Members of the Society shall be divided into four classes: Regular Members, Probationary Members, AssociateMembers, and Honorary Members.

All students in the regular enrollment at Union College who have demonstrated by attendance and participation during a probationary period that they are worthy of Regular Membership in the Society in accordance with its purposes as set forth in the Preamble to this Constitution, who have presented an acceptable Probationary presentation as set forth in Article VI of the By-Laws, and no other persons, shall be eligible for Regular Membership in the Society.

All students in regular enrollment at Union College shall be eligible for Probationary Membership in the Society.

Any Honored Guest, who is deemed to have shown definitive interest in the Society, and who has attended no fewer than three meetings in the current academic term, shall be offered Probationary Membership in the Society, provided that a four-fifths majority of the Regular Membership approves. The Honored Guest then has one week to accept membership.

Probationary Members shall have all the rights and privileges of the Hall, except

Associate Members of the Society shall have all the privileges of Regular Members except that

Honorary Membership shall be reserved for those who are not students at Union College and who have rendered significant service to the Society. Honorary Members shall be elected by the signed approval of four-fifths of the Regular Members of the Society. Honorary Members must sign the roll.

Induction Regular Membership shall be conducted according to the ritual adopted by the Society, except that the following shall always be included initiation of Regular Members:

I, _______________, a student of Union College, holding it to be true that opinions springing out of solitary observation and reflection can only benefit from debate; that the faculties o f the mind are excited by collision; that friendships are cemented, errors corrected, and sound principles established by society and intercourse, and especially in a country where all are free to profess and, by argument, maintain their opinions; that the powers of debate should be sedulously cultivated - therefore associate myself with the Philomathean Society of Union College. In becoming a member of this Society, I pledge myself to conform to its regulations and cherish its prosperity."

After induction, the initiated Regular Member shall sign the roll.

Any Member shall be subject to expulsion from the Society for any cause deemed sufficient by the Society, provided that in every case due notice and opportunity for defense shall have been given to the offending Member, and that four-fifths of the Regular Membership shall vote for expulsion.

The resignation from the Society of any Member shall be made in writing to the Secretary and shall be effective one week after its receipt.

All Regular Members in good standing may hold office and vote in all elections of officers. There shall be no absentee ballots.

The elective Officers of the Society shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The regular period of office shall be three trimesters. No member shall hold more than one of these offices at one time, unless the Executive Committee deems it necessary by unanimous consent.

A. President

The President shall preside over all the meetings of the Society, shall preserve order and decorum, shall construe and enforce the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society, shall appoint the Parliamentarian, t he Committees of the Society as provided for in the By-Laws, and all other officers pro tempore, and shall perform all the duties pertaining to the office.

B. Vice-President

The Vice-President shall serve as the Chairman of the Program Committee, schedule guest speakers, and in the absence of the President shall occupy the chair and exercise all functions of the presiding officer. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Vice-President to call the roll and keep a record of all absentees.

C. Secretary

The Secretary shall keep the minutes of each meeting of the Society, and carefully preserve an account of the proceedings of the Society and all its records and documents. He or she shall also perform all to her duties incident to the office of recording secretary.

D. Treasurer

The Treasurer shall collect and take charge of all funds of the Society. The Treasurer shall not make authorized disbursements exceeding the sum of sixty dollars, unless directly authorized to do so by the Society.

The Treasurer shall keep, in a book provided for that purpose, a careful and minute account of all receipts collected and disbursements made by the Treasurer for the Society. This book shall be open at all times to the inspection of any Member of the Society at all reasonable times, and it shall be transmitted to the Executive Committee for auditing at times provided for in the By-Laws of the Society.

The Treasurer shall at every meeting of the Society report to the President the names of, and object to the assignment of the floor to, all Members who are subject to the provisions of the By-Laws with reference to failure to pay any fees, dues, fines or assessments.

If he or she deems it necessary, the President may appoint a Historian, who shall hold office until the appointment of a successor.

The Historian shall prepare a chronicle of the activities of the Society during the Historian's session in office and shall submit this chronicle to the Society at the last regular meeting of the Society of the session.

B. Keeper

The Keeper shall perform all duties consistent with the preparation and maintenance of the Hall for regular and special meetings.

If he or she deems it necessary, the President shall appoint a Probationary Chairman, who shall hold office until the appointment of a successor.

The Probationary Chairman shall act as intermediary between the Regular and Probationary Members, and to schedule, supervise, and present Probationary presentations. The Chairman and the Probationary Committee shall discuss the topic, content, and procedure of the presentation with the Probationary Members. In addition, if there exists a Probationary Committee (see Article III of the By-Laws), the Probationary Chairman shall chair the Probationary Committee.

If he or she deems it necessary, the President shall appoint a Membership Chairman, who shall hold office until the appointment of a successor.

