COVID-19 JUDICIAL PROCESS
1.) The IFC Judicial Board will review all reports on the IFC Covid-19 Judicial Policy Violation Hotline. Member chapters will be informed if they are the subject of a report. After receiving a report, the Judicial Board will conduct an investigation to determine if there is a reasonable basis to charge a member fraternity with a violation. Charge decisions will be made in consultation with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.
2.) The President of the chapter involved will be notified via email when the Judicial Board reaches a charge decision. If charged, a meeting will be scheduled between the President and the Judicial Board to review the Judicial Policy Process and determine a hearing date. If the Judicial Board finds no basis for a charge, the case is resolved with no further action.
3.) At the pre-hearing conference, chapter presidents will review the Judicial Policy Process with the Judicial Board. During this meeting, a tentative hearing date will be set. If the chapter president wishes to plead guilty to the charge without contest, a date will be set for the Judicial Board to convene to determine a sanction. If the chapter president pleads guilty to the charge, he can provide a sanctioning statement to the Judicial Board for its consideration when deliberating the appropriate sanction(s).
4.) If the case is not resolved by guilty plea, a hearing will proceed. The purpose of the first portion of the hearing will be the assessment of guilt. Chapter presidents, followed by a VP of Judicial Affairs, will present their version of the facts to the Hearing Panel, which will be composed of three randomly chosen members of the IFC Executive Board. No IFC Executive Board member will be allowed to sit on a Hearing Panel if their fraternity is a party in the hearing. After both the chapter president and a VP of Judicial Affairs have made their arguments, the Hearing Panel will deliberate to determine whether the alleged violation occurred. The burden of proof for all cases will rest on the preponderance of evidence. If the chapter is found not guilty, the hearing will be adjourned and the case will be resolved.
5.) If a guilty judgment is reached, the next portion of the hearing will proceed with the chapter president and the VPs of Judicial Affairs. At this time, the chapter president will present arguments, evidence, and/or witnesses that will aid the Judicial Board in making a sanctioning decision. Specifically, the presentation of evidence should demonstrate why the violation falls into a specific category of the sanctioning chart that can be found in the IFC COVID-19 Judicial Policy. After the chapter president has completed his presentation, the hearing will adjourn, and the VPs of Judicial Affairs will deliberate a sanction. The chapter president will be notified of the sanctioning decision within five days.