Will you give up your right to vote?

Although nothing would make me happier than to have BPW/USA continue to survive and thrive, that is no longer a possibility. We are going to lose our voting rights at the National level no matter the outcome of the merger vote. What is at stake now is the survival of State and Local memberships. If the merger vote were to pass, then it is very likely that the State and Local organizations will be diminished greatly or disappear entirely. The power of BPW has always been its grassroots membership. These members can no longer afford to pay National dues (or license fees) of a magnitude comparable to State and Local fees combined... To grow the membership at the State and Local level, it would be necessary to reduce the fee to a level attractive to new members. If merger is in effect this will not be possible. The choice would then be to pay the fee, which will drive the membership down even more at the State and Local level, or refuse affiliation. Either way, the membership at the State and Local level is destroyed.

The vote on the merger is intrinsically tied to all subsequent decisions. In fact, it is the last vote that we as members of BPW/USA will have on anything related to our logos, trademarks and signature program materials. Unfortunately, the Board has portrayed the vote on merger and the later vote on affiliation as separate and independent votes. They are not that at all. Adoption of merger significantly diminishes alternatives available to the State and Local organizations. Passage of the merger resolution with its current framing reduces the subsequent affiliation vote to a pointless choice between two different ways to destroy the State and Local organizations. The merger resolution could be reframed so as to provide the rights to the logos, trademarks and signature programs to both BPW Foundation and the State Federations simultaneously. If this form of merger passed then the affiliation vote would be a true choice by the State organizations regarding whether affiliation was in their best interest. In the event that the current version of the merger is defeated, there is a distinct possibility that use of the BPW name and signature programs will pass to the State organizations upon dissolution of BPW/USA through direct transfer or bankruptcy proceedings. This is the only outcome that will allow State and Local organizations to continue under the BPW banner.

If we vote for merger with BPW Foundation, we will sacrifice the democratic tradition that has guided BPW/USA since its founding. Decisions about BPW's future will no longer be in the hands of the membership regardless of the outcome of a later vote on affiliation.

Without all the information on the table prior to the vote, I cannot in good faith vote for the merger giving away the democratic ideals our foremothers struggled for in the suffrage movement. Although this has been a hard decision for me, the most persuasive consideration is that the good name of BPW and the programs developed through the membership fees and volunteer work must remain in the hands of the members, subject to their vote. If this cannot be at the National level then it should continue at the State and Local levels.

A vote for merger is a vote to destroy BPW at the State and Local levels.

Virginia Adamson
President, BPW of the Triad
BPW/NC State Conference Chair
Only a 2.5 year old in BPW but love it nonetheless