Panhellenic Education The NPC UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS

1. Panhellenic Education The NPC UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS

2. Central to the National Panhellenic Conference are its UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS. • These procedures and ethics have been agreed to unanimously by all 26 comprising groups, as ratified by the Inter/National President of each group. • Every collegian and alumna is expected to abide by and honor the UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS.

3. These are not items to be voted upon by any College Panhellenic Association – they are to automatically be integrated into the Association’s Bylaws. They are non-negotiable! • These agreements ensure the orderly and equitable conduct of the NPC groups in their relationships and dealings with each other, while setting forth the rights of each as private, voluntary, social organizations.

4. “... The title ‘Unanimous Agreement’ is a reflection of the basic trust and respect for each member of the Panhellenic. ... the strength, the backbone of the Panhellenic, lies in the concept of the Unanimous Agreements.” -- Mary Ann Carroll, NPC Delegate, Chi Omega (1972)

5. The NPC Unanimous Agreements • The Panhellenic Creed • Perhaps your College Panhellenic (CPH) says this at the start of its meetings? We, as Undergraduate Members of women’s fraternities, stand for good scholarship, for guarding of good health, for maintenance of fine standards, and for serving, to the best of our ability, our college community. Cooperation for furthering fraternity life, in harmony with its best possibilities, is the ideal that shall guide our fraternity activities. We, as Fraternity Women, stand for service through the development of character inspired by the close contact and deep friendship of individual fraternity and Panhellenic life. The opportunity for wide and wise human service, through mutual respect and helpfulness, is the tenet by which we strive to live.

6. Jurisdiction of Panhellenic Associations 1. College Panhellenic Associations Highlights … • The administrative body of a CPH Association is the CPH Council, composed of the delegates of each individual NPC group on campus. • A College Panhellenic Council cannot infringe upon the rights or sovereignty of the individual NPC fraternities. For example, they cannot require a specific grade point average for membership, nor can they lower Quota as a punishment.

7. Except in routine matters, the CPH cannot act unless upon vote of the delegate body following consultation with their respective organizations. The ONLY votes cast in CPH is one per member group. So if there are 5 member groups of the CPH, then only 5 votes are cast on any issue. If there is a tie … there is NO TIE BREAKER. The CPH President does not cast the deciding vote. The motion simply fails to pass.

8. 2. Alumnae Panhellenic Associations Highlights … • An Alumnae Panhellenic (APH) Association is a community-based organization, affiliated with National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). • Membership in an APH is open to any alumna woman of the 26 national sorority/women’s fraternities that belong to the NPC.

9. The Panhellenic Compact Highlights … • Once a woman is initiated into an NPC group she is ineligible for membership in another. • A bid for membership accepted by a woman is binding for one year. • Bids for membership shall not be extended during school recesses.

10. The Panhellenic Compact Highlights … • Once a woman is initiated into an NPC group she is ineligible for membership in another. • A signed Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement (MRABA) from formal recruitment is binding. If a PNM signs this, receives a bid for membership, and she declines it, she is ineligible to be pledged to another NPC group on that campus for one year. • Bids for membership shall not be extended during school recesses.

11. Standards of Ethical Conduct Highlights … • All undergraduate & alumnae members of each NPC group should respect & obey the spirit & letter of the NPC UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS. • Members should avoid disparaging remarks about other fraternity women. • No bid promising to potential members !!!!! • Avoid negative publicity on Panhellenic matters. • NPC supports all efforts to eliminate hazing.

12. Agreement on Extension Highlights … • NPC considers it unethical for a member group to establish a chapter at a university without the school’s CPH Council’s affirmative vote. • Strict guidelines exist regarding the contact that a NPC group, staff, volunteers, alumnae, etc. can have with college administrators and students. • Any colony of an NPC organization shall be a Provisional member of the CPH Association and shall conform to the rules, regulations, etc. of the CPH. When the colony is installed as a chapter, they shall assume Regular membership in the CPH Association.