The Membership Chairman shall present the recommendations of candidates for Probationary Membership to the Society. In addition, if there exists a Membership Committee (see Article III of the By-Laws), the Membership Chairman shall chair the Membership Committee.

If he or she deems it necessary, the President shall appoint a Parliamentarian, who shall hold office until the appointment of a successor.

The Parliamentarian shall advise the President as to parliamentary procedure upon the request of the President or that of any Regular Member of the Society. In addition, the Parliamentarian shall advise the President in matters of construction of this Constitution and of the By-Laws of the Society.

The election of officers of the Society shall be by secret written ballot which shall be collected and counted by two tellers appointed and assisted by the President.

Candidates for elected offices shall have the opportunity for a three-minute speech followed by a mandatory three-minute question and answer period. Following the speeches and question and answer periods of all candidates, there shall be a maximum of ten minutes allotted for speeches in response to the candidates of no more than two minutes each.

A simple majority of the votes cast, a quorum being present, shall be sufficient to elect. If this majority be not obtained on the first ballot, the candidate with the least number of votes shall be dropped, and the Society shall proceed to another ballot. This process shall be continued until one candidate shall have obtained a majority of the votes cast.

The result of the election shall then be transmitted by the tellers in writing to the President, who shall announce the result to the floor. Ample opportunity shall be allowed for a demand for a recount, after which the ballots shall be destroyed by the tellers. There shall be no further balloting for that office.

The election for the position of President shall be held first, followed in order by the positions of Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

The retiring President shall administer the following oath (or affirmation) to his successor before relinquishing to him or her the office of President:

"Do you solemnly swear (or affirm) upon your honor, and in the presence of this Society, that you will faithfully execute the duties of the office to which you have been elected?"

The new President shall then administer the same oath (or affirmation) to each of the other newly elected officers.

Should a vacancy occur in any of the elected offices of the Society, such a vacancy shall be fulfilled by the Society not later than the next meeting following the formal announcement of such vacancy.

Any elected officer of the Society shall be subject to removal from office for insufficient consideration or neglect of duty and/or misconduct in office; provided that in every case due opportunity for defense shall be given. For such removal, a three-fourths vote of the Regular Members of the Society present and voting shall be necessary; provided that in every case, three-fourths of the votes cast shall be a majority of the Regular Membership at the time.

Appointed officers shall be removed for causes deemed sufficient by a three-fourths vote of the Executive Committee.

Resignation from office in the Society shall be made in writing to the President. Resignation from the office of President shall be made in writing to the Vice-President and to the Secretary.

The Society shall have the power:

By-Laws not contrary to this Constitution shall become part of the governing rules of the Society when they have been submitted in writing to the Secretary, have been read at two consecutive regular meetings of the Society, and have been passed by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the quorum present, provided that the number of Regular Members voting constitutes at least one-half of the total active Regular Membership. The Secretary shall keep a record of all such by-laws.

Amendments to, and revisions of, this Constitution shall become effective, and this Constitution shall be by them altered or revised, when such amendments or revisions have been submitted in writing to the Secretary, have been read at one consecutive regular meetings of the Society, and have then been passed by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the Regular Members present, provided that the number of Regular Members voting constitutes a quorum of the total active Regular Membership.

A convention can be called by the full membership if it is deemed that revisions to the Constitution are necessary. The convention shall be of a time and place acceptable to the entire Regular Membership.

BY-LAWS

The Society shall meet regularly each week during the academic year on a set evening at a convenient hour; the day of the meeting shall be selected by a two-thirds vote of the Regular Members. The day of the meeting during the week shall be subject to change, or a meeting may be canceled, by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, subject to the approval of the Regular Membership. Unless otherwise decided by the Society in accordance with this sect on, the Society shall meet at 7:29 p.m. on Fridays when classes are in session in the College in the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms.

A special meeting may be called by the President at any time he deems it necessary. It shall also be the duty of the President to call a special meeting when requested in writing to do so by five Regular Members. If the President fails to call a special meeting when so requested, a quorum of Regular Members may call a special meeting. Notice of a special meeting shall be posted plainly in a location seen clearly by all regular membership at least forty-eight hours before the designated time for the special meeting. The notice shall state the following: the date, time, and place of the special meeting; the purpose of the special meeting; and by whose authority the special meeting was called. The notice s hall remain posted until the time designated for the special meeting.

One-half of the Regular Members in good standing of the Society shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business, unless otherwise provided in the Constitution of the Society, provided that t he Regular Membership in good standing be thirty or less; but when the Regular Membership is above that number, one-third of such Membership shall constitute a quorum.

B. Regular Membership shall be construed as follows:

The Vice-President shall keep a record of all Regular Members and shall report the total Regular Membership in good standing to the President or presiding officer at such times as there is a call for a quorum by a Regular Member in good standing.

