Patrick K.

Smith
IFC Executive Board
Vice-President
In the Criminal Justice department at Tarleton State, through these
three classes, Policies and Procedures, Management and Supervision,
and Evidence, I learned many critical skills that I will take with me in
my future career. Amongst these skills I learned about diplomacy,
leadership, and how to run a governing body. The idea and emphasis of
these classes was the ability to affectively communicate and operate a
governing entity. To effectively do this one must be knowledgably in
people skills, communicate well in many different circumstances, be
able to stay unbiased and understand the needs of whom or what you
are governing. This is similar to IFC in that this is exactly what I had to
do in my capacity as a member as but even more so with an executive
position on the board.
When thinking back on course work I am reminded of my Policies and
Procedures class. For example I learned that strict rules and guidelines
affect the proficiency of a governing board and body. More specifically
how policies and procedures in the criminal justice and how they affect
the outcome in the criminal and judicial system.
This is a prime
example of how we developed IFCs judicial section and carried out the
orders of our constitution and bylaws.
Beyond my assigned curriculum at Tarleton State, I learned many
things beyond my Criminal Justice classes. An important lesson and
change in my understanding of the judicial system is how it carries
policies and procedures. Following court cases and reading on case
studies helped to better prepare me to define the way we set up the
IFC judicial process. More over, being involved in proceedings, carrying
out and ensuring that all proceedings followed guidelines gave me a
whole new real world understanding of the judicial system. For
example, when I first became of IFC my knowledge of the judicial
system only existed on paper, but now I have a realization of how it
actually affects people and how everything plays out in the real world
versus in a textbook.
Another experience outside my classroom studies was creating
constitutional bylaws. While this seemed as if it would be as simple as
writing a set of guidelines, it proved to be much more than that. Not
only did we have to compose what seemed like a fair set of bylaws and
guidelines. The council also had to get the approval of the fraternities
that we governed. IFC is all about the betterment of the male Greek life
on campus and to do so took a lot of time and effort on everyones

part. Not only that, but taking a step back from each individuals
fraternity and thinking about what was better for Tarleton Greek life as
a whole, not for the individuals own fraternity.
My global understanding of how needed policies and procedures are,
has vastly expanded and because of this I can now better understand
judicial cases currently being covered in the news both locally and
nationally. I can now better understand both sides of the case and form
an opinion that is not based solely on favoritism. But an opinion based
on understanding of the judicial system and what is just.
The biggest misconception is that rules and procedures are pointless
and tedious. When instead they are the backbone of how an entire
country is ran and have purpose on many levels. Whether or not we
can immediately see the reason behind a law, we must follow it for the
sake of a better community. Not only that but we must realize what
may not be the best for an individual or one particular group may be
best for the larger group and therefore should be held as more
important. IFC has changed my entire view on rulings and proceedings
and helped to teach me what true justice is.