Shoving does not happen at Augusta National, of course. But the management does find itself in a tight spot these days. IBM--a sponsor of the Masters, and one of the few that returned after television sponsorship of the prestigious major was halted amid the no-woman controversy--just voted in a new CEO. And it's a she. Traditionally Augusta National has invited the CEO to become a member.
What to do? What to do?
Since the early 2000s when Martha Burk started her protest of Augusta for its failure to admit women as members (guests only!), the club has refused to talk about the issue saying it does not discuss membership. IBM never took a stand on the issue. As I said, the company chose to renew its sponsorship of the Masters, even when other companies took the opportunity to get out.
If Augusta does not extend an invite, what will IBM do?
Burk has been on various national media outlets talking about the current quandary. And is that a little bit of schadenfreude I detect in her comments? She certainly cannot be faulted for it. She was the center of a largely unpopular protest in which she was much maligned.
1 comment:
Augusta can easily replace IBM as a sponsor for the Masters so it is doubtful they're going to be intimidated into changing their membership policy because a woman happens to now be running the company.
In case you haven't noticed, Augusta does't care what you and your friends think about their private club.
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