Rotary Celebrates Women into Rotary

I love being in Rotary yet never gave any thought to how that became possible.  Saturday night several of us West U Rotarians heard the firsthand account of Sylvia Whitlock of her journey to become one of the first women in Rotary.

On her application to RI, her club (Duarte, CA) opted to just use her initials but when RI found out, they insisted the club expel her.  Instead they chose to be a non-Rotary club, with their logo being the Rotary wheel with an "x" through it. (I love their chutzpah!) The issue ultimately was decided in the US Supreme Court in 1987.  About 150 people raised over $20,000 for Deepa Willingham's Pace Universal organization that educates girls in India, with West U Rotary being the first to pledge.  Thank you, Sylvia and the men of the Duarte Rotary Club for fighting for what was and is "good for all concerned".