At the first meeting attended of each academic semester, each Member of the Society shall sign his or her name in the roll of the Society, together with the State, Territory, Commonwealth, or Country of his o r her residence and the date of such signing; all persons elected to Membership in the Society shall likewise sign this roll. The roll shall be so kept as to distinguish Probationary and Regular Members. Members of each academic year shall be distinguished from those of every other year. At the head of the roll shall be inscribed that part of the initiation ritual required by Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution.

Probationary Members shall pay dues of five dollars per term due three weeks after becoming a Probationary Member. Regular Members shall pay dues of ten dollars per term due three weeks after the signing of the Regular roll. Failure to pay by the fourth meeting shall result in an additional fee of ten dollars being added to Probationary or Regular dues. Associate Members shall be exempt from all fees and dues, but not from fines and assessment; Associate M embers may pay Regular Member's dues of ten dollars to earn the additional privileges in Article I, Section 1, subsection c of the Constitution. There are optional dues of five dollars per term for refreshments.

The Society may levy additional fees, by a two-thirds vote, to cover any operating deficit or extraordinary expense in a given trimester.

A. Failure to Pay

Any Member shall automatically lose the privileges of his Membership, including the privileges of the floor, for failure to pay any fees, dues, fines or assessments within three weeks after they become due. Dues become so three weeks after the first meeting attended of each trimester. In the absence of payment or appeal within two weeks thereafter, the name of the Member shall be stricken from the roll at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to report to the Executive Committee the absence of any Member from two-thirds of the trimester's meetings of the Society.

Drunkenness is considered not only disruptive, but more importantly dishonorable. It is expected that due to the high standards of the Society this will never become an issue. In the unfortunate event t hat it does occur, appropriate fines and/or suspension of Hall privileges will be meted according to the procedure established for removal in Article II, Section 7, paragraph 1.

Any member not subject to any fee, due, fine, or penalty under this article shall be deemed a Member in Good Standing.

There shall be the following Standing Committees; provided that there is sufficient membership, desire, and need:

The Vice-President shall be Chairman of the Program Committee and the Correspondence and Publicity Committee. The Chairman shall appoint two other members subject to ratification by two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

It shall be the duty of the Committee to arrange a suitable program for the meetings of the Society. Each program shall be announced at least one week before the time at which it is to be presented. In the arrangement of the program, the Committee shall be guided by its own discretion and by the purposes of the Society, expressed in the Preamble to the Constitution. Upon objection to any program, it may be changed by a majority vote of those present when the program is announced.

The Correspondence and Publicity Committee shall be composed of two members, the Chairman and an appointee of the Chairman subject to ratification by two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

It shall be the duty of this Committee to publish the Society's newsletter, to have charge of the relations between the Society and its alumni, and to publicize selected speakers and events of the Society.

The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The Historian, the Probationary Chairman, the Chairman of the Membership, and the Keeper shall also be on this Committee; provided that any of these positions are filled.

Besides performing the duties elsewhere delegated to it, this Committee shall act as an advisory body and shall consider all matters of interest to the Society. It shall have the power to bring upon the floor measures which it believes the Society should consider. Its functions, however, should not conflict with those of other regular committees.

The Membership Committee shall be composed of the Chairman and three other members appointed by the Chairman subject to ratification by two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

It shall be the duty of this Committee to investigate such men and women as it has reason to think are interested in Society membership and who would enrich the Society by their participation, to receive applications for Probationary Membership, an d to arrange for each application to be interviewed by a panel of Regular and Associate Members. No applicant shall be interviewed more than once each term for each class of Probationary Members. The Membership Committee shall consider the advice of such panels, and will present in a non-binding report at the next business meeting of the Society the names of those men and women whom it recommends for such Membership.

The reports of the Membership Committee, including both majority and minority reports in the case of a division, shall be endorsed on each application, and the application placed in the hands of the Historian to be kept among the records of the Society.

It shall also be the duty of the Committee to consider the eligibility of each Probationary Member for Regular Membership, and to report at an appropriate meeting of the Society its recommendations as to his/her candidacy not later than one trimester after the date of his/her acceptance of Probationary Membership.

The Historical Committee shall be composed of two members, one of whom shall be the Historian of the Society; the other member shall be appointed by the Chairman subject to ratification by two-thirds of the Executive Committee. The Historian of the Society shall always be Chairman of the Committee.

One task of this Committee shall be to maintain the Society's computer files, which shall included a current copy of the Constitution, By-Laws, Standing Rules, and other such records as the Society may require. Another task of this Committee shall be to maintain a pictorial record of the term's events. The additional members of this Committee shall otherwise assist the Historian in the fulfillment of the Historian's duties.

This Committee shall undertake any research work that it or the Society may desire and shall preserve such contemporary material of interest, as it shall deem advisable.

