate tasks not specifically listed in these bylaws to the most appropriate Officer.
4. The Officers of the EC share these common duties:
   1. To chair their permanent committee.
   2. To record minutes and procedures of their committee.
   3. To maintain a Continuity Folder of materials pertinent to the operation of their committee to be passed down to successors.
   4. To report activities at Brothers’ Meetings.
   5. To submit budgetary items to the Treasurer for approval.
   6. To submit scheduling items to Internal for approval.
   7. To submit event plans to External to ensure compliance with regulations.

Law 2: Responsibilities of the President

1. To chair the Executive Committee as their permanent committee.
2. To represent Brother Archon in all ritual activities.
3. To represent Leonardo of the TMNT.
4. To chair weekly Brothers’ Meetings.
5. To attend all IFC meetings.
6. To complete the Membership Report for International.
7. To reside in the Chapter House.
8. To be the primary BROTHER responsible for ensuring the good health and operation of the Chapter in general.

Law 3: Responsibilities of the Vice President of the House

1. To chair the House Committee as their permanent committee, which will have duties including but not limited to:
   1. Collecting rent and parlor fees and issuing rent contracts or eviction notices as an agent of PUSOG.
   2. Ensuring that incidental wear and tear on the Chapter House is repaired.
   3. Ensuring the house is well-supplied.
   4. Keeping the Chapter House clean by holding Full House Cleanup events.
   5. Assigning house jobs to the residents of the Chapter House.
   6. Running fundraising activities.
   7. Maintaining the network of the Chapter House.
2. To represent Brother Thesauristes in all ritual activities.
3. To represent Donatello of the TMNT.
4. To reside in the Chapter House.
5. To be the primary BROTHER responsible for the well-being of the facilities and possessions of the Chapter.

Law 4: Responsibilities of the Vice President of Member Education

1. To chair the Member Ed. Committee as their permanent committee, which will have duties including but not limited to:
   1. Running Rush.
   2. Creating and managing the New Member Education Program.
   3. Planning ritual activities.
   4. Overseeing the academics of the MEMBERs.
   5. Being the point of contact for Brother’s Keepers.
2. To represent Brother First Angelos in all ritual activities.
3. To represent Master Splinter of the TMNT.
4. To be the primary BROTHER responsible for all Rush and PLEDGE related matters.

Law 5: Responsibilities of the Vice President of External Affairs

1. To chair the External Committee as their permanent committee, which will have duties including but not limited to:
   1. Planning and running social events.
   2. Organizing and managing philanthropy.
   3. Coordinating participation in Greek Week and Homecoming.
   4. Producing content for the Georgia Tech yearbook.
2. To represent Brother Second Angelos in all ritual activities.
3. To represent Michelangelo of the TMNT.
4. To attend all IFC meetings.
5. To be the official representative of the Chapter to outside organizations.

Law 6: Responsibilities of the Vice President of Internal Affairs

1. To chair the Internal Committee as their permanent committee, which will have duties including but not limited to:
   1. Compiling and managing the History of the Chapter.
   2. Conducting ALUMNI and International relations.
   3. Publishing the Golden Cogwheel, the ALUMNI newsletter.
   4. Ensuring that minutes are taken of Brothers’ Meetings.
   5. Administrating the Chapter’s website.
   6. Managing these Bylaws.
2. To represent Brothers Grammateus and Epistolographos in all ritual activities.
3. To represent Raphael of the TMNT.
4. To attend Convention.
5. To appoint a Parliamentarian, whose job is to be thoroughly familiar with Roberts’ Rules of Order and these Bylaws, in order to provide official interpretations.
6. To be the official representative of the Chapter to the ALUMNI and International.
7. To be the primary BROTHER responsible for scheduling Chapter activities.

Section 2: Other Officers

Law 1: Treasurer

1. The Treasurer is an elected office not included on the EC whose purpose is to allow for a single trusted BROTHER to primarily handle the financial business of the chapter.
2. The responsibilities of the Treasurer are:
   1. To be the single point of contact for all financial matters.
   2. To collect money owed to the Chapter.
   3. To see to the payment of bills owed by the Chapter.
   4. To maintain thorough ledgers of accounts held with and by the Chapter.
   5. To propose a budget for upcoming semesters at the end of the previous semester.
   6. To attend committee meetings as required by the committees for financial consultation.
3. If an action taken by the Treasurer requires a second person or if action must be taken in the Treasurer’s absence, the responsibility will fall to the Vice President of the House.

Section 3: Installation and Removal

Law 1: Regular Elections

1. Only ACTIVE BROTHERs may be elected to an Office.
2. No BROTHER may hold multiple Offices at once.
3. The terms of all Offices last twelve months.
4. Regular elections will be held at the end of each term.
5. Nominations will open two weeks prior to elections and will close immediately before the vote.
6. The candidates will be given an opportunity to have a dialogue with the Brotherhood about their campaign prior to election.
7. The voting procedure is as follows:
   1. The candidates will be asked to leave the room.
   2. The remaining ACTIVE BROTHERs will constitute the voting body.
   3. After discussion, each BROTHER in the voting body will vote by secret ballot for one of the candidates or for No Confidence.
   4. BROTHERs may instead abstain from the vote.
   5. The meeting chair and the BROTHER taking minutes will count.
   6. If any candidate receives a SIMPLE majority, they will be elected to the Office in question.
   7. If no candidates receive a SIMPLE majority and neither of the top two results are No Confidence, a runoff election will be held by the same procedure between the top two results.
   8. Otherwise, the candidates are asked to return to the meeting, nominations are re-opened, and the election procedure is repeated.

