The Age Debate

Something that is raised every year, both for the RI Rotaract Committee / RI Board to consider and on RotaractNET and even ROTI, is the issue of the upper age limit of Rotaract. So it was little surprise that the very first item someone asked Marcos to raise with the RI Rotaract Committee, before this new year had even started, was to raise the age limit...

The issue is usually brought up by the older members of Rotaract facing the prospect of having to leave. They aren't ready to go, so they suggest, wouldn't it be better to raise the age limit, to 35, or even 40? That way, we would have more members in Rotaract, right?

Wrong!

There is a very good reason why raising the age limit is always rejected by the RI Board. Quite simply, it will cripple the Rotaract program. Let's take a look at the reasons for this, as discussed on RotaractNET last year:

Problems with having mostly older members in a club:

The difficulty with younger members relating to older members

The age gap between 18 and 30 is huge, particularly if you are at the younger end of the scale. 18 year olds can have immense difficulty relating to 20 year olds, let alone 25 year olds, 30 year olds, and god forbid, 35 year olds. :p
(On a personal note, a couple of years ago one of our 21 year old members was complaining how she disliked a particular pub because the main people who go there were so *old*, because they were all 25!! I was 25 years old at the time, so that made me feel very old!)

There is a world of difference between younger members - generally uni students who are living at home and don't have much in the way of disposable income - and members in their mid-late 20s who generally have jobs, have moved out of home, and a larger income; they are even starting to settle down, get married, maybe even start families. Without a balance of members throughout that age range, you run the risk of alienating younger members by organising events that don't interest them or that are out of their price range. Once you start allowing members in their 30s, they may have children etc, totally different interests and income levels again, and that risk of alienation increases even more.

Another thing to think about, excluding Rotaract, as an 18 year old, how many of your friends were 25? 30? 35? 40? And vice versa... how many 30 year olds generally hang out with 18 year olds? What about 35 year olds hanging out with 18 year olds? As you can see, the bigger the age gap, the less likelihood of "naturally" associating with people of those ages, because the differences in maturity, interests, and financial status is staggering. Having members aged 30+ in a club are a big turn off for any 18 - 24 year olds considering joining, especially if there aren't many younger members for them to associate with.

If you aren't convinced, take a look at your local Rotary clubs. In Australia, Rotary is still very much seen as an "old boys club". Most of the Rotarians are aged 50 or above, though of course you have the exceptions. How many Rotaractors here join Rotary? Practically none. The primary reason they give? The age difference. Rotaractors of 30 don't feel they can relate to Rotarians who are old enough to be their parents or grandparents. Another reason is the cost; the older Rotarians generally have much larger incomes, which generally prohibits young people from being able to participate as Rotary fees and events generally cost more than younger people can afford.

Lack of opportunities for younger members to take on leadership roles

If you keep older members around, they tend to stay in the leadership positions, which tends to deny younger members the ability to assume responsibility. That can make them lose interest, if they feel they have to wait many years before getting the opportunity to participate on the board at least, let alone assuming a leadership role at the district level. Rotaract is all about providing leadership opportunities for all members, and if young people aren't getting those opportunities within a year or two of joining, you run a very high risk of losing them as members.

A wide age range does not guarantee a larger membership base

While you would expect a club with a larger age range to have a larger membership, you may find that it would actually stay the same, or decrease.

The Rotary clubs in my district, with no age limits, are generally no bigger than my own Rotaract club. My Rotaract club is currently bigger than 1/5 of the Rotary Clubs in my district, and are only a member or two smaller than the majority of the remaining Rotary clubs.

The same problem can be seen in organisations like Junior Chamber or Apex, which are also service organisations, but with an upper age limit of 40. The clubs here in Australia generally have similar membership numbers as our Rotaract clubs - the large age range certainly does not see them have a larger membership. And most of their members are in the 30 - 40 age range, for the reasons given above... younger members cannot relate to people that age, and cannot afford the activities.

Some other benefits of the current age limit

The age limit the the only was of getting rid of some "undesirables". It may be hard to get members at times, but it is also hard to get rid of them - if they are bad for
the club - eg if they are a deterent for new members to come along.

Some personal observations from Rotaractors (who are actually at the upper end of the age scale!):

"I have watched all the other clubs in my district fold because the ages of club members were all between 26 - 30, and they could NOT attract any younger members as they could not relate to people this age. Once they all turned 30, that was the end of each club... If you allow these members to remain until they turn 35, you only prolong the agony of the club folding, as it would be even harder still to recruit young members."

