It is appropriate for Kiwanians to give expression from time to time to their ideals, their conc~rns, their hopes and their plans. This we do here through the adoption of resolutions.
We do not choose to be absolutely of one mind. In adopting resolutions, we are not asked to relinquish-convictions· gained from personB;l experience., loyalties to our respective nati'ons and· cultural heritages, or any of our cherished religious, political, or philosophical principles, which shall be ever diverse in a free societya
We seek rather to identify and give .expression to our unity amid diversity, our common purpose amid multipurpose, and our .agreement in principle amid the vari~d options for· implemeritatiort. We seek by
resolution to identify broad and open roads which, though we may travel in small groups and with differing itineraries, lead us surely toward the same destination of a better world for ·all.
More than two thousand years ago, the great Roman statesman Cicero observed: "There is no surer tie among friends than when they are united in their objects and wisheso"
In this spirit, your Committee on Resolutions now proposes the following for your discussion and adoption.
EXHIBIT 112
MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT
TO THE
INTERNAT·IONAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES
May 6, 1983
As we begin our third board meeting tonight, I want to thank all of you for the great effort and dedication that you have shown toward the work on the board. This has not been an easy year in some respects. We have been faced with a lot of changes, both in physical location and in staff personnel--and we have had to weather a rather severe economic recession, which has had its effect on Kiwanis membership and on the operation of many Kiwanis clubs. Nevertheless, you have aided considerably in and throughout Kiwanis the furtherance of our program of . increasing the level of our service; I'm grateful to all of you.
I particularly want to thank the members who have served on special committees: Mac McKitrick and Mark Arthur, who served on the committee with KI-E Board Members to clarify the Kiwanis International/Kiwanis International-Europe working agreement--Tony Kaiser, Ray Allen and Bob Sinn, who handled a double assignment of developing the potential organization for a women's auxiliary, and who also investigated the pqssibility of non-sponsoring Kiwanis clubs participating in Sponsored Youth programs--and to Frank DiNoto, Noris Lusche and Don Jackson, who served on the committee to draft Provisional District bylaws. Your added work has been of significant importance to Kiwanis, and I'm indebted to all of you for what you have done.
Since our last meeting, Patsy and I have represented Kiwanis International in official visits to the Austria-Germany, Florida, Andean, Nebraska-Iowa, New Zealand, and Philippine Luzon Districts. We attended the second meeting of the Kiwanis International-Europe Board of Trustees in Zurich and the Asia-Pacific Conference in Cebu City. We have visited Kiwanis clubs in Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and India--and we have presented the charter on behalf of Immediate Past-President Mac McKitrick to the Club of Columbo, Sri Lanka.
Generally speaking, we have found the clubs in the districted areas to be sound and functioning well. They have successfully undertaken many exceptional projects of service in their communities, and we are confident that a high level of service activity and continued growth in these areas is assured. In the undistricted areas, the story is not good. We find that the clubs in Puerto Rico are struggling--and whereas there were, at one time, as many as six (6) clubs in Puerto Rico, there are now only three ( 3) viable clubs. In Hong Kong we
condition; however, the second club is non-existent. There are two clubs functioning in India, in Calcutta and New Delhi.
The club in Kampur is not meeting. The biggest disappointment was the club in Ba~gkok, Thailand. We found that the club which had forty members just a few years ago had gone out of existence. Strong efforts were made during our visit to regenerate this club, and we believe that a working group has been established to do so. We are hopeful that the club will be functioning by the end of this administrative year.
This points out a weakness in Kiwanis growth overseas.
Where we have built single clubs or, at the most, two or three clubs in a locality and left them without guidance and direction in their service programs, they have fallen on hard times, generally speaking. The reason for this is not clear. But we know from experience that we have to nurture these clubs far more than is needed for clubs in districted areas. It has occurred to me that we should gather these undistricted clubs into a provisional district at the earliest opportunity, to give central guidance and support to these clubs in their early years. Therefore, I am asking the Board Committee on Member Services to consider the possibility of organizing a Provisional District of South Asia, which would include the clubs of India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong--and which would operate under the guidelines being proposed for provisional districts at this board meeting.
The situation in the Republic of China continues to be of concern. A draft of a modified set of district by-laws was given to Bob Detloff and myself when we were at the Asia-Pacific Conference. However, we found this proposed draft to be unacceptable and have so informed Governor Su reiterating that he must follow the directives that were given to him earlier in the year. Governor Su is coming to Indianapolis on Monday to discuss the matter with us.
