THE AFFILIATE CHAPTER CORNER How RID Affiliate Chapters Began Dr. Carolyn Ball, CI and CT, NIC RID Affiliate Chapter Liaison
T
he history of why affiliate chapters (ACs) were established and the purpose of ACs is remarkable to look back on. The value of ACs is critical to the success of RID.
To emphasize the importance of ACs, our current RID President, Jonathan Webb, PhD, CI & CT, NIC-Advanced reminds us that, “When people think of RID, they often think of the national board and what happens at that level in terms of policy and standards. When I think of RID, I think about our Affiliate Chapters. The ACs are the very foundation of RID” (J. Webb (personal communication, July 2, 2020). Indeed, to understand how ACs are the very foundation of RID, as President Webb reiterates, we can look back at RID’s history and discover the documentation regarding the importance of ACs as the foundation of RID. For instance, on July 1, 1967, NAD wrote and was awarded a fiveyear grant from the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). The purpose of the grant was to establish a home office for RID. Additionally, the grant made it possible to hire the first Executive Director of RID, Albert T. Pimental. Mr. Pimental was Deaf and the home offices of RID were set up in the NAD offices (Fant, 1990, p. 16). One of Mr. Pimental’s main responsibilities was to create state chapters of RID. Of great interest is that the Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf was established in 1963 and became the first local affiliate chapter of RID. The first AC established after the establishment of RID in 1964 was the Southern California Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 1967. As of the writing of the book, Silver Threads, there were forty-seven ACs and seven provinces of Canada (Fant, 1990, p. 17). It was during the 1982 National Convention in Hartford, Connecticut that the Board of
Directors (BOD) approved a reorganization of RID and ultimately divided the ACs into five regions (Fant, 1990, p. 20). The Importance of Affiliate Chapters At the first RID Convention in 1970 in Delevan, WI, the members of RID were able to discuss and debate their views. The ACs knew the needs of the states where they served and could provide national-level information to the RID members in their state. Also, the ACs could work closely with their local Deaf Communities (Fant, 1990, p. 82). It was then that the national RID Board of Directors determined that national conventions were needed to allow AC’s the ability to discuss issues within their states. At the time, there was no other way of communication for ACs other than writing letters, or expensive phone calls. Similarly, during the national conventions, the national BODs could address the ACs needs and determine how the matters in each respective state could be resolved (Fant, 1990, p. 83). Further, Fant (1990) states, “We need to give much more attention to developing the strength of local affiliates. Workshops need to be conducted to train local affiliate personnel in a way to operate efficiently within their own communities and states, and within the national organization” (p. 83). Looking back at how RID’s ACs were established helps us, as RID members, to see how important each of you are to this organization. In summary, I hope by looking back at RID’s brief history of AC’s, we can see the importance that AC members and leaders have. Thank you for your membership, your leadership, and your service to RID. Reference Fant, L. (1990). Silver Threads. RID Publications: Silver Spring, MD. www.rid.org
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