"I think that at best extending the age bracket will just delay things if anything. If we extended it to say 32(in line with the previous jump from 28 to 30) - you would still be facing the exact same issues in 2 years."

Committee Goals and Strategy for 2006/07

We received our first correspondence from 2006/07 RI Rotaract Committe Chair on July 4th, outlining her goals for the year ahead.

The issues she raised include the following:

Concerns noted at Malmo

• Lack of communication between Rotary/Rotaract


• Lack of professional and leadership training in Rotaract clubs


• Lack of District financial support: Attendance of DRR or other at pre-convention meetings


• Failure on the part of District to provide leadership training for Rotaract Club Presidents


• Statistics: Inaccurate records held by RI as a result of Districts/Rotaract Clubs not furnishing updated information) [Side note: I disagree that the issue is with clubs not sending their data to RI. In my own personal experience, and from talking with many others, we have found the problem to be at RI's end, with RI simply not updating the information even if it is provided to them well in advance, and many times over!]


• Rotaractors need and want a stronger identity – Mission Statement (Charter arising from Interota Sept 2005 Munich) [Side note (Marcos): I think that our mission is clearly stated, and the problem is that not many rotaractors read the Rotaract Constitution. The second article in the constitution IS the statement of our mission].


• Improved communication – use MDIO’s for dissemination of information


• Rotaract perceived as a New Generation program; NOT a youth program but should run parallel as a Rotary membership resource


• Founded in 1968: Is it time to seriously review the Rotaract program?

Initiatives dealt with previously needing continuity

• Simultaneous interpretation at the RI Convention: Last year Margarita Gascón de Katan raised the question of simultaneous interpretation at the pre-convention meeting for Spanish speaking Rotaractors with the General Secretary, Ed Futa. The General Secretary responded that this was not feasible as so few Spanish speaking Rotaractors had registered. With membership growing in Spanish speaking Districts, attendance by Spanish speaking Rotaractors on the premise that simultaneous interpretation will be provided, should certainly be encouraged and followed up, not only for Spanish but other foreign language groups.


• Improving and Maintaining Rotary-Rotaract Relations - ongoing serious concern


• “Promoting Socially Responsible Leaders”


• Rotaract International Charter - Rotaractors need a stronger identity

My own personal opinion is that the "lack of identity" issue raised is due to a lack of understanding by both Rotarians and Rotaractors about what Rotaract is really about - that we are a professional development program, which builds leaders through offering hands on practical experience through service projects... we are NOT a junior Rotary Club or a service organisation per se. The lack of understanding is through a lack of education and training, again at both Rotary and Rotaract levels.

I read the "Charter" proposed at Interota, and did not sign it, disturbed at the push for more recognition of Rotaract as just a Community Service Organisation. A "mission statement" was proposed, which is strange, as we have 5 goals of Rotaract, which are very clearly stated at the beginning of the Standard Rotaract Constitution!! To me, it seems such things are just adding more bureaucracy to Rotaract. It appears we need more training as to what RI has declared that Rotaract is about - as far as Constitutions go, ours is actually very clear and easy to understand! I feel that if Rotaract focuses on the leadership and career development as we are ought to (just read the first few pages of the Rotaract Handbook!) then a lot of the "identity" issues will disappear.

What do you think? Are you interested in seeing my response to the RI Rotaract Committee about each of these issues raised?

Additional issues raised by Rotaractors on the RI Rotaract Committee:

• Changing the title "District Rotaract Representative" to "District Rotaract Coordinator", to reflect better the leadership nature of the role (a detailed justification of why I think this change would be beneficial is available, if anyone is interested in seeing it?)


• Some sort of grievance / conflict resolution policy added in to the Rotaract Constitution - at present, Rotary Clubs and Districts can and do ignore their obligations, particularly in funding / provision of training. All RI does about this at present is email clubs / districts to state what the rules are, but there is no way to enforce the rules, or seek resolution to any Rotaract / Rotaract conflicts.