The Historical Committee can also enlist the assistance of Probationary Members who will do research in the archives on the history of the Society. A Probationary will give a report at two meetings of the Society on this research and if deemed sufficient by the Historian and the Probationary Chairman, this will count towards the service project requirement.

The Probationary Committee shall be composed of the Chairman and three additional members appointed by the Chairman subject to ratification by two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

The Probationary Committee shall discuss the topic, content, and procedure of the Probationary presentation with the Probationary Members.

The President of the Society shall be a member ex-officio of all Committees. There shall be no ex-officio members appointed or named. Ex-officio members shall have no vote.

The President, or, in his absence, the Chairman of the relevant committee, shall appoint such other committees as he/she shall see fit, and such as are authorized by the Society.

Any member of an appointive committee may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee from his or her office for neglect of duty, or for any other cause deemed sufficient.

All meetings shall be conducted according to the ritual adopted by the Society, provided that the procedure outlined in the Philomathean Society Rules of Order is not violated.

When the hall votes on any resolution or motion, two types of votes shall be admissible, except in the case of election voting (Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution). These shall be votes in the affirmative or the negative. An abstention shall be defined as the lack of a vote. Therefore, they shall not be counted in the determination of a majority.

It is expected that the entire membership, and all others present in the hall, shall show proper respect for the Society. Thus, the following dress code shall be adhered to:

At the second meeting in each Presidential term, the Treasurer shall submit a written report, which shall be read before the Society, and if accepted, be spread on the minutes. At the last meeting of each session he shall report the financial standing of the Society and the names of all Members who have not paid their dues, which report is also to be spread upon the minutes and to be re-read at the first meeting of the succeeding session.

The accounts of the Treasurer are to be audited under the direction of the Executive Committee once a term, to be decided by the President. The books, voucher, etc. are to be turned over to the President for safekeeping.

No member of the Society, acting in any capacity, may obligate the funds of the Society without the express authorization of the Treasurer, acting within his power to make disbursements.

The Society shall honor all obligations legally incurred in its name by its Members, but must assess against any Member any amount to which he obligates the funds of the Society without approval, unless the disbursement is subsequently ratified by the Society.

No Member shall be required to make any speech, participate in any debate, or give any reading or dramatic presentation to retain his or her active membership privileges.

Each Probationary Member shall present a non-memorized Probationary presentation to the Regular Membership. Acceptance of such presentation shall be a prerequisite to Regular Membership.

The Probationary Member must begin each presentation with the following address: "Mr. President, Members of the Society, Fellow Probationaries and Honored Guests." If a Probationary fails to address the Hall as stated at the beginning of the speech, the result will be automatic failure.

The Probationary presentation requirement may be satisfied by completing any one of the following:

If the Probationary Member wishes to utilize the debate procedure, he must contact the Probationary Chairman at least one week prior to the presentation, indication that he wishes to debate. The Probationary Member shall attempt to secure a volunteer from the Regular or Associate Membership to debate the Probationary Member. The topic of the resolution to be debated will be chosen by the volunteer from the Regular or Associate Membership. Volunteers may debate only once on the same resolution each trimester.

The Probationary Member may not bring any prepared materials to the debate, but he may refer to notes taken while the volunteer Member is speaking.

The Chairman will cite rules of procedure 1 through 5 for a Probationary debate listed in Article IV, Section 2, part b of the By-Laws immediately prior to such a debate.

Prior to the beginning of a Probationary presentation, the President shall appoint a critic from the Regular or Associate Membership. The critic shall listen to the presentation and observe the speaker carefully and at the conclusion of the presentation shall render a constructive critique; the critique shall also recommend to the Regular Membership that the presentation be accepted or rejected.

Critiques of Probationary presentations shall be limited to the initial critique; followed by a maximum of five speakers from the Regular Membership, each of whom shall be limited to three minutes total time, except where debate is extended by a two-thirds vote of the Regular Members present and voting.

Following the critique and any pertinent discussion, the Regular Membership shall vote on the question: shall the presentation be accepted? A majority of two-thirds of those voting, a quorum being present, shall be required for the acceptance of a Probationary presentation. The Probationary Member in question shall not be present for the vote.

If the presentation is rejected, the vote count shall be revealed by the President upon the request of any Regular Member or of the Probationary speaker.

The rejection of a Probationary presentation shall be without prejudice. Another presentation on the same or different topic may be made during the trimester, as scheduled by the Probationary Chairman.

Unexcused failure to present a Probationary presentation at such time as is scheduled by the Probationary Chairman shall bar the Probationary Member involved from making any Probationary presentations during that trimester.

Probationary presentations shall be upon any subject capable of stimulation of intellect.

Shelby Grant-President

Alexander Beckers-Vice President

Kevin Olds-Secretary/Treasurer

Frederick Ulrich-Probationary Chairman

Samuel Cousins-Member in Good Standing