University of Virginia Library

EXTRACTS FROM THE BY-LAWS OF THE SOUTHERN
CONFERENCE

Article VII

General Code

Section 1. Football Season. No member of the Conference shall engage
in any football game after the expiration of its season except by consent of the
Conference.

Section 2. Freshman Teams. Freshman teams shall be composed of members
of the freshman class only, who shall not compete as such for more than
one year, and shall be eligible under the rules of this Conference, except the
one-year rule.

No freshman who has been a student at any other college shall be eligible
to compete on a freshman team of a Southern Conference institution.

The Freshman football teams of this Conference shall be allowed to play
only five games in any regular season.

Section 3. Training Table and Training Quarters. No member of this
Conference is permitted to pay for the maintenance of a training table for any
intercollegiate team.

Section 4. Preliminary Training. There shall be no preliminary training,
assembling of candidates or issuing of equipment prior to the first Monday in
September. Athletic Associations of Southern Conference institutions may bear
the expense of food for men during preliminary training provided that no such-expenses
shall begin prior to the first Monday in September.

No freshman students shall be allowed to assemble for practice before the
opening of college.

Section 5. Contests with Non-Conference Members. No Conference institution
shall compete with any non-Conference institution in Conference territory,
of similar athletic rank, that is, one which competes with any member of
the Conference upon the basis of athletic equality, unless both compete under
the rules of eligibility of the Conference. A list of such institutions shall be
determined from year to year at the annual meeting.

Section 6. Eligibility Certificates. Before any student can compete in any
intercollegiate contest he must fill out an eligibility blank furnished by the Conference
which blank shall be kept on file by the Faculty Chairman of Athletics
subject to the command of the President of the Southern Conference.

Section 7. Rules. All rules of the Conference shall apply to all intercollegiate
sports.

Section 8. Scholarship and Loan Funds. All scholarship and loan funds
for which athletics are eligible must be administered by a University officer or
committee that usually administers such funds.

Article XIII

Rules of Eligibility

The following rules apply to all sports:

Rule 1. Bona Fide Students. No one shall participate in any intercollegiate
contest unless he is a bona fide matriculated student, a graduate of an
accredited public high school, or with at least fifteen Carnegie units or the
equivalent, certified by an approved preparatory school with the recommendation
of the principal. Credits presented as a result of final examinations conducted
in accordance with standard accredited agencies by a recognized examining board
may be accepted. At least eleven of the fifteen units required for entrance must
be in academic subjects.

Rule 2. No student shall be eligible for varsity athletics until he has passed
twenty-four semester hours or thirty-six quarter hours. After a student has
become eligible for athletics, to be eligible for any ensuing year, he must have

passed twenty-four semester or thirty-six quarter hours of the previous year,
provided, however, that hours for the second and third quarter or second
semester shall be regulated by the separate institutions.

Rule 3. Migrant Students. (a) No person who has participated in any
intercollegiate contest in any branch of sport as a member of any college team
shall be permitted to participate in any intercollegiate contest in the same sport
as a member of a team of any other institution of his Conference.

For the purpose of this rule, an intercollegiate contest is a contest played by
the varsity or the freshman team.

(b) Students who have pursued courses of study at one university or college
but who have not participated in any intercollegiate contest shall be eligible
to participate in any intercollegiate athletics at another institution.

(c) Transfers from a junior college, normal school or other institution not
offering a standard four-year course may be allowed to continue their athletic
careers at the institution to which they transfer provided that they conform to
the one-year residence rule and to the five-year limit of participation, counting
from the date of first participation in the junior college.

Students who have been in the preparatory department of a junior college,
who have taken no college work but have played on the junior college team shall
not be eligible for freshman participation at Conference institutions.

Rule 5. Limit of Participation. Participation in intercollegiate athletics
shall be limited to one freshman and three varsity years over a period of five
consecutive years counting from date of first matriculation. Every student shall
be allowed three years of varsity participation in each sport, provided such participation
falls within the five-year period herein defined.

Rule 6. Compensation. (a) No person who receives any compensation
from his institution for services rendered by way of regular instruction shall be
allowed to participate in intercollegiate contests.

(b) No person shall be permitted to participate in any intercollegiate contest
who has ever used his knowledge of athletics or his athletic or gymnastic
skill for gain.

Note: This rule does not apply to any person who has worked in connection
with a playground or a summer camp where the requirements do not call
for a man with technical preparation in physical training.

(c) No athlete shall be the beneficiary of any loan fund, scholarship, or
fellowship, that may not be held by other students in the University who are not
athletes.

Rule 7. Any college athlete who signs a contract or enters into any agreement,
explicit or implicit, with a professional team shall not be eligible for intercollegiate
athletics.

No student who has played on a baseball team recognized by the National
Commission of Baseball Clubs shall be eligible for intercollegiate athletics.

Rule 8. Outside Participation. No college football player is permitted to
play on a football team other than that of his own college.

Rule 9. No college player is permitted to play on an athletic team other than
that of his own college during the college year.