Women Also...Serve
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Sylvia Whitlock, the first woman president of a Rotary club, shares her pioneering journey in the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, where she and other women fought an 11-year battle—including three court cases and a Supreme Court decision in 1987—to gain membership rights in Rotary International. Her story illustrates how persistence and challenging the status quo transformed one of the world's oldest service organizations to become inclusive of all genders.
Key takeaways
- The Rotary Club of Duarte became the extraordinary 'X Rotary Club' for 11 years after refusing to expel female members, ultimately winning a landmark 1987 Supreme Court case that established women's membership rights in all U.S. Rotary clubs.
- The fight for women's inclusion in Rotary required escalating legal action through California courts because Rotary was recognized as a public accommodation, making gender discrimination illegal under California law.
- Sylvia Whitlock's election as the first woman Rotary club president garnered international media attention and helped shift Rotary's culture toward diversity, equity, and inclusion across gender and other demographics.
- The original Rotary founder Paul Harris's constitution used the term 'persons of good character' rather than specifying 'men,' suggesting the exclusion of women was not intentional but evolved through practice.
- Rotarians can invite new members by wearing their pin visibly and sharing Rotary's mission through informal conversations and elevator pitches, helping the organization grow organically within their communities.
About Sylvia WhitlockSylvia Whitlock was the first woman president of a Rotary club, serving as president of the Rotary Club of Duarte, California. She was a school teacher and principal who led the 11-year legal battle for women's membership rights in Rotary International.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF July 17, 2023
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Women Also...Serve
Speaker: Sylvia Whitlock
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Greetings Members and Friends of Rotary e-Club of Silicon Valley. As President of our Club, I want to welcome you all today.
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
Dad's Answer
Son: Dad... can I have $450 to buy a moped?
Dad: Son, listen to me very carefully. Due to the escalation of my personal monetary obligations brought on by spiraling inflation and the ever-fluctuating ramifications of the Petro-dollar, it behooves me to rule in the extreme negative when responding to my male offspring's issue.
Son: Huh?!? I don’t get it!
Dad: Exactly.
Inspiration
Every week we share a short video highlighting innovation, education, entrepreneurship, or whatever we think might inspire you to see the world in new ways.
Here's a nice combination of environmental tech and addressing a current need in a video about solar systems for bakeries in Lebanon. Thanks, Shags, for the share!
Learn something new
Damaged Inner Ear Cells and Hearing Loss
Growing up in the '70s, I went to my share of rock concerts, and they were LOUD!! I now have tinnitus and a hard time hearing things at low tone and volume. Here's most likely what happened.
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Rotary Theme for 2023-2024
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
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Rotary Service Project Opportunity in Mexico
Charter member Keith Marsh is organizing a Rotary project to Project Amigo in October for the “Day of the Dead” (Dia de los Muertos). The week-long trip to Cofradia, Mexico will include Rotary Service in the areas of International Service, Youth Service and Fellowship. It will also include cultural and travel photography of the festivities surrounding Day of the Dead. Space is limited. Click below to download the .pdf for more details and visit the Project Amigo website at: https://www.projectamigo.org/ Contact Keith or leave a comment below if you are interested in attending.
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use.
Send Happy DollarsProgram: Women Also...Serve
Speaker: Sylvia Whitlock
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub or Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
This week's speaker, Sylvia Whitlock, was born in New York City but educated in Kingston, Jamaica. Sylvia worked for the United Nations, before moving to California to start a career in education. Along the way, she earned her Ph.D., cum laude, from Claremont Graduate School. Subsequently, she earned another master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University and began a second career as a therapist. She is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in California.
In 1982, joined the "Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte" in California. Why was "Ex" part of the name? The admission of Mary Lou Elliott, an elementary school principal, had caused the ouster of the Rotary Club of Duarte from Rotary International. At the time, women were not allowed in Rotary, though the 1987 US Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Duarte club forced Rotary to open its doors to women and to reinstate the Duarte club.
Sylvia became president of that club the same year, making her the first woman in the Rotary World to head a club as president. She has held a wide variety of roles at the club and district levels and has been a district assistant governor. Her history and speaking skills have allowed her to present at conventions and meetings all over the world. She is the author of Women Also Serve and has been called "one of the most groundbreaking women I know" by Rotary International President Jennifer Jones.
Today, Sylvia will tell us some of the stories of her history with Rotary, as well as her work to help Rotary open its arms to more and more people around the world.
Members and guests, please welcome Sylvia Whitlock!
To get Sylvia's book, Women Also Serve, go to:
https://tinyurl.com/WomenAlsoServe
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
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If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
