Speaker’s Code

Article I – Guidelines for Speaker Invitations

The Director of Program (henceforth DoP) shall develop a List of Speakers, and may rely upon guidance from their Deputies in the process
1. The first list shall be drawn up at least a week before the first Governing Council meeting, at the beginning of the term. All Whig-Clio members will be able to suggest contributions to this list.
2. The Speaker of the American Whig Party (henceforth Whig Chair) and Chair of the Cliosophic Party (henceforth Clio Chair) may also develop a List of Speakers, at their discretion, and may rely upon guidance from their Deputies in the process
3. Subsidiaries of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society and ODUS-recognized student organizations are not subject to the Speaker’s Code unless one or more of the following conditions are met, and if one or more of the following conditions are met, the Subsidiary Head or student organization President must notify the DoP of their speaker request
  1. The event has a Whig-Clio co-sponsorship
  2. The event uses money from the primary American Whig-Cliosophic Society bank account or American Whig-Cliosophic Board of Trustees bank account
The DoP, Whig Chair, and Clio Chair shall add their List of Speakers to the Meeting Agenda at least 24 hours prior to a Meeting of the Governing Council (henceforth GoCo Meeting)
The Voting Members of the Governing Council (henceforth Voting Members of GoCo) shall discuss each speaker at a GoCo Meeting and move to a simple majority vote on an approval or disapproval of each proposed speaker
1. This vote shall be presided over by the Secretary and shall be conducted under a secret ballot in accordance with §VI.B.2 of the Constitution of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
2. If Quorum, which is defined as half of the Voting Members of GoCo, is not met, this vote will be automatically deferred
3. Any Member of GoCo may make a motion to defer a vote should they wish to collect more information on a speaker, and if seconded by any Voting Member of GoCo, a vote on deferring, which requires a simple majority of the Voting Members of GoCo, shall be held. If that vote fails, an additional motion on deferring to vote on the same speaker shall not be entertained
4. The simple majority must include the President and/or Vice President. If both the President and Vice President oppose a speaker, that speaker will be disapproved
5. Speakers put forward for consideration by the Governing Council shall not be rejected on the basis of political, religious, or ideological beliefs, statements, or affiliation alone. While civil discourse is important, speaker proposals put forward for consideration by the Governing Council shall not be rejected on the basis of concerns regarding protest or dissent against the speaker’s views alone. The role of the Governing Council is to determine whether or not the proposed speaker meets the following requirements:
  1. The speaker is notable.
  2. The speaker does not pose a threat of defamation, genuine threat or harassment, unjustifiably invade substantial privacy or confidentiality interests, or otherwise violate the law.
  3. The speaker is coming in good faith.
An exception to the Secret Ballot requirement shall be made only in the case of an emergency speaker, in which case an asynchronous open ballot vote among the Voting Members of GoCo shall be held
1. An emergency speaker is defined as a speaker who provides short notice of their arrival, which lies before a GoCo Meeting can be scheduled, and wasn’t previously approved
Once an invitation has been sent, it cannot be rescinded. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Once a speaker invitation has been approved, the DoP shall work with their Deputies, the proposer, and any other necessary persons to send an invitation and plan the appropriate speaker event
1. If the speaker was on a List of Speakers submitted by the Whig Chair or Clio Chair, the Whig Chair or Clio Chair shall send the invitation
Once a speaker event has been scheduled, it cannot be rescheduled or canceled without the consent of the speaker
1. If there are multiple speakers for a single event, all speakers must consent in order for the event to be rescheduled or canceled
Speaker invitations last for one year, after which the Voting Members of GoCo may, at their discretion and in accordance with this Speaker’s Code, renew approval of a speaker
If §I of the Speaker’s Code of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society is violated, the Secretary shall be empowered to deny access to American Whig-Cliosophic Society property and the Treasurer shall be empowered to deny access to American Whig-Cliosophic Society bank accounts, when appropriate

Article II – Guidelines for Opposed Speaker Debate

The DoP has final authority on which names are to be submitted to the Governing Council for review. If a speaker is submitted to the DoP, and the DoP decides to reject the speaker, the decision can be appealed at the next GoCo Meeting
1. The Proposer will be notified of a rejected speaker at least three days in advance
2. The DoP may reject a speaker for the following reasons:
  1. Too many speakers have been submitted and it is not possible for the DoP and Deputy DoP(s) to send invitations to all previously approved speakers
  2. The DoP believes the speaker should be immediately disapproved based on the criteria outlined in §I.II.D of the Speaker’s Code of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
  3. Speakers proposed by the Whig Chair and Clio Chair are not subject to review by the DoP and thus not subject to a DoP rejection
An Opposed Speaker Debate may also be held if any of the following conditions are met
1. ⅓ of the Voting Members of the Governing Council request an Opposed Speaker Debate
2. ½ of the Members of the Governing Council request an Opposed Speaker Debate
The Speaker’s List for the Opposed Speaker Debate, which shall be set by the Secretary, will consist of two 45 second speeches in favor of the speaker and two 45 second speeches against the speaker
1. If the Proposer of the speaker is present at the GoCo Meeting, they shall be given preference for being added to the Speaker’s List
  1. The Proposer may appoint anyone to speak on their behalf
2. The DoP shall be given preference for being added to the Speaker’s List
  1. If the Opposed Speaker Debate is being held due to a condition in §II.II of the Speaker’s Code of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society being met and involves a speaker being proposed by the Whig Chair or Clio Chair, then the Whig Chair or Clio Chair will be given preference in place of the DoP
  2. The DoP, Whig Chair, or Clio Chair may appoint anyone to speak on their behalf
3. The President or Vice President shall be permitted to give speeches, at their discretion, and if so, their speeches will not count towards the two speeches in favor and two speeches against limit
Motions to extend time for an individual member will be approved with a ¾ vote of the Voting Members of GoCo

Article III – Ratification and Amendments

The Speaker’s Code of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society shall enter force upon ratification by ⅔ of the Voting Members of GoCo and ratification by the Trustees of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
1. The President, Secretary, and DoP must ratify this Speaker’s Code for it to enter force
No section of this Speaker’s Code may supersede the Constitution of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society or University Rules and Regulations
1. If the Constitution of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society is amended such that a section of or the entirety of this Speaker’s Code is nullified, the Secretary and DoP must immediately revise and re-ratify this Speaker’s Code
After ratification, the Speaker’s Code may be amended by a ⅔ majority of the Voting Members of GoCo, ⅔ majority of the Assembly, and approval by the Trustees of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
1. The President, Secretary, and DoP must approve all amendments to this Code. If the President, Secretary, or DoP is opposed to an amendment, a ⅘ majority of the Voting Members of GoCo will be required to add the amendment to this Code
2. At the first GoCo Meeting of each annual term, the Voting Members of GoCo will review this code and amend this Code as needed