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Denver Lodge 17 Diversity Statement (formally adopted January 2019):

DIVERSITY STATEMENT. Inherent in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks cardinal virtue of Brotherly Love, we support a culture of mutual respect regardless of gender, race, country of origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, military service, disability, and age. We celebrate the diversity of our membership and use their talents and energy to foster the Charitable works of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. We promote a safe environment free of discrimination and harassment. We value the distinct contributions of all our members and require that all members refrain from any action or deed that may be interpreted to conflict with this statement.

As members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks we take an oath to uphold the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America. Federal and state equal employment opportunity laws prohibit sexual harassment and other discriminatory practices. The Denver Lodge #17 embraces these laws. We are proud of their tradition of maintaining an environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. All members have the right to an atmosphere which promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discriminatory practices including sexual harassment. We embrace strict guidelines prohibiting unlawful harassment in any form (i.e., verbal, physical and visual harassment). Such conduct is also prohibited whether it affects either a member’s individual rights and privileges of membership or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.

Read our press in Westword – excerpts below

On a sunny Friday afternoon in August, a usually quiet parking lot in Jefferson Park is filled with vintage cars and motorcycles, the sounds of a live band warming up, and smoke from a grill cooking up burgers and hot dogs for an eager crowd. Is it a pop-up? A tailgate party? No, it’s the Denver branch of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the United States, hosting a classic car show to attract potential members.

Denver Elks Lodge 17 moved into its current home at 2475 West 26th Avenue back in 1973, when the place was a granary and this part of Highland was far from a hot spot. Pieces of the original building, from stained glass and chandeliers to the entire bar top, still account for a good chunk of the decor today. But outside, things have changed. The purple sign declaring that this is Denver Elks Lodge 17 is new, and there are far more impressive developments in the neighborhood. For starters, the block across the street that once held La Loma recently sold for upwards of $30 million. But Denver Elks Lodge 17 has no plans to move.

Its members have worked too hard to get here.

Over the past few years, it’s also developed a reputation as one of the fastest-growing branches in the country.

When Jim Wolf joined the Elks five years ago, he made it his mission to dispel the myth that this was an exclusive club for white men.

Wolf — a white man — had never imagined that he would be an Elks member himself. But while attending a fundraiser that the lodge hosted for Skinner Middle School, he was invited to apply. “A lot of us parents who are now members came to that school fundraiser,” he recalls. “One of the older members who was bartending that night approached several of us, saying that we should become members. And my wife, being very active in the neighborhood, saw the potential here for the community space. Basically, our wives were like, ‘You should join this.’ So a lot of our friends all joined at one time, and we started going to every barbecue and school fundraiser and said, ‘This place is kind of great, if we just put some love into it.’”

Wolf quickly became a trustee on the lodge’s board of directors. In 2019, he wrote a diversity statement that he proposed adding to the lodge bylaws, clarifying certain misleading aspects of Elkdom. “A question we get asked a lot when we approach women to join is, ‘I thought that was a men’s club.’ We’re really trying hard to dispel that,” he says. “This is not a men’s club; it very much is open to everyone, and that was a really strong push for our diversity statement — to say we’re completely inclusive of everyone — and we’ve got to get this out so we don’t have to keep answering that question.”

The diversity statement, which was officially added to the Denver Elks Lodge 17 bylaws in June, also clarifies that while membership requirements do include a belief in God, people from all religions are welcome to join. “When we say ‘Believe in God,’ the way Denver 17 has approached it is, we don’t define God,” Wolf explains. “It has more to do with the oath we take to uphold the Constitution. It’s like going into court and taking an oath. If you don’t believe in anything, it’s an empty oath. You need to believe in something greater than the self, but we don’t define what your god is.”

All new members are informed that political or religious discussions are not allowed within Elks lodges. “The Elks is a communal space to be free and neutral, and it’s strictly prohibited and discouraged to discuss those things. We want everyone to be able to feel they can come in here, commune with their fellow Elks and their community, and not have all that extracurricular stuff coming in,” says longtime Colorado Elk Mark Bolson.

One of the first things that Wolf did as Exalted Ruler was honor the Elks who had come before him, making Denver 17’s three first female members honorary lifetime members. (In addition to the prestige, honorary members also enjoy discounted annual dues.) The three women, who were known as Elkettes before women were admitted to the Elks, were finally allowed to join officially in 1995 and are still active members today. Recognizing their contributions was part of Wolf’s push to change the white-male face of the Elks.
This year, his original 2019 diversity statement was updated to include a paragraph condemning any sort of harassment or discrimination at lodge meetings and in hiring practices. “It’s something that was very important to me when I came in here,” he says. “I wrote it, and now I’ve rewritten it in its current form. I’m very excited by this, and very passionate about this.”

He’s also quick to fix oversights. Informed that the national Elks website, the Colorado Elks Association website and the Denver 17 website all failed to offer any history of women and people of color joining the Elks, Wolf and his colleagues agreed that it was important to recognize these landmark changes. “We established in 1883, and it was a white man’s organization for many years. Not until 1995 were women allowed to join, and it was because of a lawsuit,” he says. “So we know that history, and we want to make sure that we know our history so we don’t repeat it. Push the diversity, talk about what was the history and why we changed, and that we recognize that but we’re not about that. We’re about growing and moving forward.” Within a few days of learning of the omission, Wolf had Denver 17’s website updated to include an honest and complete history of the Elks’ reluctant diversification.

Newer female members at Denver 17, including Wolf’s wife, Lauren, have now partnered with longtime female Elks on an ongoing project to explore and elaborate on the history of women in the BPO Elks.

Denver 17’s commitment to openness, transparency and inclusion has helped the lodge grow exponentially in recent years. Today’s membership is larger, younger, more active and more geographically diverse than it was when Wolf and his friends joined. “There’s very strong Elks in Lakewood, Westminster, Northglenn, Golden and Littleton, and so all those lodges had a head start on us,” he says. “They’ve been active, with large, active memberships, for many years. What we’ve really done in the past couple years is, we’re the fastest-growing lodge in Colorado and one of the fastest-growing lodges in the nation. We’re the youngest lodge in all of Colorado, and the second-youngest of the top ten growing lodges nationally.”

https://www.westword.com/news/denver-elks-lodge-diversity-membership-growth-12337200