• Development of Rotaract in countries where Rotary exists, but not chartered Rotaract Clubs


• PR - rather, the lack of initiative shown by Rotaractors in this area. It is felt that we as Rotaractors need to be more proactive, and perhaps seek the help of Rotarians and resources provided by RI to promote ourselves better

I have also alerted the RI Rotaract Committee to our plans to get the Global Rotaract Information Center MDIO approved. The first set of documentation about it has already been sent to RI... If you district would like to get involved, please let me know, and I can send you all the documentation for it in your choice of language: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese (one document is missing) and Greek (one document is missing).

How is the RI Rotaract Committee chosen?

A number of people have asked how they can get on the RI Rotaract Committee. There is no easy answer to this question, as it is not a democratic process. To put it simply, the RI Rotaract Committee are selected at the whim of the RI President.

No, it's not fair. Very few Rotaractors get the opportunity to serve on the committee, especially as the number of Rotaractors appointed changes every year (apparently the rules call for 4 Rotarians to be appointed for 3 years, 2 Rotarians for 1 year, and at least 3 Rotaractors appointed for 1 year - there is no requirement to have the members evenly distributed around the globe, so quite often many regions are not represented), and this is not helped when some manage to get reappointed for a 2nd term, either the year after their first or even a few years later. It means that the majority of very capable Rotaractors who could do a great job on the committee will never get the opportunity. Unfortunately, that's life. All of the Rotary International task forces and advisory committees are appointed by the RI President - that's just how things work at that level, and it's not about to change anytime soon - so if he doesn't know you exist, you have no hope of getting on.

One thing that does seem to be a requirement for Rotaractors to be appointed to the RI Rotaract Committee is a perceived high level of Rotaract knowledge and leadership. It appears that to be considered for the RI Rotaract committee, you need to have served as a DRR. So if you haven't served as a DRR, your chances of making it onto the committee are slim to non-existant.

I spoke with some Rotarians on the RI Rotaract Committee at the Rotaract Preconvention in Chicago in June 2005, and they had no idea how they came to be appointed to the committee! But for Rotaractors to be appointed, there seem to be 2 main ways:

1. Meet the RI President in person

This appears to be how Glen Estess appointed the Rotaractors to the RI Rotaract Committee in 2004/05 - he mentioned during his speech at the Rotaract Preconvention that met some Rotaractors during visits to their countries, and any that "stood out" were remembered and appointed! So if the RI President doesn't visit your city prior to taking office, and he chooses this method of selecting members for the committee, you have little chance of making it unless he happens to visit your city, and you are able to actually meet and talk with him!

2. Be recommended by a Senior Rotarian

This appears to be the more usual way of being appointed to the RI Rotaract Committee - it is how Marcos and I were appointed. After you have served as a DRR (or during your year as DRR), approach any senior Rotarians you know personally, and ask them to write a recommendation on your behalf to the RI President Elect (RIPE). By "senior" Rotarian, we recommend at least a DG, but a current or past RI Director or RI President is better. Because the more senior the Rotarian, the more likely the RIPE is to know them personally, and the more likely he is to take that Rotarian's recommendations on board. It is possible that recommendations of the Rotarians on the RI Rotaract Committee have some bearing too. But either way, it is important that you do know the Rotarian recommending you, and that they are aware of your knowledge and achievements (sending them a resume might help), because they are unlikely to recommend someone they don't know. After all, how do they truly know you are capable, if all they have to go by is your word?

Important Note: The appointments are normally made in January, so make sure you get a Rotarian(s) to nominate you sometime in the first half of the Rotary year!

How can you maximise your chances of being selected?

Knowing that very few Rotaractors are selected to serve on the RI Rotaract Committee and that there is no way to guarantee that any particular Rotaractor, no matter how well known within Rotaract (eg very active on RotaractNET) will be selected, there are perhaps some things you can do to increase your chances of being selected (providing you have served as a DRR):

• Be very active in Rotaract, in your club, district, and at an international level.


• Be PASSIONATE about Rotaract. Be genuine about your involvement; don't just participate in it to try to win kudos for yourself by being appointed to the committee.


• Learn as much as you can about Rotaract. Visit as many different Rotaract Clubs as you can, and see how they conduct themselves, and perhaps take some ideas from them. Attend as many training seminars as possible, including Rotaract Preconventions and Interota, or conferences and assemblies of your MDIO, and participate on RotaractNET. Attending multidistrict conferences also has the benefit that you are likely to meet Rotarians from other counties too.


• Attend Rotary projects and functions, especially any training seminars open to Rotaract (such as PETS), so Rotarians can get to know you