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The Origins of Group Study Exchange
Norm Winterbottom
RGHF History Committee
In 1950 a group of six young men from Great
Britain under Dr Geoff Morton and financed by some Rotary clubs
in the County of Yorkshire, travelled to New Zealand. They
were billeted and hosted by Rotarians as they travelled through
the country.
In 1955, when New Zealand was divided into
only two Districts, Dr Ralph Vernon of the Auckland club,
recalling that visit, proposed as a Rotary Jubilee project, the
establishment of a Rotary Overseas Travel Award, whereby groups
of six young men could travel overseas under the leadership of a
Rotarian. While Rotary Foundation Fellowships provided for
university graduates, this programme provided for non-graduates.
The scheme was enthusiastically embraced by all clubs in the
northern District, (No.39) and was financed by donations of
$2.00 per member.
In September, 1956 a team under John
Ledgerwood left New Zealand and spent nineteen weeks
touring 15 Rotary Districts in Great Britain and one member, Mel Cooper of Kaitaia subsequently
became District Governor of District 292 in 1981-82. Initially
the programme was intended for one year only, but it proved so
successful that it was continued annually by District 39. The
list of exchanges with the names of the leaders is as follows:-
1956: To Great Britain - Sept to Dec
(John Ledgerwood)
1957: To USA Pacific States - August
((Vic Butler)
1958-59 From USA Pacific States - (Dr Lyman
Partridge)
1960 From India - Mar to May -(Janshid
Italia)
1960 To India & Sri Lanka Nov - (Les Colgan)
1962 From India & West Pakistan Feb
to Apr - (Dr Nagori)
To Japan via Australia &
Indonesia June to Sep - (Gordon Parker)
1963 From Japan Mar to May - (Tamotau
Murayama)
1964 To Malaysia & Thailand Dec 63
to Feb 64 (Bert Dreaver)
In 1959-60 Harold T. Thomas of the Auckland
club became RI president and resulting from many favourable
comments regarding the value of ROTA, the Board of RI became
conscious of the value of the programme. At this time, more
funds were becoming available through the Rotary Foundation.
Ralph Vernon was invited to visit Chicago and discuss the
programme with the result that RI assumed control of the
programme through the Rotary Foundation under the name of Group
Study Exchange, with the first exchanges taking place in 1965.
Because of United States taxation laws, close family members of
Rotarians are precluded from participation in GSE
Also see:
G r o
u p S t u d y E x c h a n g e
Rotary Foundation Presentation
by Rotarian Frank Deaver
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Group Study Exchange
Provided by RGHF History
Committee Member
Norm Winterbottom, New Zealand, 27 March 2007
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A
USA-Mexico Group Study Exchange
team stands on the edge of the
Barranca Sinforosa during a
break from their Group Study
Exchange scientific exploration. |
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The Group Study Exchange (GSE)
program of The Rotary Foundation is a
unique cultural and vocational exchange
opportunity for young business and
professional men and women between the
ages of 25 and 40 and in the early years
of their professional lives. The program
provides travel grants for teams to
exchange visits between paired areas in
different countries. For four to six
weeks, team members experience the host
country's institutions and ways of life,
observe their own vocations as practiced
abroad, develop personal and
professional relationships, and exchange
ideas.
For each team member, The Rotary
Foundation provides the most economical
round-trip air ticket between the home
and host countries. Local Rotarians in
the host area provide for meals,
lodging, and group travel within their
district. (From the website of Rotary
International) |
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Historic Moments: Origins of Group Study Exchange
By Susan Hanf and Lauren Kalal
Rotary International
News -- 16 March 2011 (Susan Hanf is an honorary member of RGHF)
Group Study Exchange team members visit a nuclear research
project near Geneva, circa 1967. From the November 1967 issue
of The Rotarian.
In
January 1964, the RI Board of Directors and The Rotary
Foundation Board of Trustees approved
Group Study Exchange as
an official Rotary program. Thirty-four teams from 17 pairs of
districts participated in the first round of exchanges during
the 1965-66 and 1966-67 Rotary years.
But young people had been traveling the globe with support from
Rotary clubs well before this decision. In 1950, six young men
from England went to New Zealand, led by English Rotarian Geoff
Morton and financed by clubs in Yorkshire. They traveled the
country, staying with Rotarians along the way.
Rotarian Ralph Vernon proposed a similar endeavor in 1955 to
clubs in northern New Zealand, who wanted to commemorate
Rotarys golden anniversary with a district wide effort. District
39 (now districts 9910, 9920, 9930, and 9940) created the Rotary
Overseas Travel Award program, and John Ledgerwood, of the
Rotary Club of Hamilton, led the first team on a trip to Great
Britain.
The program was so successful that district leaders in New
Zealand decided to continue it after the anniversary
celebrations had ended. Over the next few years, teams from New
Zealand traveled to Canada, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the
United States. New Zealand Rotarians welcomed visitors from
these countries as well as from Pakistan.
In the early 1960s, the Trustees began considering programs for
non-Rotarians that would promote international goodwill and
understanding. One plan was for small groups of young business
and professional men to travel from one Rotary district to a
district in another country.
Harold T. Thomas, a New Zealand Rotarian who served as RI
president in 1959-60, shared information about the Rotary
Overseas Travel Award with the Trustees. Soon after the Board
and Trustees approved Group Study Exchange, Vernon and other
Rotarians with experience in group exchanges and vocational
training were invited to finalize the details of the new
Foundation program.
In the nearly five decades since, more than 70,000 young men and
women have traveled the globe as part of Group Study Exchange
teams.
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