At the Asia-Pacific Conference, the method of voting became the center of discussion, consuming most of the first day of the Conference. In the end, the method approved by this Board--i.e., voting by the chief delegates--was adopted for this conference. The conference proceeded to reaffirm the nomination of Past Governor Avelino Tanjuakio to be the designated representative from the Asia-Pacific region on the Board of Trustees of Kiwanis International.
The draft of the Asia-Pacific Conference procedures, submitted to all of you, was referred back to committee, with instructions that a revised draft be presented to the International Boaid that would meet the needs of the area, yet overcome the objections expressed by some of you. We expect this draft to be acted upon at our next Board Meeting. In this regard, I will ask the Finance Committee to see if there is sufficient money in the President's budget to permit providing some monetary help to the Committee to be in attendance at Vienna.
I should note that, in my visit to the Andean District, I was assisted greatly by Convention Manager Raymond Jeanes, who has a remarkable rapport with the Kiwanians in South America.
Without Ray, I would have found it much more difficult to communicate our points of view, or to inspire expansion in this part of the world. Ray does an excellent job in communicating with and relating to these Kiwanians, and I want to publicly commend him for that. Likewise, in my Asia-Pacific tour I was assisted equally by Assistant Secretary Bob Detloff, who has an exceptionally fine rapport with the Kiwanians in that part of the world. In fact, I can say without reservation that Bob's work and influence in that area have done more to hold Kiwanis together than any other single factor. I commend his work in the Asia-Pacific area to your consideration and support.
During this board meeting there are a number of things that we must bring to a satisfactory conclusion: 1. We must take action on the report of the special study committee to clarify the Kiwanis International/Kiwanis International-Europe agreement; 2. We must develop new minimum requirements for establishing a Kiwanis club in a new country. I am still of the opinion that we must have prospects for more than one or two clubs when we go into a new country. However, this might be mitigated if we had a provisional district to which the new club could be attached; 3. I would hope that we could complete the .revisions to the Policies and Procedures manual;
4. We must establish the proper level of financial subsidy for Key Club and Circle K. Again, I think it is Kiwanis' obligation to provide for the cost of sponsorship, which include not only the salaries of the people who work in those d~partments but also the expenses (e.g., literature, telephone, overhead, etc.) that would constitute sponsorship expenses, whether on an International or a local basis; 5. I would hope that we take final action at this meeting on the matter of establishing a women's auxiliary; 6. I am still very interested in developing a basic Kiwanis education library that would be given (or sold) to each Kiwanis member; 7. We must take final action on the matter of the administration of the Kiwanis clubs in French-speaking Africa.
some beneficial results, we cannot let it die with just the single round-up in April. Unless we find a way to continuously and effectively promote membership in existing clubs, we are faced with financial situations in the future that would become unbearable. In my opinion we must concentrate our efforts on developing membership in the existing clubs. The building of new clus in most districts will aggravate an already nearly uncontrollable situation. Outside North America, Kiwanis is still undeveloped, and we should. continue to concentrate on building clubs in those areas.
The matter of the dues increase still is of concern. While all of the areas I have visited have indicated very strong support for the dues increase, after I have had the chance to explain to them what our financial situation and outlook are., I have not been able to get to all of the Kiwanis areas.
Therefore, we still are facing a strong selling job. · There is organized opposition to the dues increase, led by the same forces who led the opposition in 1982. We. must be prepared to meet that opposition, head-on.
There is one other problem that gives me great concern--the continuous repetition of certain amendments to the Bylaws, coming from various activist groups. I would ask the Board Committee on Program Services to consider the- drafting of an amendment to the Constitution that would provide that, once a Bylaw amendment has been proposed and fails to receive approval, it or a similar amendment cannot be brought up until the third convention following its last introduction.
Once again, I commend to you the Board spirit that we have observed in our last two meetings. I place before you once again the need to maintain board confidentiality. If we have concern abou-::: what we say being used out of context in forums other than the board, it limits the freedom we have as Board Members to fully discuss the issues facing us. I know that all of you feel, as I do, that Kiwanis benefits from frank and open discussion in Board Meetings--and that what we say here should be confidential and within these walls.
And I know that you have tried very hard to maintain that posture. Let us continue to do so. May I also commend to you the camaraderie and good will that we have enjoyed this year. Once again, we must work hard, but let's enjoy our work, too. We have formed friendships that will last the rest of our lives. I shal 1 always consider each one of you to be my best friend.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN T. ROBERTS