13. College Panhellenic Association Agreement 1. Establishment & Regulation of a College Panhellenic Association Highlights … • A CPH Association is to be established on any campus where 2 or more NPC groups have chapters. • When an NPC colony is installed as a chapter, that chapter becomes a Regular member of the CPH. • Each installed NPC chapter has one vote in the CPH. • An NPC chapter does not have the right or authority to withdraw from the campus CPH Association, nor can the CPH “expel” a chapter from the CPH Association.

14. 2. Establishment & Regulation of Membership Recruitment Highlights … • Each CPH shall establish rules governing membership recruitment activities. • Each NPC group always has the right to COB to reach Quota (if applicable) even if they exceed Total in doing so. • Alcohol and the participation of men are prohibited in membership recruitment and Bid Day activities. • All members … collegians, alumnae, and new members … are bound to abide by the CPH’s recruitment rules. • A potential new member should always sign a binding agreement of membership (regardless of the recruitment style).

15. 3. Preferential Bidding Highlights … • “Preferential Bidding” is a system used at the conclusion of recruitment to match sororities’ and PNMs’ preferences. This would involve the signing by PNMs of the Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement and bid matching. • “When a woman receives a bid under the Preferential System, the signing of the Membership Acceptance is binding to the extent she shall be considered ineligible for one calendar year to accept a bid from any other NPC fraternity on the same campus. However, she may be repledged by the same NPC fraternity chapter at any time within that calendar year.”

16. 4. Continuous Open Bidding (COB) Highlights … • Upon accepting a bid for membership, a Continuous Open Bidding Acceptance Agreement must be filed for the new member with the campus Fraternity/Sorority Life Office or similar administrator.

17. College Panhellenic Association Judicial Procedure 1. Judicial Board Highlights … • Each CPH Association is to have established a Judicial Board for the limited purpose of handling member group infractions of the NPC UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS, CPH Constitution and/or Bylaws, membership recruitment rules, CPH Code of Ethics, and/or any established CPH rules. • The composition & duties of the Judicial Board should be defined in your CPH’s Bylaws.

18. 2. Judicial Process Overview Highlights … • NPC members & organizations are strongly encouraged to resolve alleged infractions through informal discussion with the involved parties. • Should this be unsuccessful, then the Judicial Process would be set in motion with the filing of a CPH Violation Report. • The Violation Report must be filed within 30 days of the alleged incident (including weekends & school breaks). • A Violation Report can be filed only against a chapter, not any individual(s).

19. Filing of a Violation Report leads to a Mediation meeting. • The purpose of Mediation is to find a solution agreeable to both the group which filed the infraction and the accused group. • The NPC Judicial Process is a very formalized process. For the particulars of the process, refer to the “Judicial Procedures” chapter of the NPC Manual of Information and contact your chapter’s College Panhellenic Coordinator for assistance.

20. Agreement on Questionnaires Questionnaires, oral & written, shall not be answered until they have been reviewed by NPC Headquarters. • This is to ensure that both Tri Sigma’s and our sisters’ rights to privacy are protected. • Should you become aware of a survey or questionnaire being distributed to or requested of the NPC women on campus, immediately contact your chapter’s College Panhellenic Coordinator.

21. NPC Declaration of Freedom Preservation of freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution and in the the Guarantee of Rights & Freedoms of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms. • Reaffirmation of right to peaceful assembly and freedom of association.

22. Protecting the Right of NPC Members to Remain Women-Only Organizations The purpose of this newest NPC UA (2011) is to protect the single-sex status of organizations such as Sigma Sigma Sigma and all NPC groups. This is a legal protection afforded by Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972.

23. Highlights ... • Our recruitment, education, and initiation of our members is without need or dependence upon others, especially those of the opposite sex. • Each CPH shall denounce the participation of our Panhellenic women in auxiliary groups to men’s fraternities. • Each CPH shall denounce the participation of undergraduate Panhellenic women in men’s formal recruitment.

24. Questions? Please contact your region’s Tri Sigma College Panhellenic Coordinator (CPHC). You can find her contact information in the N.O. Roster behind Sigma Connect on Tri Sigma’s website.