History of the North Carolina JCI Senate

The North Carolina Jaycees International Senate was chartered in 1975 during the presidency of A. J. (Jim) Morton of Charlotte. The JCI Senate organization existed prior to this date as a loosely knit entity. In 1968, thirty (30) NC JCI Senators met for breakfast during a NC Jaycee State meeting. This is the first known gathering of the Senators in North Carolina. No officers were elected. These “Mentors to the Jaycees” agreed to meet at future NC Jaycee state meetings. These pioneers agreed that their “reason to be” would be to provide support for the NC Jaycees (both state and local organization) and meet to renew friendships. In time it was felt that a state JCI Senate president needed to be appointed or elected. Initially, for several years the NC Jaycee State Presidents appointed the president of the JCI Senate. Eventually the policy of the NC Jaycee was rewritten to have the outgoing State Jaycee President to automatically become the JCI Senate President. This method of selecting the Senate president was rescinded in 1973. In 1974 at the Annual Meeting in Raleigh, Poe Cox of Garner was elected to serve as the first JCI Senate president under the new NC Jaycee policy. A full slate of officers was also elected, including vice president, secretary and treasurer. At mid-year convention, Winston-Salem, in 1974, Senators voted to become affiliated with the United States JCI Senate. The US JCI Senate had only recently become an organized entity at the national convention, Atlanta, Georgia in 1972. North Carolina’s JCI Senate application for membership in the U.S. JCI Senate was approved in Miami, Florida in 1975. The NC JCI Senate was incorporated on the 4th day of June 1999.