Chronology of MDI Membership Class Definitions
This page describes the history of the development of classes of membership in MDI, organized by date.
Summary-Comparison of MDI Membership Definitions by Date
In this table, the column headings link to the various source texts. Minor changes in wording and obvious grammatical errors have been ignored. The dues schedule is approximate, inasmuch as changes to the dues amount(s) (an administrative process) did not always coincide with changes in the definitions of membership (a more formal by-laws amendment process).
| Feb 2000 | Late 2000? | Jun 2001 | Jul 2004 & May 2008 | Jan 2009 | Jan 2011 | ||||||||
| description | MDI Member | "Alumni" | General | Alumni | Interim | General | Alumni | Associate | Member | ||||
| will strive to uphold and live by the Code of Honor of MDI and the standards of any Team or unit[4] of which he chooses to be a member | [5] | * | * | *[4] | *[4] | *[4] | *[4] | *[4] | *[4] | *[4] | |||
| will [also] strive to uphold and live by the Core Values of MDI | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | ||||||
| will pay dues (as set by the Board of Directors) | [5] | $120 | $30 | $150 | $50 | $150 | $180 | $50 | $180 | $180 | |||
| shall have reached the age of majority in his resident locale | * | * | * | * | * | * | |||||||
| will have signed a Release of Liability form | [5] | * | * | * | * | ||||||||
| has successfully completed an initiation process sanctioned by the Board of Directors | [5] | * | * | * | * | * | * | *[1] | * | ||||
| was a member in good standing prior to 2004 or has completed New Member Training or Point Program | [5] | [3] | * | [2] | * | [1] | |||||||
| is a member in good standing of an MDI team or organized assembly of men within MDI | [5] | * | * | * | * | * | |||||||
| adheres to the chain of command of MDI | [5] | * | * | * | * | * | * | ||||||
| will commit to the MDI Division for the duration of the six-month calendar cycle [and] recommit each six calendar months [in January and July] | * | ||||||||||||
| can vote | [5] | * | * | * | * | ||||||||
notes:
[1] "Associate" members were given a period of one year to complete the "initiation process" requirement. Once completing this and beginning the New Member Training or Point Program, the Associate member became a General member. This was explained in a January 2009 newsletter.
[2] From July 2004 until redefinition in January 2009, the "Interim" membership class was available only to men who had successfully completed an initiation event and were waiting for the beginning of a New Member Training or Point Program. Beginning with the May 2008 revision, a man who begins but does not complete one of these programs could petition an MDI official for a second opportunity, and if approved would become an Interim member again.
[3] In the original 2001 definition of membership, all men "that were members of the Men's Division prior to the creation of MDI" were grandfathered in. The requirements for membership were formalized over a period of about one year; the mdionline.org website in July 2001 has the earliest definitive published version, but the individual membership requirements appear in other earlier places such as the "Moving Forward" newsletter.
[4] With the July 2004 revision, "the Core Values of MDI" was added to the "strive to uphold" wording, and "Team or unit" became simply "team".
[5] Although there were no written membership requirements like those that arose with the MDI corporate by-laws, each of these items is mentioned in a November 1999 letter by an MDI founder: follow a code of honor; elect representatives to a board of directors; pay dues; sign a membership agreement; maintain and follow a leadership structure; organize around the Men's Team as a fundamental unit.
Timeline
Before MDI (1980's - 1999)
The Men who were to create MDI came from two older organizations: the Sterling Men's Division (SMD) and New Frontiers (NF).
SMD has a hierarchical organization with a clear chain of command providing direction on all matters and policies. Each man belongs to a team, each team belongs to a division and each division belongs to a region; approximately 3 to5 regions (varying through the organization's recent history) make up the entire organization.
NF has separate teams that are granted almost complete autonomy and authority over their own affairs. Higher-level leaders help organize the men in shared goals such as producing training events.
