The Rotary Foundation has been welcomed into the University of Oxford’s Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors for its continuous support of the university.
Mr. Michael Webb, Trustee of The Rotary Foundation and CCB representative, with The Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes, CH, Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Photo by John Cairns
Since 1949, The Foundation has provided scholarships to more than 200 Oxford scholars including a former American ambassador to the United Kingdom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and investigative reporter with the New York Times, and a Director & Senior Fellow at the Ansari Africa Centre.
“The university is enormously grateful to The Rotary Foundation for their support of graduate scholarships at Oxford,” said Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford. “For almost 70 years, this support has enabled students from around the world to benefit from all that Oxford has to offer.”
Membership of the Court of Benefactors is conferred by the Chancellor on those who have been outstandingly generous towards the university. Members may be individuals, or nominated representatives of companies and trusts.
Michael Webb, trustee of The Rotary Foundation, accepted membership on behalf of the Foundation on 11th October at a ceremony in Oxford.
“The Rotary Foundation is honoured to receive this designation and I am humbled to accept on its behalf,” said Mr Webb. “The Foundation has fostered international interaction and understanding through academic scholars at Oxford for decades, and we will continue our efforts to help develop the world’s future leaders through academic support at this prestigious university.”
The Rotary Foundation is Rotary’s only charity, established over 100 years ago to support Rotary International in its mission to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational and cultural exchange programmes.
Our regular club meeting on Dec 11, will be a holiday special. First of all, we will be visited by Marines who will come to collect our clubs contribution of toys to the Toys for Tots Drive.
After the Toys for Tots presentation, we will be entertained by members of the RB Chorale, who will sing holiday songs for us. We will also make a presentation of a grant to support their scholarship fund.
Valley Elementary Holiday Fair
Valley Elementary Holiday Fair - Dec 1 Valley Elementary School, Bowron Road, Poway 7:00 am to noon. RB SunRise Rotary has been partnering with the PTA at Valley Elementary School for this event since 2010. Al Watson was president that year and he wanted to do something for children. Sue Herndon knew about this PTA event and suggested that we partner with them. This is now the ninth year that we have helped with this event.
Club Holiday Party
Our holiday party this year will be held on Sunday, December 9, at 4:30 pm at Craig Brown's home. Watch your email inbox for information on what you can bring to this potluck event. You will also want to bring an unwrapped item to be auctioned off. As is our club tradition, the auction bidding starts with the items being displayed for a silent auction. After dinner, everyone then gathers for a spirited auction led by Pres. Mike Moffat. This year, Mike will be assisted by both of his elves, Cark Kruse and Jim Roth. This auction is always a fun time because of the hijinks and bantering during the auction.
Rotary International Assembly Hosting
In January, our club again will again hosting a dinner for the incoming district governors who will be attending the Rotary International Assembly training in San Diego. This year's hosting event will be on Wednesday evening, Jan 16, 2019. Be sure to save this date. Our club's event has always been a great way to learn what other Rotarians do in their district in the world. What has been memorable at past events is how the Rotary Motto of Service Above Self plays out in each district whose District Governor Elects we host each year.
We will be using the same caterer, but we will be at a different venue. This dinner has always been a special event for our club because we get to learn about what other districts around the world are doing and see that Service Above Self is a universal commitment in the world of Rotary.
District 5340 Events
District 5340 is the host district for the Rotary International Assembly. Each year DIstrict Governor Elects from around the world come to San Diego for a week of mandatory training. Clubs in the district help with welcoming and hosting a friendship dinner during the week of this training. See the article on the home page of the district website,
Check out the calendar on the District 5340 website to see all of the upcoming District 5340 events and projects listed there.
