National Hearings Committee

The National Hearings Committee is a body within American Mensa which conducts hearings regarding members charged with "acts inimical to Mensa" and which can impose sanctions including expulsion from Mensa. Any expulsion as a result of a ruling of this committee must subsequently be approved by the American Mensa Committee, while lesser sanctions and acquittals have no review or appeal. The NHC is made up of past chairmen of American Mensa, a facet of its structure which has come under criticism for making the hearings process too tightly connected with the political establishment, though this in turn has been countered by citing the fact that different chairmen have often been on opposing political factions from one another and do not all speak with the same voice.