Early Period (2000 - 2001)
Early 2000 : The new organization has recently begun to form. Leaders of SMD and NF meet to begin working out how to run a new organization. Communications from these meetings indicate that there is a desire to keep some of the elements of both: the regional and division structure for the former-SMD men who are used to that structure, and also providing for NF teams to retain their culture; while allowing greater freedom for all to consider and implement new policies.
2001 June 6 : Board of directors adopts a policy providing for an "Alumni Membership" class. They suggest "low" dues to "reflect the low expectation and low service provided".
2001 July 6 : Oldest known version of the mdionline.org website (now defunct) which describes the criteria for membership in MDI in words directed at the general public. Dues are described as being $120/year for both types of member. (This website changed a few times over the next few years, but this text remained unchanged.)
2001 July 28 : During the Internationals in Los Angeles, the Alumni class of membership is discussed in detail.
2001 Summer : At approximately this time, an "original" version of the MDI Bylaws should have been created. It presumably defined two classes of membership in a manner similar to that described on the mdionline.org website.
Middle Period (2002 - 2007)
2002 March 10 : The first Legacy Discovery event is held, at Camp Will-A-Way near Atlanta. Within a year the other regions have each produced an LD event and the event is produced more frequently in following years.
2002 - 2004 : During this period, an increased emphasis on inviting men to join the team meetings without having first done a weekend initiation event leads to the need to formalize the process of deciding how and when such men become members.
2004 July 21 : Newly adopted Bylaws now define three classes of membership. The new "Imterim" class formalizes the status of guests who wish to join without (yet) having done an initiation event.
Recent Period (2008 - 2011)
2008 May 7 : Newly adopted Bylaws with rewritten wording to clarify some of the sections defining the classes of membership.
2008 June 7 : During the Internationals in New York, the Board informs the men that they are working on replacing the "Interim" membership class with an "Associate" class.
2008 July 18 : Newsletter from the Board of Directors describes "current work on a proposal" to eliminate the "Alumni" class of membership and replace the "Interim" class with "Associate".
2008 November 1 : Another newsletter from the Board of Directors repeats the message from July 2008, this time with "Alumni" restored.
2009 Jan : The Bylaws are amended from the May 7th 2008 version to now define an "Associate" class of membership to replace the previous "Interim" class. Contrary to the July 2008 newsletter, the "Alumni" class has not been removed.
2009 Jan 19 : The changed portion of the Bylaws is made into the PDF file "Membership bylaws.pdf".
2009 Jan 20 : The "Membership bylaws.pdf" file is placed on the mensdivisionsinternational.com website. An email from the Board of Directors details the new Associate membership class and elaborates on each part of its definition.
2009 Aug 5 : Bylaws amended again; this change does not affect the membership definitions. (The changes concern the procedure for changing the time of a general meeting, sending notice of special meetings, and authorization to approve and implement a budget each year).
Early 2010 : An announcement to the members suggests that the organization's name will change as early as June 2010.
2010 Jun 10 : An email sent to the men in the New England region hints at the changes being decided by the board.
2010 Aug 16 : Through a newsletter titled "News from the Board of Directors", the board tells the membership that MDI's membership requirements have been simplified, eliminating the Alumni and Associate classes and leaving the requirements of initiation event and membership in a team up to the local regions and divisions to determine individually. (The newsletter was announced via an email titled "Are you a driver?")
2011 Jan 1 : The changes from 2010 Aug 16 take effect.
"MDI Success" Period (future)
A new organization, represented by the website MDISuccess.com, (which for a while was provisionally titled "Mentoring Men to Lead") is making efforts to bring in members in new ways. It may well experience further changes in membership policy as a result.
revisions:
20091015 oldest on record; add 2002 events and describe "Interim" class in 20040721 entry;
20101010 add summary-comparison table; 2001 website started in July or earlier; add 2010 events; MMtL now indefinitely postponed
This page was written in the "embarrassingly readable" markup language RHTF, and was last updated on 2019 Jan 05.
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