WOMEN IN ROTARY:
In 1987, a US Supreme Court ruling meant that women could join a Rotary Club.
Dr Sylvia Whitlock, from the Rotary Club of Duarte was a pioneer in helping set down this precedent. She was also one of the first woman members of Rotary International and the first woman president of a rotary club.
For 11 years prior to the ruling, Dr Whitlock served as a Rotarian and engaged in many local projects, even without Rotary International’s legislative approval of women members. When asked why she continued to serve, she said she just wanted to get on with it and help the community, through the opportunities Rotary provided, despite the challenges and setbacks she experienced as a woman.
Today, women in rotary serve alongside men. We are invited, we join, and we embody the rotary values, including service above self, and employing the 4 way test.
If we can serve as rotarians with the same spirit Dr Whitlock did, I am confident this will help us to continue on our journey of inclusiveness and diversity.
And with that, I give thanks, for good food, good fellowship and the opportunity to serve.
By Sana Malik.
Postscript from President Reg
Did you know that in 1979-80 Rotary Melbourne President David Wittner held a ballot of members, on the question of women members of Rotary, to find that 67 per cent were in favour, 21 per cent were opposed, and 12 per cent were undecided. To those who, rightly or wrongly, regarded the Melbourne club as conservative, this was an unexpected result. No other club voted so strongly in favor. (Source: Australia's First Rotary Club by Owen Parnaby.)
