The following letter
appeared in the April 13, 1978, issue of The Live Oak -
Rotary Club of
Oakland, Club No 3’s weekly newsletter. Volume LXVII, No. 39, of
that newsletter, the letter is in response to a query from Ms. Iris G.
Marsh, the Executive Secretary of the Rotary Club of Oakland, California,
regarding the women members of the Rotary Club of Duarte, and why the club
was expelled from R.I. It was sent to us by Ralph Munro, 2002-03 President
of the Rotary Club of Seattle, Seattle 4.
Doug Rudman
The R.I. View of Duarte
Ms. Iris G. Marsh
Executive Secretary
Rotary Club of Oakland
Oakland, California
Dear Iris:
This is in reply to your
letter of 24 March concerning the situation with regard to the former Rotary
Club of Duarte.
This was a matter of
club maintaining its membership in conformity with the membership provisions
as provided in the constitution and by-laws of Rotary International and the
standard club constitution.
Sometime in January,
1978 it was learned that the Rotary Club of Duarte had admitted a woman to
its membership sometime prior to the first of July and that subsequently two
other women had been admitted. The club was advised that the persons in
question were not eligible for membership and therefore could not be members
of a Rotary Club. The club responded that it intended to maintain these
persons in membership and asked for a hearing before the board. The hearing
was held in Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A. on 23 February at the time of the
February, 1978, meeting of the board with all members of the board present.
The president of the Rotary Club of Duarte represented the Rotary Club of
Duarte and presented a statement outlining and explaining the action of its
club and responded to questions from the board about the situation.
As a result of the
hearing the board of directors agreed that the club must conform to its
constitution and indicated that unless it brought its membership into
conformity with the relevant membership provisions by 27 March, 1978, the
membership of the club in R.I. would terminate. Inasmuch as nothing was
received from the club to indicate that it had brought its membership into
conformity, regrettably the membership of the Rotary Club of Duarte of R.I.
terminated on 27 March.
The former club has
appealed the decision of the board and the appeal will be presented at the
convention of Rotary International in Tokyo, Japan in May.
The appeal to the
convention is on the question of whether the action of the board in
terminating the membership of the club in harmony with the by-laws of R.I.
should be sustained. It is not possible under the constitution and by-laws
to effect an amendment to the constitution at the convention. A proposal to
do so will have to go to the council on legislation in 1980 at the earliest.
This states the matter
rather succinctly. If there is something further we can provide please let
us know.
With all best wishes,
Sincerely,
Harry A. Stewart
General Secretary
(Rotary International
letterhead)
