Hall of Fame Bylaws

I. Purpose

In order to preserve our athletic history, the Immaculate High School Athletic Hall of Fame was founded in 1989. The Athletic Hall of Fame is organized for the purpose of recognizing the rich tradition of athletic success at Immaculate High School. It serves as a means of honoring and recognizing the athletes, teams, coaches, and supporters who made significant contributions to the Mustang tradition of excellence. The Athletic Hall of Fame honors the contributions and accomplishments of these individuals and teams who are worthy of recognition as examples for others to emulate. Induction ceremonies are held bi-annually.

The Immaculate High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee adopts the following bylaws for the Selection Committee:

II. Selection Committee

  • The Hall of Fame Selection Committee shall include the following members and shall consist of no more than 14 members.

Permanent members:

  • Those selection committee members (5) who have faithfully served on this committee through the years and whom have a vast knowledge of the history of IHS athletics.

Standing members:

  • President and/or Principal (ex-officio – does not vote, but can offer input and has final approval on inductees)
  • Athletic Director
  • Director of Alumni Relations
  • One member of MASC (Mustang All-Sports Club)

At-large members:

  • 3-4 Hall of Fame or Alumni Association members, representing a cross-section of decades.
  • The terms of at-large members shall be staggered so that a minimum of 2 new members will rotate on each voting year as terms expire. The initial Committee shall have 1-2 members who shall have one voting year term, the other 1-2 members shall have 2 voting year terms. Members elected by the standing membership to replace outgoing members of the initial at-large committee shall serve two voting years.
  • While there are no explicit qualifications for at-large committee members, care shall be exercised to select members who have knowledge of the athletic history of IHS and are representative of the various periods of that history. Members of the committee must abstain from voting if a member of his/her immediate family or relative is proposed.
  • The standing members shall elect a Secretary. The Secretary will maintain minutes from selection meetings. 
  • The Committee will be responsible for the selection of Hall of Fame inductees. The committee will meet every other year to vote on candidates for the Hall of Fame.
  • The Committee shall induct members/teams into the Hall of Fame every two years. The number of inductees may vary. The Committee shall vote on the nominees it determines suitable for consideration. A minimum positive vote of 75% of members present is required for induction.

III. Nominations

The Selection Committee will develop a form upon which nominations will be made. The form must be completed and the qualifications of the proposed inductee must be clearly set forth in the form.

  • Nominations may be made by anyone, however self-nominations or unsigned/anonymous nominations will not be accepted.
  • The Selection Committee has developed a form upon which nominations can be made. The form must be completed and the qualifications of the proposed inductee must be clearly set forth in the form.
  • Nominations for consideration may be made by the Selection Committee or by public nominations. Application for nominations are available on the IHS website for a publicized period of time every other year.
  • Nominations must be received by specified deadline to be considered for the current induction class.
  • The Selection Committee shall have the discretion to narrow the field of nominees.
  • Nomination forms will be kept and reviewed annually if candidate is not inducted for current class.

IV. Eligibility/Criteria

  • Athletes, coaches, teams, administrators or supporters, living or deceased, shall be eligible for induction subject to the criteria below. All nominees must represent the Immaculate High School tradition of excellence and the values and teachings of the Catholic faith.

Athletes:

▪ Eligible 10 years after graduation from IHS (i.e.; 2008 grad for 2018 induction)

▪ Must be an IHS graduate - selection committee will have discretion in unique, special circumstances (i.e.; death, accident).

  • Must have lettered in one or more Varsity sports.

▪ Athletic ability, sportsmanship, character, leadership, contribution to team and the games he/she participated in. A similar standard of ethics shall have characterized the years following their time at Immaculate High School, to the best of the committee’s knowledge.

▪ Awarded All-Conference, All-State, All-New England, any individual or team championship, any record or winning streak, league leader in recognized statistical category, college scholarship, etc. Achievements should be on record and verified by copies of news clippings, yearbooks, certificates of awards, etc. All-star teams, tournaments, and awards were less common in earlier eras and documentation of achievements might not exist, especially for older nominees. This should be taken into consideration.

  • Committee may also consider post-graduate activities including college and professional experience.

Coaches:

  • Any coach with 10+ years coaching experience at IHS is eligible (the Committee may make exceptions as to years experience in unique, special circumstances).
  • The nominee must be inactive.
  • Accomplishments (individual or teams) must have merited league and/or statewide recognition, as well as made significant contributions to the athletic programs at IHS.
  • Coaching ability, loyalty to IHS, leadership, character, athletic expertise, significant contribution to their teams and to the sports they coached must have been demonstrated.
  • The same ethical and life standards expected of his/her athletes shall also characterize the life of the coach.

Teams:

▪ Championship teams having attained record status.

Administrators/Staff/Volunteers/Supporters

▪ Exceptional leadership, character, loyalty to IHS and the passion for, and support of, the success of Immaculate athletics is paramount.

Immaculate High School reserves the right to remove any individual from the Hall of Fame for personal conduct, which reflects discredit upon the school.

V. Voting Procedures

  • The Selection Committee shall review all candidates based on information available at the time of the meeting.
  • After open discussion about candidates, the Committee shall call for a vote for the purpose of selecting a slate of inductees to vote upon. To be listed on the slate of final nominees to be voted upon, the Athletic Hall of Fame the nominee must receive an 75% approval rating from all voting members.
  • A survey will go out to the committee allowing a vote of a specified number of inductees whom they feel should be inducted into the next IHS Athletic Hall of Fame Class. Every effort should be made to induct deserving candidates who are more senior in age before more recent graduates, while attempting to represent a good cross-section of graduation year/age, sport, male/female in a given induction class. The nominees receiving the most number of votes will be presented to the President/Principal by the Selection Committee for his/her approval. The President/Principal may veto any candidate presented by the Committee for induction if in his/her judgment, the candidate does not exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, character and leadership as described in Section IV. This must be done in writing to the committee, with justification for rejection followed by an appeal process to open up the discussion of whether or not to induct candidate.
  • The voting procedure and details must be kept confidential.
  • Hall of Fame selections will be announced after the individual/teams have been notified and their acceptance of the induction and participation in the ceremony are verified.

VII. Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

  • An Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will occur every two years.
  • The Director of Alumni Relations will oversee the planning of the ceremony. All Steering Committee members and Alumni Association Representatives are welcome to serve on the planning committee.
  • Each inductee must attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. If the inductee is deceased, a representative must attend the ceremony. In the case of an emergency or other hardship, which precludes the inductee or representative from attendance, the Hall of Fame Committee will make the appropriate decision regarding induction.
  • On the evening of the induction, new members are guests of honor at the induction dinner.
  • New members are presented with a Hall of Fame memento and their name will be listed on the Hall of Fame touchscreen, which is permanently displayed at Immaculate High School.

VIII. Bylaws

  • The Committee reserves the rights to amend the Bylaws, if needed.