We, the members of Psi Phi at Bradley University, in an effort to promote science fiction and fantasy on the Bradley campus, to seek out new forms of science fiction and fantasy, and to share our knowledge of existing science fiction and fantasy genres, including, but not limited to, Star Trek and its spin-offs, do hereby pledge to uphold this Constitution and to boldly go where no one on this campus has gone before.

ARTICLES

I. Officers

Psi Phi is governed by a body of “Senior Officers” consisting of a “Captain” (president), “First Officer” (vice-president), “Communications Officer” (secretary), “Grand Nagus” (treasurer), and “Chief of Operations” (activities chairperson).

The “Chain of Command” and succession of these officers is as follows: Captain, First Officer, Grand Nagus, Chief of Operations, and Communications Officer.

II. Presider

Each meeting and function of Psi Phi shall be presided over by a “Commanding Officer.” The Commanding Officer is, by default, the Captain or a Senior Officer designated by the Captain. In the event that the Captain is absent and has not designated a Commanding Officer, the next officer in the Chain of Command shall become the Commanding Officer for that meeting or function.

III. Membership

Section One, Classes of Membership

There shall be four classes of membership: Bradley, Non-Bradley, Alumni, and Honorary.

Bradley membership is reserved for actively enrolled students at Bradley, or faculty or staff of Bradley, who otherwise meet membership qualifications as specified in this Constitution and the Bylaws.

Alumni membership is reserved for those who had held Bradley membership, but who are no longer associated with Bradley, who otherwise meet membership qualifications as specified in this Constitution and the Bylaws.

Non-Bradley membership is available to all who have no current or former association with Bradley University, or whose association ended before joining Psi Phi, who otherwise meet membership qualifications as specified in this Constitution and the Bylaws.

Unless otherwise specified in this Constitution or a Bylaw, or unless required by Bradley University, these three classes shall have the same rights and responsibilities.

Honorary membership may be bestowed upon anyone not otherwise a member of Psi Phi. Any member may nominate an individual or group to be considered for Honorary membership during New Business. Honorary membership may be considered for any individual or group which has made a significant contribution to the science fiction community, and which has a direct link to Psi Phi. Honorary membership shall be bestowed upon the unanimous approval of the Senior Officers.

Section Two, Levels and Qualifications of Membership

There are also three levels of membership: Prospective, Active, and Inactive.

A Prospective member is one who, having never been an active member, attends one Psi Phi meeting or event in a given semester. Prospective membership lasts until the end of that semester, or until the member is upgraded to Active membership.

An Active member is one who either:

1. having been an Active or Inactive member in a previous semester, attends at least one meeting or event in a given semester; or
2. having been a Prospective member in the current semester, attends at least one additional meeting or event in the current semester;

and who also signs the Psi Phi Log and agrees to uphold this Constitution and the Bylaws of Psi Phi. Active membership lasts until the end of the first meeting of the following semester.

An Inactive member is one who, having been an Active or Inactive member in a previous semester, does not attend any event or meeting in a given semester. Inactive membership lasts until the member is upgraded to Active membership.

Section Three, Termination of Membership

Any membership may be ended by the member informing a Senior Officer of his or her desire to terminate membership.

If any member’s conduct or attitude is found not to be in keeping with Psi Phi’s purpose, Constitution, or Bylaws, his or her membership status may be revoked by a four-fifths majority vote of the Senior Officers and a four-fifths majority vote of all active members except the one whose membership is in question. If at all possible, the person whose membership is in question must be given an audience before all active members prior to the vote. No vote shall be held to revoke a member’s status unless the membership has been notified at least one meeting prior to the vote.

IV. Elections

Section One, Nominations

Nominations shall be held at the meeting prior to any election. Any member present at the meeting may make a nomination. A nomination that is not seconded by another member present is invalid. A nomination is assumed to be accepted if the nominee is present and does not object; a nominee absent from the meeting must be approached and given the chance to accept or decline. Any nomination that is not accepted by the nominee, implicitly or explicitly, is invalid. No person may be nominated for more than three offices.

