Creighton Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc

Creighton Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. Bylaws

Article I – Name

The name of this organization shall be Sigma Lambda Beta (SLB), hereafter referred to as the fraternity.

Article II – Purpose/Philosophy

Our mission is to nurture and further a dynamic, value-based environment which utilizes our historically Latino based fraternity as a catalyst to better serve the needs and wants of all people.

Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. values fairness, opportunity, and the equality of all men regardless of their race, culture or ethnicity. Our vision is to see that society can realize the importance of this way of life. In working toward this goal, we strive both as individual brothers and as an international organization to model these beliefs by presenting ourselves as educated gentlemen.

Article III – Membership

Members of the Fraternity shall be attained only by selection and initiation in accordance with this Constitution and prescribed Ritual of the Fraternity. Membership shall be restricted to those men who are not initiated of another recognized social fraternity.

*Section 1. Regular membership in this organization shall be open to any full-time student at Creighton University. *Section 2. All active brothers are required to complete Creighton University’s Green Dot training through the VIP center. *Section 3. Membership will be granted regardless of ability, age, citizenship, color, creed, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, physical attributes, race, religion, sexual orientation, social-economic status, or political party affiliation. Members must fulfill all criteria as set forth by Fraternity policy and must also fulfill all criteria set forth by their college or university, as applicable. *Section 4. The status of collegiate members shall be defined as Active Collegiate-Good Standing, Active Collegiate-Poor Standing, Dormant, Alumni, and Inactive. *Section 5. A brother in good standing is current on all paperwork, dues and fees, maintains a term of GPA of 2.5 or above, and meets his institutions requirements for participation in fraternal activities. *Section 6. A brother in poor standing is either delinquent in paperwork, fees, dues, has a previous term GPA below a 2.50/4.0, or some combination thereof. Therefore, said brother becomes ineligible to attend the convention to House of Delegates. Based on the by-laws of his collegiate chapter or colony a brother in poor standing may lose rights D-G as delineated in section 2.3 of this Constitution. In order to be classified as Active Collegiate-Good Standing, all paperwork, dues and fees must be made current. *Section 7. A brother is dormant if he does not meet his institutions requirements for participation in fraternal activities or is not currently present on campus. Therefore, said brother is ineligible to attend the convention of the House of Delegates. Based on the by-laws of his collegiate chapter or colony a dormant brother may lose rights D-G as delineated in section 2.3 of this Constitution. Dormant brothers are still responsible for membership dues unless otherwise determined by the appropriate Executive Office staff member. *Section 8. A brother who has failed to pay dues for two (2) consecutive periods will be considered inactive. An inactive brother shall not have any of the rights granted to brothers by this Constitution. To be reinstated as an active brother, past due balances accrued, not exceeding two (2) semester's worth of dues, during periods of inactivity must be made current. *Section 9. If a member is on internship, co-op, or study abroad and receiving academic credit for the experience, then he may request dormant status.

Article IV – Officers

*Section 1. Officers of the organization shall be as follows: A) Executive Board a. President b. Vice-President c. Secretary d. Treasurer B) Chairs a. Scholarship Chair b. Cultural Awareness Chair c. Community Service Chair d. Brotherhood/Social Chair e. Recruitment Chair f. Inter-Fraternal Council Representative(s) g. Dance Marathon Representative h. Stroll Master i. Public Relations/Communications Chair j. Membership Educator i. Assistant Membership Educator(s) *Section 2. Officers of the organization shall be elected in the Spring semester by a majority vote of a quorum of the organization. – see Article IX *Section 3. Duties of Officers: A) President – shall preside over all meetings, conduct all meetings, conduct all official organization business, and may co-sign checks. 2

B) Vice-President – shall, in the absence of or when delegated by the President, preside over chapter meetings and conduct official organization business. He may co-sign checks. This officer is also expected to check-in with all chairs in order to assist with their programming. C) Secretary – shall keep all minutes and records for the organization. As well as, manage the fraternity calendar and agenda. D) Treasurer – shall be responsible for keeping records of all financial matters. He shall also co-sign all checks with the President or Vice-President. E) Public Relations – shall be responsible for the advertising and promotion of events, as well as serve as a liaison between the organization and the community. F) Recruitment Chair -- shall be in charge of preparing/organizing events leading up to recruitment week, meeting the goals of doing as much outreach to bring interests. G) Educational Chair – shall be in charge of teaching the interests the history and values of the fraternity, as well as being in charge of the academic progress of our members. a. If a member receives a previous term GPA, the member must attend study hours as specified by the Scholarship chair. Being late or failure to attend is met with a five dollar fine. H) Community Service – shall be in charge of finding opportunities for the fraternity to give back, whether that be on campus, or off, as well as putting together the weekly bonding/brotherhood events. I) IFC representative – shall act as liaison between the fraternity and the University’s North American Interfraternity Council.

Article V – Chapter Meetings

*Section 1. A regularly scheduled chapter meeting shall be held weekly. Additional meetings may be called by the officers or any of the members when the need arises. *Section 2. Letters will be worn on Wednesdays when class is in session. Exceptions may be given by the Scholarship chair. *Section 3. A quorum shall consist of all members, with exception of excused absences. *Section 4. A quorum shall be present in order for any official business to be conducted.

Official business shall include elections of the officers and any other major decisions affecting the organization.

