Membership
According to its constitutions ("Charters"), Rotary defines itself as a non-partisan, non-sectarian organization. It is open to business and professional leaders aged 18 and upwards, with no regard to economic status.[20]One can contact a Rotary club to inquire about membership but can join a Rotary club only if invited; there is no provision to join without an invitation as each prospective Rotarian requires a sponsor who is an existing Rotarian.[21] Some clubs, though not all, have exclusivist membership criteria: reputation and business or professional leadership may be a specific evaluation criterion for issuing invitations to join, and representation from a specific profession or business may be limited to a percentage of a specific club's membership.
Active membership
Active membership is by invitation from a current Rotarian, to professionals or businesspersons working in diverse areas of endeavour. Each club may limit up to ten percent of its membership representing each business or profession in the area it serves. The goal of the clubs is to promote service to the community they work in, as well as to the wider world. Many projects are organised for the local community by a single club, but some are organised globally.Honorary membership
A sign showing where the local Rotary Club meets, San Marcos, Texas
Female membership
From 1905 until the 1980s, women were not allowed membership in Rotary clubs, although Rotarian spouses, including Paul Harris' wife Jean, were often members of the similar "Inner Wheel" club. Women did play some roles, and Jean Harris made numerous speeches. In 1963, it was noted that the Rotary practice of involving wives in club activities had helped to break down female seclusion in some countries.[25] Clubs such as Rotary had long been predated by women's voluntary organisations, which started in the United States as early as 1790.[26]The first Irish clubs discussed admitting women as members in 1912, but the proposal floundered over issues of social class. Gender equity in Rotary moved beyond the theoretical question when in 1976, the Rotary Club of Duarte in Duarte, California, admitted three women as members. After this club refused to remove the women from membership, in 1978 Rotary International revoked the club's charter. The Duarte club filed suit in the California courts, claiming that Rotary Clubs are business establishments subject to regulation under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race, gender, religion or ethnic origin. Rotary International then appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The RI attorney argued that "... [the decision] threatens to force us to take in everyone, like a motel".[27] The Duarte Club was not alone in opposing RI leadership; the Seattle-International District club unanimously voted to admit women in 1986.[28] The United States Supreme Court, on 4 May 1987, confirmed the Californian decision.[29] Rotary International then removed the gender requirements from its requirements for club charters, and most clubs in most countries have opted to include women as members of Rotary Clubs.[27][30] The first female club president to be elected was Silvia Whitlock of the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, USA in 1987.[31] By 2007, there was a female trustee of Rotary's charitable wing The Rotary Foundation while female district governors and club presidents were common.
Women Rotarians, in 1950s costume at the Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley's annual fundraiser
The change of the second Rotarian motto in 2004, from "He profits most who serves best" to "They profit most who serve best", 99 years after its foundation, illustrates the move to general acceptance of women members in Rotary.
Minority membership
The first Rotary Clubs in Asia were Manila,[35] in the Philippines, and Shanghai, in China, each in July 1919. Rotary's office in Illinois immediately began encouraging the Rotary Club of Shanghai to recruit Chinese members, “believing that when a considerable number of the native business and professional men have been so honoured, the Shanghai Club will begin to realize its period of greatest success.” As part of considering the application of a Club to be chartered in Kolkata (then Calcutta), in India in January 1920 and Tokyo, in Japan in October 1920, Rotary formally considered the issue of racial restriction in membership and determined that the organization could not allow racial restrictions to the organization's growth. In Rotary's legislative deliberations in June 1921, it was formally determined that racial restrictions would not be permitted. Non-racialism was included in the terms of the standard constitution in 1922, required to be adopted by all member Clubs.Rotary and other service clubs in the last decade of the 20th century became open to gay members.[36] Other minorities, in the face of general changes in demographics and declining membership, are also encouraged to join.
Want to join a club in Malaysia? Check out Rotary Club of Subang
