Former Augusta Golf Club Member Discusses Resignation
CHUNG: Who is our "Person of the Day?" We might have saved our selection for the end of the broadcast, but this person made significant news today and we didn't want to wait. Thomas Wyman, the former CBS chief executive, is breaking away from the boys and taking a stand. He is the first member of the Augusta National Golf Club to resign in protest of its policy of barring women from joining, an issue that has kicked up quite a firestorm. Augusta is home to the Masters golf tournament, a CBS event for almost 50 years. And Wyman told "The New York Times" -- quote -- "There are obviously some redneck, old-boy types down there." In response to Wyman's resignation, Augusta issued a statement saying -- quote -- "We intend to stand firm behind our right to make what are both appropriate and private membership choices." Wyman, now a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School and the Sloan School at MIT, joins us now to explain, exclusively, for the first time on television, why he resigned. Tom, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.</s>THOMAS WYMAN, FORMER AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB MEMBER: Well, I'm happy to be with you, Connie. It's been too long.</s>CHUNG: Yes, absolutely, sir. Now, this kicked up the firestorm. It became an uproar back in June. Why did you decide to resign now?</s>WYMAN: Well, I've been brooding over several months as the sentiment has built around the country, particularly with the women's groups, and appropriately with the women's groups, questioning why there were no members at such a highly visible and attractive and popular location. It seemed out of tune with the times. But what has brought it along, it became clearer and clearer that what once appeared the inevitability of women joining at some point, in fact, Hootie Johnson, who runs the club very firmly, has made it clear that there is no fixed plan and there may not be one for some time. And, in the process, we watch the heat being turned up on one of the great institutions in the United States.</s>CHUNG: And what is it doing to that institution?</s>WYMAN: Well, it's doing two things, I think. One, it's -- the institution is drawing inward. It's asserting its right -- and I wouldn't quarrel with this -- that private institutions should have a chance to select their members. And that's an appropriate priority, unless there are some overriding considerations. And, in this case, there are. For me, the parallel is with the blacks. But the issue, Augusta is not just a club. It's a shrine. It's a model. It's an internationally-recognized, absolute top sports event, beautifully run, beautifully managed, wonderful history. And its image is being chopped down by the day as the criticism mounts at the exclusionary policies, which are so far out of touch with the century we're living in now. And that's a larger consideration.</s>CHUNG: You said that the position of the leadership is downright pigheaded. And, obviously, I think a lot of people believe that Hootie Johnson completely mishandled the situation. But aren't there plenty of members of the club who actually agree with him?</s>WYMAN: Well, there certainly are, or at least they're prepared to march in single file behind him. My hope and expectation is that the many corporate leaders, the many major figures in public life, whose own lives and enterprises have long since passed the diversity issue and treated it properly, that they will now surface and the good old boys club will join the 20th -- the 21st century, and which they could do so quickly.</s>CHUNG: You asked Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to join you in supporting the idea of women being admitted. Have you heard from them?</s>WYMAN: I have not heard from them. It was only in today's "New York Times" article that reference was made to the impact that they could have if they chose. To date, they have not. Arnold has stepped back. My guess is, he would approve, but he's not challenging the local authority at the moment. I hope he changes his mind.</s>CHUNG: Are they the only pros that belong to Augusta? I mean, there are others who have won the Masters and become basically...</s>WYMAN: No, there are only two.</s>CHUNG: Yes, all right. So, when people were...</s>WYMAN: Only Palmer and Nicklaus.</s>CHUNG: Right.</s>WYMAN: Excuse me?</s>CHUNG: So, when people were calling on Tiger Woods to lead the pack and support the idea of admitting women, wasn't that a little unfair to ask him to do that, because he's not even a member?</s>WYMAN: I think that I agree, although his voice -- from a distance, I think there have been some wonderful, wonderful cries for support from nonmembers. I think, nationally, there's no question in my mind, despite the representations of the club, that there is a large block of sentiment that would approve the change, which could be made unnoticeably there. You wouldn't know who the new member or members, women, are, because women are there all the time. And the parallels with the effort that...</s>CHUNG: Because women are allowed to play -- women are allowed to play the course.</s>WYMAN: Oh, absolutely.</s>CHUNG: Let me ask you one more question.</s>WYMAN: There's something like...</s>CHUNG: Yes, go ahead.</s>WYMAN: Well, I think the parallel with the situation with the African-Americans, for me, is absolutely straight and clear, when, in 1990, we were forced, the club was forced to -- in order to keep the tournament, to have black members invited to join. And so it was done. It was done quickly. It was done gracefully. There are now seven black members. They're wonderfully well accepted and everyone thinks it's a good idea. And it could be precisely the same with the women, in my view.</s>CHUNG: All right, Tom Wyman, thank you so much...</s>WYMAN: And that would be a...</s>CHUNG: Thank you so much for being with us.</s>WYMAN: You're very welcome.</s>CHUNG: And we appreciate the fact that you talked with us. And you know that you are our "Person of the Day." We appreciate it.</s>WYMAN: Well, thank you.</s>CHUNG: All right. Before we take a break: A quick footnote to our coverage of the confrontation with Iraq kicks off tonight's look at the "World in 60."</s>CHUNG: And that's the "World in 60." Next: The Boston Catholic Church releases thousands of pages of secret documents. What do they reveal about the church handling of sex abuse claims? Stay with us.</s>ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: a beautiful model brutally attacked and scarred for life. Now, Marla Hanson is turning her ordeal into a chance to help others. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.