Article VI – Committees

The officers of the organization shall have authority to create any committees, standing or special that will further the purposes of the organization. A few of the committees we have within our organization include: A. Beta Week Committee B. Recruitment Committee C. Dance Marathon D. Relay for Life

Article VII – Finances

*Section 1. Any necessary dues shall be determined by the regional director/staff *Section 2. If the organization dissolves any accumulated funds will be used to benefit the fraternity for future events/goals *Section 3. The members of the Fraternity are subject to the following fees: A. Induction Fee; B. Initiation Fee; and C. College Membership Dues, which includes the semester dues from Headquarters and the $50 dues for the entity each semester D. Other fees that may be set by the Board upon approval by the entity a. Dues must be submitted to the entity one week prior to the date that is set by headquarters. *Section 4. Members that do not pay dues within the appropriate time frame are subject to disciplinary actions/suspensions from fraternity activities (i.e. voting rights, rituals, brotherhood events) A. Disciplinary actions are to be determined by the executive board.

Article VIII – Parliamentary Authority

The parliamentary authority shall be current editions of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

Article IX – Elections

*Section 1. All nominated officers must have dues paid and be in good academic Standing with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. *Section 2. For any fraternity member to be eligible to vote, He must have dues paid, and be in good standing. *Section 3. In order for elections to be held, quorum must be met. *Section 4. The President and Secretary are to count the votes. If either chair is up for re-election, a third party must be present when counting votes. *Section 5. Newly elected members of the Executive Board and Chairs shall be installed the first meeting following elections. Their term shall last until the next Executive Board and Chairs is installed. 4

*Section 6. Any member of the Executive Board or Chairs may be removed from office upon the majority vote of the entity, exclusive of any member thereof who may be the subject of the removal action. Removal shall be for incapacity to carry out the responsibilities of office, but such action to vote on removing a member may be taken only after written charges have been offered and after the person named in such charges has had an opportunity to be heard in his own defense. * Section 7. In the event of a vacancy in the Executive Board or Chairs, the President shall immediately call a meeting of the Board and Chairs to elect his successor. Any member of the Board and Chairs can be elected to the position with a majority vote of the Board and Chairs. Any other vacancy on the Board and Chairs shall be filled by appointment, with approval by the majority of the Board and Chairs. If necessary, the President may open the vote to the entire entity. The person so appointment/election to any one position shall assume the title, duties and responsibility and serve the unexpired term of his predecessor until the next regular election.

Article X – Amendments

*Section 1. All amendments to this constitution require notice of 1 week prior to being discussed and voted upon. This constitution may only be altered, amended, or repealed and replaced with a new constitution by a two-thirds (⅔) affirmative vote of the Board and Chairs where quorum is established. *Section 2. All amendments require an 80% vote of a quorum for adoption. *Section 3. Amendments become effective immediately. *Section 4. Anything presented to the fraternity during the Fall/Spring retreat(s), to be voted/discussed on, will be exempted to the one (1) week waiting period and can be voted on the same day.

Article XI – Accountability

*Section 1. All members are to be on time to chapter meetings. Those who do not comply with this element of timeliness are subject to a $5 (USD) issued by the chapter. Those who are absent to chapter meetings are subject to $20 (USD) by the chapter. If a member is expected to be tardy or be absent, a notice of at least 24 hours is required. *Section 2. All members who do not meet the required ten hours of community service are subject to a $7 (USD) fine per hour not reported. *Section 3. All members are required to attend the mandatory bi-monthly stroll practice. Those who do not attend said practices are subject to a $5 (USD) fine per session missed. *Section 4. All members are required to attend the scheduled fraternity events. All members are to be on time to committed and scheduled events. Those who 5

do not comply with this element of timeliness are subject to a $5 (USD) issued by the chapter. Those who do not attend said events are subject to a $20 (USD) fine per event missed. If a member is expected to be tardy or be absent, a notice of at least 24 hours is required. *Section 5. On the first colony meeting of the month and when a guest is present during any colony meeting, members will dress in business casual attire. Violations of these guidelines will be met with a $5 (USD). *Section 6. The use of any profane language during the active minutes of a chapter meeting will be subject to a $1 (USD) per profane word. *Section 7. A member can choose to fulfill an additional service hour per $5 USD owed to fines. A pillar event curated by a member can suffice up to $20 (USD) worth of fines.

Members can be granted amnesty from fines by the chair head or brother in charge of the fineable event.

Article XII- Dissolution

In the event that the Fraternity becomes dissolved, all proceeds and wealth which the Fraternity may have accrued over its lifetime will be donated to the Sigma Lambda Beta Education Foundation.

Article XIII-Risk Management

*Section 1. No individual member shall conduct hazing activities. Hazing activities are defined as: Any action taken or situation created that results in short-term or long-term mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule. Such activities may include, but are not limited to, the use of alcohol, paddling in any form, creation of excessive fatigue, physical or psychological shocks, wearing public apparel which is conspicuous and/or not normally in good taste, engaging in public stunts, activities or games that are morally degrading or humiliating and any other activities which are not consistent with fraternal law, ritual, policy, or regulations and policies of the educational institution. Additionally, all members and entities are subject to their local, state and federal laws.

*Section 2. No individual member shall conduct bullying activities. Bullying activities are defined as: the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual with one element being the perception, by the aggressor or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power.

*Section 3. No individual member shall conduct any form of sexually abusive behavior, whether physical or emotional. This includes any actions which are demeaning to other persons including, but not limited to, stalking, verbal harassment, and any form of sexual assault. Such behavior will not be tolerated.

*Section 4. All functions that will contain alcohol are subject to strict monitoring by predetermined sober brothers. These brothers will be chosen and verified by the discretion of the risk management chair and executive team.

*Section 5. Any brother who suspects or witnesses malicious behavior from a brother or any individual in attendance at a particular event, is required to report said behavior to the risk management chair. This information will be divulged to the executive team and proper disciplinary action shall be taken in response. Such action includes warnings, probation or membership termination.

*Section 6. Individuals traveling for a fraternity banquet, meeting, conference or event are required to submit a detailed itinerary to the risk management chair. Individuals are also required to abide by university travel policy.