Law 2: Resignation and Summer Leave

1. An Officer is permitted to resign from office during their term.
2. A resigning officer will be expected to continue carrying out their duties or appoint an ACTIVE BROTHER to do so for two weeks or until a replacement is elected by the procedure in Law 1 to serve the remainder of the term.
3. If two weeks pass and a replacement has not yet been elected, the President will perform the duties of that office until a replacement is chosen.
4. An Officer who will not maintain ACTIVE status during summer semester may appoint any ACTIVE to temporarily hold the Office for the summer.

Law 3: Involuntary Removal from Office

1. An Officer who will not maintain ACTIVE states during a Non-Summer semester will be removed from Office.
2. Officers may be removed from Office by a THREE-FOURTHs majority vote.
   1. The Officer in question must abstain from the vote.
   2. Any motion to remove an Officer must be tabled for two weeks, and the Officer in question must be aware of the motion for the tabling period.
3. After removal of an officer, a replacement election will take place, following the procedure in Law 1.

Article IV: The Judicial Board

Section 1: Purpose and Scope

Law 1: Definition and Purpose

1. The Judicial Board will be a small group of BROTHERs who can handle appeals and settle disputes pertaining to Chapter affairs.

Law 2: Scope

1. The J-Board may make decisions in the following cases:
   1. A person present in the Chapter House has violated any House policy.
   2. A MEMBER has acted in a manner egregiously inconsistent with the tenets of Psi Upsilon or any applicable laws.
   3. A MEMBER has violated these Bylaws or the Psi Upsilon Constitution.
   4. A BROTHER wishes to appeal a fine levied by any Brotherhood entity other than the J-Board.

Section 2: Membership

Law 1: Members

1. The J-Board will be made up of 5 primary members and 2 reserve members.
2. The primary members may recuse themselves from any issue, in which case a reserve member will fulfill their role for that issue.
3. If more than two reserve members are needed, action may be taken by the EC or the Brotherhood.
4. Members of the J-Board must be ACTIVE BROTHERs who do not hold an Office.
5. Any member of the J-Board may resign, in which case, an interim member will be elected to serve the remainder of the term.
6. Any member of the J-Board may be removed by a TWO-THIRDS majority vote.
   1. The BROTHER in question must abstain from the vote.
   2. A replacement will be elected by the procedure in Law 3.

Law 2: Terms of Membership

1. The primary members of the J-Board will serve one-year terms, staggered such that three are replaced in the fall and two are replaced in the spring.
2. The reserve members serve half-year terms and are replaced in both the fall and spring.

Law 3: Elections

1. J-Board elections will be held at the beginning of spring and fall semesters.
2. Nominations will be made by the EC prior to elections. The number of BROTHERs nominated must equal the amount of spots available on the J-Board plus 2.
3. The voting procedure is as follows:
   1. The candidates will be asked to leave the room.
   2. The remaining ACTIVE BROTHERs will constitute the voting body.
   3. With no discussion, each BROTHER in the voting body will vote YES or NO for each candidate.
   4. BROTHERs may instead abstain from the vote.
   5. Any candidate who receives a simple majority of YES votes is eligible to be on the J-Board
   6. Open J-Board positions will be filled, primary positions first, by candidates who received the highest percentage YES votes.
   7. Ties will be resolved by seniority by initiation date.

Section 3: Procedure

Law 1: Jurisdiction and Meetings

1. Any BROTHER may ask the J-Board to consider an issue.
2. The J-Board may refuse to consider an issue unless mandated to by the Bylaws.
   1. A refused issue may still be brought up to the Brotherhood at large.
3. The J-Board must convene as soon as is practical if they have issues to consider.

Law 2: Decisions

1. The J-Board is responsible for collecting evidence and testimony to reach a decision.
2. Decisions of the J-Board are made by SIMPLE majority vote of the 5 primary members or their reserve replacements.
3. Majority and minority opinions will be written to be read at the next Brothers’ Meeting.

Law 3: Sentences

1. The J-Board is granted latitude in sentencing MEMBERs, as long as the sentence does not conflict with these Bylaws or any applicable laws.
2. The J-Board may not SUSPEND or EXPEL any BROTHER, but may bring up motions to do so.
3. The J-Board may place a BROTHER on PROBATION for no longer than one semester.
4. The J-Board may depledge a PLEDGE or suspend that PLEDGE’s PLEDGE status until the next PLEDGE TERM.
5. The J-Board may ban any individual from the Chapter House.
6. A sentence may be reduced by a TWO-THIRDS majority vote.

Article VI: Article V

Law 1: Abscence

1. Article V is intentionally omitted.