Section Two, Eligibility

To be eligible to be voted into office, and to be eligible to vote, a person must have: (i) attended at least one meeting or other officially sanctioned event in the current semester, prior to the election meeting; (ii) attended at least one additional meeting in the history of the club, including the current semester; and (iii) signed the Psi Phi Log, or sent to the Communications Officer a statement of intent to sign the Log. Requirement (iii) shall take effect the semester after this Amendment is ratified.

Section Three, Regular Voting Procedure

1. Elections for all offices shall take place at the final meeting of the Fall Semester, and for all offices except the First Officer at the final meeting of the Spring Semester. Any member eligible to vote who is unable to attend this meeting may submit proxy votes to a current officer in a sealed container between nominations and the election; such votes shall have the same weight as votes cast at the election.
2. Each office shall be voted upon in turn, in the following order: Captain, First Officer (if applicable), Communications Officer, Grand Nagus, Chief of Operations, Constable. If there are no eligible candidates for an office, nominations shall be re-opened. In the event that no valid nominations are accepted, the restriction on holding multiple positions shall be lifted for this office, and nominations shall again be opened. Before the vote for each office, the candidates for that office may give up to a two-minute speech. If deemed necessary, the presiding officer shall appoint a timekeeper.
3. Voting shall be conducted by secret instant runoff ballot, except by unanimous consent of the membership present. Write-in votes shall be discarded. Candidates shall be ranked numerically, with “1″ (one) being the highest ranking, “2″ (two) being the second highest, and so on. No ranking shall be used for more than one candidate on a given ballot, and no ranking shall be skipped. A ballot need not have all candidates ranked to be valid. Any candidate who has won an office shall be ineligible for any other office, except as provided for in Subsection B. The Chief of Operations shall tally the votes for all elections. In the event that the Chief of Operations is absent, the presiding officer shall appoint another member to tally the votes. In the event that any member issues a challenge regarding the announced outcome of a particular vote, the highest-ranking officer not running in the disputed race shall verify the results. If any candidate receives a majority of highest rankings, among all ballots which have at least one candidate ranked, that candidate shall be declared the winner.
4. In the event that the vote of all members does not result in a majority for one candidate, unless there is a tie among all who received a vote or a tie for second place, all candidates who received the lowest vote total shall be eliminated, and the votes recounted using the highest-ranked candidate remaining. A proxy vote shall be treated identically to a vote cast at the election. If all ranked choices on a ballot are eliminated, that ballot shall not be counted for any candidate for the remainder of the tallying, but shall still count toward the total for calculating a majority. This subsection shall continue until a candidate receives a majority vote, or until less than half of all ballots remain. If any candidate receives a majority vote, that candidate shall be declared the winner.
5. In the event that no candidate is declared the winner after Subsection D, if at least one candidate was eliminated, a single runoff election shall be taken with the remaining candidates, again following Subsections C and D. If any candidate receives a majority vote, that candidate shall be declared the winner.
6. In the event that the runoff election does not result in a majority for one candidate, or that no candidate was eliminated in the first election, all present Senior Officers shall vote on the remaining candidates in an instant runoff election. If any candidate receives a majority vote, that candidate shall be declared the winner.
7. If the runoff election of the current Senior Officers do not result in a majority for one candidate, then a suitably random and unbiased means of determining the winner shall be selected by the presiding officer.
8. Winning candidates take office after the end of the meeting.

Section Four, Special Rules for First Officer Elections

1. The office of First Officer shall remain vacant in the Fall Semester until the first new member meeting. The provisions of Sections One and Two, and Subsections A and H of Section Three are suspended for this special election, and all other subsections of Section Three may apply as modified by Subsection D of this section.
2. Nominations — A person may be nominated if and only if they are present at the meeting. A nomination must be seconded in order to be valid, and is assumed to be accepted unless the nominee objects.
3. Eligibility — Any person present at the meeting may vote. No proxy votes shall be accepted.
4. Voting Procedure — The provisions of Subsections B through G of Section Three apply, except that proxy votes shall not be accepted. Winning candidates take office immediately.

V. Budget

A budget must be put into effect each semester. The Grand Nagus shall draw up the budget and submit it to the Senior Officers for approval by a four-fifths majority. If rejected, the Grand Nagus must revise the budget until it achieves a four-fifths majority approval by the Senior Officers.

