[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Well, that would be true maybe with your organization, but I can speak to Sigma Nu in that if the bylaws were voted to be suspended for that purpose or they were changed and deemed retroactive, our President decides all points of law and order, so procedurally, that'd work. I can only speak for my own group though.

Also, whether they could do that might depend on their HQ governing documents or some rules which they're not allowed to suspend. Robert's rules, however, and most bylaws provide for a suspension of the rules or a suspension of a bylaw if you have enough votes to pull it off. Documents need to be flexible enough to give structure while not holding the organization back as a whole.

The problem with being chartered in 2004 is that they likely don't have much of an alumni support network. As a founding member of my chapter, I remember exactly what our advisory group looked like when our chapter was 6 years old. We had one chapter adviser, who did a terrific job, but probably wasn't the strongest or best person to ask how to resolve issues under the bylaws.

Now, whether you should lower your standards is a whole 'nother discussion. We're social organizations, not academic honors societies, but GPA requirements being met and performance as a whole do correlate. Being chartered in 2004, they have the luxury of not being able to bring down the wrath of the alumni which would definitely happen in my nearly 11 year old chapter (as in the last 3 years, we've put together some pretty cohesive and organized alumni entities) and maybe lowering standards would be a good temporary fix if they do some real work to address their academic deficiencies.

And that is why I said "may not have an option" and "shouldn't." Your experience as a Sigma Nu may not be applicable. The second paragraph of your post is important. The other consideration is that recruitment is a big job. Causing a member who is already struggling academically to threaten his education by taking on such a huge position is irresponsible. To pretend that being a social organization means they have no responsibilities academically is ridiculous.