History

The World Affairs Council of Hilton Head Island is celebrating its 30th birthday, having been founded as the Foreign Affairs Seminar (FAS) in 1981, when a small group of like-minded islanders began meeting at the Hilton Head Public Library. The organization drew on its members to present topics of interest and to lead discussions regarding media coverage of foreign policy issues.

The original membership of FAS, most of whom were recently retired from government service, the military, international business, or university professorships, grew to over 50 members within three years.

Vince Heyman, a retired CIA officer and a charter member of the founding group, served in leadership roles and as an active member for over twenty years. He delivered many well researched papers on major global concerns until his retirement in 2004.

FAS soon outgrew its space at the Library and moved to Palmetto Electric’s community room in 1989. It was then that Alex Davit, another founder, joined Vince Heyman as co-director.

By 1991 the membership had once more outgrown its space and was invited to meet at Congregation Beth Yam. In the first year after the move, the membership exceeded 100 and grew to 160 members in the next three years. Although challenged by growth, the Seminar met change with prudent operational response and with consistent dedication to excellence in programming.

In 1992 Fred Drake, a retired international businessman, joined Vince Heyman as co-director and became President the following year. Fred added a much appreciated international business and economic dimension to FAS at a time when economic aspects in foreign affairs were becoming as important as political and military matters. He served as President for two years.

In 1996 Bill Baraclough succeeded Fred Drake as President of the Seminar.  Bill served at the Presidential desk for six years with Terry Vermilye as co-director. Speaker Programs became more and more valuable to the membership and to the community. To curb disappointment among islanders who could not be admitted due to lack of space, publication of meeting dates were withdrawn from the Island Packet — but the wait-list kept growing.

In 2002, Terry Vermilye began his tenure as President. As membership continued to grow, Terry negotiated meeting space with the Main Street Theater and increased seating capacity to 228. Continuing to limit membership by seating capacity, those on the wait-list grew by 200 or more. New members could be admitted only when vacancies occurred.

In order to gain expertise from the influx of new members, the Board of Directors voted to set term limits for the length of service on the board. It was in under Terry’s leadership that the Foreign Affairs Seminar accepted the invitation of the World Affairs Councils of America to become an affiliate.

As an affiliate of World Affairs Councils of America, the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head (WACHH) was founded and incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization in 2004.

Under the leadership of Kent Harrington, president in 2006-2009, the by-laws were revised to create standing committees to select speaker programs, to coordinate website and email communication, to provide educational outreach in the community, and to maintain a strategic planning process. The staff position of Administrative Director was created to support the work of all standing committees and to interface with the membership and the community at large.

Neil Funnell became president in 2009. Under his leadership the Council moved its speaker meetings to the First Presbyterian Church on William Hilton Parkway, thus providing ample space for wait-listed applicants and positioning the organization to welcome additional new members and visitors.

When Neil Funnell retired in 2011, he was succeeded by Don Ferguson, who became President of one of the largest World Affairs Councils on the East Coast. With a membership of between 700 and 800, WACHH is the largest World Affairs Council affiliate without corporate sponsorship.

As WACHH begins its 31st year in the fall of 2011 the Council is offering more special interest programs than ever before. The Board of Directors and the membership-at-large will continue to benefit from the vision and dedication of the original founders of the Foreign Affairs Seminar.