VI. Amendments

Amendments to this Constitution may be submitted by any active member of Psi Phi to the Senior Officers for approval by a four-fifths majority. Once approved, the amendment shall be put to a vote at the next scheduled meeting of Psi Phi that achieves quorum (i.e. at least two thirds of the active membership is present). In order to be ratified, an amendment to the Constitution must achieve a two-thirds majority of active membership present at the aforementioned meeting.

VII. Bylaws

Bylaws for Psi Phi may be submitted by any active member of Psi Phi to the Senior Officers for approval by a simple majority. Once approved, the bylaw shall be put to a vote at the next scheduled meeting of Psi Phi that achieves quorum. In order to be enacted, a bylaw must achieve a simple majority of active membership present at the aforementioned meeting.

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We, the founding Senior Officers of the Science Fiction Club do hereby enact this Constitution on this day, Tuesday, September the Thirteenth, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Four.

  [Christina McVety]     [Robert T. Ray]     [Joseph A. Grabowski]

       Captain            First Officer           Grand Nagus
 Christina M. McVety      Robert T. Ray       Joseph A. Grabowski

       [David Henderson]                [Robert F. Schmanski]

      Chief of Operations              Communications Officer
      David A. Henderson                 Robert F. Schmanski

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AMENDMENT I

Section 1: New Officer

1. The office of “Constable” is hereby created.
2. The Constable shall be given Senior Officer status.
3. The Chain of Command and succession of officers is amended as follows: Captain, First Officer, Grand Nagus, Chief of Operations, Constable, Communications Officer.
4. All sections of the Constitution and Bylaws requiring a “four-fifths” majority approval by the Senior Officers with regard to the passing of a motion, bylaw, amendment, or other procedure are hereby amended to require a “two-thirds” majority approval (four of six officers).

Section 2: Election of Constable

1. The first Constable shall be elected during the session in which this Amendment is ratified, immediately following ratification, according to procedures stated in Article IV of the Constitution. The winning candidate shall assume the office immediately upon election.
2. Future Constables shall be elected before the last meeting of the semester preceding their term, as provided for in Article IV.

Section 3: Powers of Constable

1. The following are powers delegated to the Constable:
   1. The Constable shall have the authority to remove overly disruptive members from a meeting, whenever necessary and appropriate, with a simple majority approval of present members.
   2. The Constable shall have the authority to remove disruptive members from a TV/movie viewing, whenever necessary and appropriate, with a simple majority approval of present members, for such disruptions delineated in Section 1, Article 1 of the Bylaws.
   3. The Constable shall have the authority to relieve the Captain or Commanding Officer of duty, whenever appropriate and with a five-sixths majority approval of the Senior Officers.

Section 4: Duties of Constable

1. The following are duties entrusted to the Constable:
   1. An “armory” shall be created to hold futuristic, sci-fi related weapons (ones allowed on Bradley’s campus) that the club obtains, such as lasers and phasers. The Constable shall maintain the armory and all weapons therein contained, and issue equipment to authorized members.
   2. The Constable shall assist the Captain or Commanding Officer in procuring and securing meeting rooms or TV rooms, whenever necessary and appropriate.
   3. The Constable shall be required to sing the “Letters” song from The Late Show with David Letterman immediately preceding the Captain’s report on the status of incoming mail. (The “Letters” song is sung as follows (with apologies to Worldwide Pants or whoever has the copyright; please don’t sue us): “Letters, we get letters; we get sacks and sacks of letters. Letters!”)
   4. The Constable shall act as the official enforcer of the Captain’s orders, using an official Psi Phi “bapper,” a broken foam bat in the office wrapped in a copy of this Constitution, with which to bap people.
   5. The Constable shall assist the Grand Nagus in guarding the Treasury whenever necessary and appropriate.
   6. The Constable shall present a report regarding security matters at each meeting during the Officers’ Reports.

“My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice to this official record of this day. Everything’s under control. End log.” – Odo, “Necessary Evil”

[Amendment approved by the Senior Officers, 5-0, on February 21, 2001; approved and ratified by active membership, 15-0, on February 28, 2001.]

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