District Historian

In my last ESK column, I reported on the history (or should I say herstory) on how women were ultimately admitted to Kiwanis membership, precipitated by the legal action taken by one woman, Marcia Baer, representing the Kiwanis Club of Ridgewood New Jersey in 1985.
Fourteen years earlier in 1971, the admission of women in the all-male Circle K organization was also precipitated by the courageous actions of a few Circle K leaders and the delegates to the Circle K International convention who voted in favor of the change.
However, that "radical" change to the Circle K organization was met with resistance from Kiwanis International which retained "veto power" over any changes made to Circle K governing documents.  Although Circle K's origins as a fraternity house at Washington State College in the 1930's was abandoned in the late 1940's at Carthage College in Illinois, the embedded roots in this all-male organization survived. By 1955, Kiwanis International had sponsored as many as 150 Circle K clubs in the United States and adopted the three tenets of Service, Leadership, and Fellowship (with the understanding, of course, that fellowship still meant male only).
It took two years of debate and one bold move on the part of Circle K leaders in 1973 to convince the Kiwanis International board to approve the admission of women.
Unlike the legal action brought by a woman against Kiwanis in 1985, the change happened only after leaders on the Circle K Board, among them a co-founder of the newly chartered Circle K Club at Fordham University in the Bronx, threatened to end their relationship with Kiwanis and join Rotary.
On Feb. 6, 1973, Kiwanis International approved the change in Circle K's governing documents to become the first co-ed organization in the Kiwanis Family.
The progressive actions by Circle K leaders in the early 1970's was followed by the election of Fordham's George Latimer as 1973-74 Circle K International President and Baruch College's Greg Faulkner (currently Assistant New Yord District CKI Administrator), as the first African-American to serve in the position of Circle K International President in 1975-76.
New York leadership at the highest levels of Circle K also influenced the change that followed in 1977 allowing women to join Key Clubs. Among the first females elected to the Key Club International Board was Renee Wetstein, now a Family Law attorney, who was a member of Spring Valley's Ramapo High School between 1977-81.  
In 1984, Susan McClernon, now an innovative health care leader from Minnesota, became the first female elected President of Circle K International. In 1996, Broadcast Journalist, author, and Today Show co-host Craig Melvin from South Carolina was elected as the first African-American President of Key Club International.
Making change takes both courage and wisdom. New York Kiwanians are proud to know that members of its New York Kiwanis Family displayed the necessary courage and wisdom a half century ago that brought more diversity and inclusion into our organization's leadership ranks.

Column Posted on Web Site July 14, 2021