Functionally, Rotary is
an association of local clubs gathered into a larger organization called
Rotary International. Officially, Rotary is described as an organization
of business and professional people united in service worldwide, to provide
humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations
and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
In 1905, a 37-year-old
attorney name Paul Harris started a movement that would change the world.
He was joined by Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer, Gustavus Loehr, a mining
engineer, and Hiram Shore, a merchant tailor. The founding four were
of English, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry, and represented Protestant,
Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths. Rotary was the world’s first service
organization.
A new Rotarian must be
asked to join a local club by a current member. Membership is still
based on choosing representatives of each business, profession and institution
in a community. The purpose of this “classification” system is to
ensure that club members comprise a true cross section of their community’s
business and professional life.
No, in fact, it wasn’t
until 1988 that membership was opened to women. This lead to a surge
in membership and bringing new energy to Rotary clubs around the globe.
It is the development of
acquaintance as an opportunity for service; high ethical standards in
business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful
occupations, and the dignifying by each Rotarian as an opportunity to
serve society; the application of the Ideal of Service by every Rotarian
to his or her personal, business and community life; the advancement of
international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship
of business and professional people united in the Ideal of Service.
Service Above Self
is the official motto of Rotary. It was entered into the Rotary Constitution
in 1911, after being submitted by Frank Collins of Minneapolis. It
was originally “Service, Not Self” and was later changed to Service Above
Self. Rotarians strive to create order where there is chaos,
beauty where there is ugliness, friendship where there is misunderstanding
and health and happiness where there is poverty and disease.
Today there are more than
1,243,000 Rotarians in over 31,000 clubs in 164 countries. Rotarians
meet regularly to enjoy each other’s friendship as we go about the business
of running our clubs and managing our service efforts. Rotary is the greatest
nonprofit, nongovernmental and nonreligious organization dedicated to doing
good in all the world’s history.
PolioPlus is Rotary International’s
goal of global eradication of polio. In 1985, Rotary launched the PolioPlus
program to protect children worldwide from the cruel and fatal consequences
of polio. In 1988, the World Health Assembly challenged the world to eradicate
polio. Since that time, Rotary's efforts and those of partner agencies,
including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund,
the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and governments
around the world, have achieved a 99 percent reduction in the number of
polio cases worldwide. Rotarians stand at the brink of a great victory and
look forward to celebrating the global eradication of polio in 2005, the
organization's centennial year.
From the earliest days
of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical
standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed
and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was
created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president)
when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.
This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional
lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations
with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to
this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been
translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of
ways. It asks the following four questions:
What else is there to
know about Rotary International?
Rotary is organized at
club, district, and international levels to carry out its program of service.
Rotarians are members of their clubs, and the clubs are members of the
global association known as Rotary International. Each club elects its
own officers and enjoys considerable autonomy within the framework of the
standard constitution and the constitution and bylaws of Rotary International.
Clubs are grouped into 529 Rotary districts, each led by a district
governor who is an officer of Rotary International and represents the RI
board of directors in the field. Though selected by the clubs of the district,
a governor is elected by all of the clubs worldwide meeting in the RI Convention.
A 19-member board of directors, which includes the international
president and president-elect, administers Rotary International. These
officers are also elected at the convention; the selection process for
choosing directors and the nominating committee for president are based
on zones, each of which comprises approximately 15 districts. The board
meets quarterly to establish policies.
While the Rotary International president is the highest officer of
RI, the chief administrative officer of RI is the general secretary,
who heads a staff of about 600 persons working at the international headquarters
in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, USA, or in one of seven international
offices around the world.