Fanfare Society

The Constitution of the Fanfare Honor Society

Article I: Organization

The name of this organization shall be The Fanfare Honor Society.

Article II: Objective

The Fanfare Honor Society shall serve the following function within the University of Pennsylvania Band:

  1. As an organization that strives to create an atmosphere of Spirit and Fraternity within the larger Penn community by planning and implementing social and community service events.

Article III: Officers

The Society shall be led by a Chair who will be assisted by a Vice Chair and a Secretary (the Fanfare Board). Election of these said officers will take place at a meeting of the Society during the month of April. The Membership of Fanfare may provide for special elections as needed. Terms of the offices will turn over on May 1. The Board shall meet at least once before the end of the Spring Term. This Fanfare board is responsible for organizing the members of Fanfare toward achieving the society’s goals and for communicating with the Executive Board of the Penn Band. The duties of each officer are as follows:

  1. CHAIR: The Chair shall preside over meetings and be responsible for the execution of all Society functions. Meetings are held at the discretion of the Chair. The Chair has the power to form committees and name Fanfare members to these committees.
  2. VICE CHAIR: The Chair shall be assisted by a Vice Chair. The Vice Chair shall fulfill any and all duties of the Chair should they be unable to be present at a meeting. The Vice Chair is responsible for membership and voting eligibility issues.
  3. SECRETARY: The Society shall have a Secretary. The Secretary shall be responsible for attendance at the Society’s meetings and functions. They shall be responsible for the taking of minutes of the Society’s meeting and for their timely distribution. The secretary shall be responsible for notifying Fanfare members (and the Chair) of any attendance problems.

Article IV: Meeting Attendance and Voting Procedure

For any voting procedures, at least two-thirds of total Fanfare voting members must be present. On the occasions that the necessary fraction of affirmative votes is not a whole number, the Society will round up the number of votes needed for the vote to pass.

Article V: Membership

Membership in the Society shall be determined in the following manner:

  1. Membership in Fanfare is an Honor for members of the Band who have distinguished themselves within the organization through Service.
  2. A prospective member must be a member at the time of selection and shall have been a Voting Member (as determined by the Executive Board of the Band) for a total of at least three semesters. This may not include the semester in which they are being considered but may include the semester previous to the time of consideration.
  3. New members shall be selected twice yearly within five weeks from the start of the fall academic semester and within three weeks from the start of the spring academic semester.
  4. All members of the Band eligible for membership in the Society shall be notified by the Vice Chair of the Society, in writing, of their eligibility, and they will be asked to submit an application. Once the application is reviewed, they will receive a decision.
  5. Any members that go abroad or take a leave of absence who had Voting Membership the semester prior to leaving are granted automatic voting status.
  6. There are two classifications of membership in the Fanfare Society, Voting and Non-Voting. Fanfare voting member: Fanfare voting members are in Voting Membership with the Band (as defined by the Band Executive Board) from the previous semester and comply with Fanfare’s attendance guidelines.
    1. Fanfare voting member: Fanfare voting members are entitled to one unexcused absence from a meeting per academic semester. Requests for excused absence must be received by the Secretary no later than three hours prior to the start of the meeting. Later excuses can be approved at the Secretary’s discretion.
    1. Fanfare non-voting member: Fanfare non-voting members of Fanfare have either had more than one unexcused absence from a Fanfare meeting, did not receive Voting Membership with the Band in the previous semester, or have chosen to voluntarily relinquish their voting privileges and status. They may be granted voting status by a majority vote of the present voting members of Fanfare.
  7. Any member may be dismissed from the Society for a reproachable act against the Band or Society. This is accomplished by a four-fifths vote of the present voting members of the Society.
  8. All Fanfare Members must maintain voting eligibility (including by petition) within the Band. There shall be a minimum Fanfare hours requirement of 6 hours per semester. This hours requirement can be reduced by the Fanfare Board during the semester. Any Fanfare Member who does not meet these requirements will become a non-voting member the subsequent semester. If this occurs two semesters in a row, the Fanfare Member will lose their membership within the Society but maintain the ability to reapply for membership.
  9. Upon graduation, members of the Fanfare Society become Fanfare non-voting members unless they maintain Voting Membership (as by the Band Executive Board’s criterion) and comply with attendance guidelines of Fanfare.

Article VI: Meetings

  1. Meetings shall be held at least once a month at a time and place determined by the Chair. Supplemental meetings may be called at the discretion of the Chair or upon petition of at least one-fourth of the Society’s membership.
  2. At the discretion of the Chair, Fanfare meetings may be open to any member of the Band who wishes to observe. However, only members of Fanfare may participate, unless the Chair recognizes that non-Fanfare member to speak. Only Fanfare members may be present for any part of a meeting that involves voting procedure.
  3. For any voting procedures, at least two-thirds of the Society’s voting membership must be present.
  4. Unless otherwise stated, a motion carries if voted upon affirmatively by a majority of the above two-thirds quorum at a regular, announced meeting of the Society.

Article VII: Finances

All financial resources and expenses of the Society shall be maintained and distributed under the auspices of the Treasurer of the Band with the exception of any fundraisers held by the Society. The Chair shall be responsible for all communication with the Treasurer of the Band to ensure compliance with University, city, state, and federal guidelines concerning transactions

Article VIII: Override

  1. In extenuating circumstances, where strict adherence to the Constitution significantly hinders the progress or best interest of the Society, provisions (and amendments) of the Constitution, excluding this Article and Article IX, may be temporarily overridden through the procedures dictated by this article.
  2. If two-thirds of Fanfare voting members are present at a meeting, any Fanfare voting member may propose to temporarily override any specific provision of the Constitution. This may be proposed at any point after the meeting has commenced and before it has adjourned. The unanimous consent of all present and eligible Fanfare voting members is required to override any provision of the Constitution. If a member’s duties or membership in the Society is in question, that member may not vote. Due to the standard of unanimity, all votes must be in the form of a written and secret ballot. This will ensure that members are not pressured into overriding a Constitutional provision and that the overrides are only used in extenuating circumstances. Furthermore, the override must be adopted during the same meeting in which it is proposed.
  3. The Society may not prohibit relevant discussion before voting on such a proposal, including cases in which a member is speaking in defense of their duties or membership in the Society.
  4. In order to prevent abuse of this amendment, each member may only propose one override per semester.

As soon as the action for which the override is necessary has been executed, the override is no longer in effect nor does it have binding precedent on future cases.

Article IX: Amendment

With a four-fifths vote of the Society’s present voting membership, this Constitution may have clauses or articles appended, changed, or subtracted. The meeting to vote on an amendment must take place at least one week after the meeting at which it is introduced. The effect of such a change to the Constitution shall be to supersede the previous Constitution in favor of the new Constitution adopting the desired change.

Last ratified January 23rd, 2023