ACHS ANTITRUST POLICY STATEMENT
The Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS) is a national, not-for-profit
organization whose members are college and university honor societies. ACHS
is dedicated to serving the interests of our members, the public, and higher
education in our country through our several activities, which include gathering
and dissemination of relevant data and information in furtherance of our purposes.
It is the long-standing policy of ACHS to comply fully with all laws and regulations
applicable to our activities, including the federal and state antitrust laws,
which are intended to protect competition. The antitrust laws prohibit hard-core
anticompetitive practices such as price-fixing, market division, and group
boycotts, as well as certain other arrangements and transactions that may
possibly harm the competitive process. Although our Association activities
and programs generally do not present antitrust issues, we and our members
must be informed about the antitrust laws and be sensitive to any possible
antitrust issue or question.
In support of the ACHS antitrust compliance policy, the following procedures
and principles are applicable to the Association and our members: ACHS meetings
are to follow a pre-approved agenda, and meeting minutes will subsequently
be prepared and distributed; any antitrust issue or question pertaining to
ACHS or our activities should be directed to the Executive Director for review
by counsel if necessary; and ACHS members are encouraged to adopt antitrust
guidelines of their own consistent with this Association policy statement.
Although ACHS serves as a forum for the free and open discussion of diverse
opinions, certain topics are inconsistent with our antitrust compliance policy.
With respect to membership in ACHS and the related admission requirements,
our Bylaw provisions set forth the governing standards and procedures; any
actions, understandings, or statements inconsistent with the Bylaws are prohibited.
More generally, any actions, understandings, or statements arising in the
ACHS context, which appear to be anti-competitive in purpose or potential
effect are inconsistent with Association policy, can be harmful to ACHS and
our members, and are prohibited. Under the antitrust laws relating to "group
boycotts," each member society must make its own, unilateral decisions
as to the vendors or other entities with which it will do business, and on
what terms. Any actions, understandings, or statements inconsistent with this
antitrust principle should be avoided.