Sylvia Whitlock is an American humanitarian who was the first woman to serve as president of a

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

Early life and education

Sylvia Whitlock was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and educated in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. She returned to New York City after high school and earned a B.A. in Psychology from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. She later moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where she earned a master's degree in Education from Cal Poly, Pomona and a Ph.D. in education from

Claremont Graduate School The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna C ...

. Whitlock earned another master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

Career

Whitlock worked as a Statistical Clerk for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

before moving to California to pursue a career in Education. She became an elementary school principal in Duarte, CA in 1982. She served as an educator for forty years before beginning a second career as a therapist.

Rotary Club of Duarte

In 1987, Whitlock became president of the Rotary Club of Duarte making her the first woman to hold such a position within Rotary International. The chapter's charter had previously been revoked in 1978 after they violated Rotary International policy by admitting women. The Duarte club filed suit in the California courts claiming that Rotary Clubs are business establishments subject to regulation under California's

Unruh Civil Rights Act The Unruh Civil Rights Act (colloquially the "Unruh Act") is an expansive 1959 California law that prohibits any business in California from engaging in unlawful discrimination against all persons (consumers) within California's jurisdiction, where ...

, a law that bans discrimination based on race, gender, religion or ethnic origin. Rotary International appealed the decision to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. On May 4, 1987, the United States Supreme Court confirmed the Californian decision supporting women, in the case ''Board of Directors, Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte''. After the ruling, Rotary International ended their policy of gender restrictions.

Humanitarianism

Whitlock supports a number of charitable causes. She previously established an AIDS clinic in Jamaica and continues to support the Piyali Girls School near

Calcutta, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

References

Hunter College alumni Azusa Pacific University alumni Claremont Graduate University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Improve categories, date=November 2022