Vintage throwback photo: GRSP Class of 1965-66 at the GRSP Conclave in 1965

GRSP will welcome 43 international students with the opening ceremonies for the Class of 2023-24 at Conclave in Macon August 18-20 - hosted by District 6920 under the direction of the Rotary Club of Macon, the Rotary Club of Macon North and the Rotary Club of Downtown Macon All Rotarians, host families, GRSP Leadership, Trustees, Foundation Board, Staff, Emeritus members, former Trustees, friends of GRSP plus alumni are invited to attend and reservations are required.

Conclave is the kickoff event for the GRSP year and allows the international college scholarship students to interact with one another as well as GRSP leadership, GRSP Foundation board, trustees, emeritus members, host families, club presidents, alumni and Rotarians throughout the state. Students, trustees, officers and host families will participate in a general session at 12:30 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church Macon. The welcome dinner for registered Rotarians and guests will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Fall Line Brewing Company Friday, featuring a taco bar for $45 per person. Students will provide a short introduction along with naming their trustee as well as their sponsoring Rotary Club or Clubs.

Students and registered Rotarians will spend Saturday morning in sessions in an orientation and overview of GRSP. Students will also rehearse for Saturday’s Cabaret, the popular variety-style performance and parade of flags, which is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. with a coat-and-tie dinner and program at First Presbyterian. The Southern-fare dinner will be $55 per person. Saturday concludes at Hotel Forty Five with a student mixer in the Reckon Café and a Rotary mixer at the Hightales Rooftop Bar.

GRSP scholars are pre-registered for the event and meals and will be hosted by Macon Rotarian families. Rotarians and guests may register for Friday and/or Saturday dinners through the registration information below as well. On Sunday morning, the students will have breakfast with their weekend host families before returning to their respective colleges and universities or their club host family.

Registration is now open for Conclave, please visit the GRSP Calendar at https://grsp.org/calendar-of-events/

The first GRSP class consisted of four students from Norway, France, Czechoslovakia and Greece. Since the program’s inception in 1946, Georgia Rotarians have brought 3,775 students from 109 different countries and every continent except Antarctica. Ninety-seven Georgia Rotary Clubs participate in this program which is exclusive to Georgia and not replicated in Rotary. The most recent class of 2022-23 featured 44 students consisting of 27 females and 17 males from 21 countries, including our first student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These students study in 23 colleges and universities throughout Georgia, and as the GRSP logo states, we have literally been “bringing nations together since 1946!” Full and partial scholarship options are available. For more information or to have a GRSP representative provide a program for your club, please email grsp@grsp.org.