Mr. Hearn,
I respectfully submit that I am troubled by your comments here.
To begin with, I regret if you feel unappreciated by me or others that disagree with your position. While you might not want it, the next time I see you, I will happily offer you a beer for all that you have done for the institution we both love. I hope you will understand that I can disagree with you on this issue and not dislike you.
Also, I honestly feel that you have misrepresented the facts in your post. In this case, I even feel you are fanning the flames on an issue that was "put to bed" long ago.
Perhaps my greatest concern is your slam at Coach Hewitt. As far as I know, he never has made any public commment regarding the strict white and gold policy. I also want you to know that several of the coaches (and players, recruits, and fans) privately think the uniforms would look better incorporating darker colors. For several reasons, it doesn't seem right for you to single out Coach Hewitt on this board. Is your agenda partly about recruiting Bosh?
I was on the A-T board and voted in agreement with you when we endorsed your recommendation that the school determine its official official colors and create a policy accordingly. You made a reasonable case at the time.
I also appreciated that Dave Braine followed up by creating a qualified committee, including some loyal Tech fans and alumni that I personally know care about - and contribute as much to - the school as you or I do.
This entire matter reminds me very much of a situation I encountered professionally several years ago. I was involved closely with a medium sized company of several hundred employees. We had to make a determination on a matter relevant to the employee benefit package. We had a long-term, valuable employee that raised an important issue as a matter of precedent.
To make a long story short, he made a reasonable case, gained support and endorsement from various groups within the company, and brought the matter to the board. One possibility was to bring the matter to a popular vote for employees: perhaps you can already see the problems coming here...
It was pointed out that in doing so, a lot of money and effort would be spent and the result would be flawed. First, while employee opinion was extremely important, it would also be unobjective (read biased) toward a shorter-term solution. Second, there was no functional way to address all of the relevant business issues on the ballot. Most importantly, through a focus group, we determined that the only people that would vote would be the hard-core few that shared the view of the employee that made the original case. Certainly, this type of ballot would encourage greater participation of those with a dissenting view.
The vast majority of the other employees realized that the position of the first employee would ultimately cost the company a great deal of money and possibly eventually hurt their own jobs. However, the other employees didn't feel strongly enough about the matter to speak out or risk alienating the 'hard core' by opposing them. In fact, most didn't even care enough to vote.
The board voted and eventually created a committee to address the issue. The committee was composed of several long time employees, as well as a qualified accountant and attorney, and a couple of objective third parties from outside the company. They studied the matter thoroughly, considering history, employee expectations, business issues, etc.; came up with a recommendation; and supported their position solidly. Most employees were very happy with the findings and wanted to move on.
On the other hand, the original employee that brought up the matter would just not drop it. At any opportunity, he made it a combative issue. To this day, I don't understand why he wouldn't let it go; but I can tell you that the board and most of his peers began to lose respect for him- even after all the years of great things he did for the company. We tried repeatedly to understand his position; and, after fair consideration, asked him to understand our reasoning. His "facts" became more emphatic; but less realistic. At some point, I began to wonder if he felt he was protecting himself and others from some sort of conspiracy. His behavior suggested that he may have had some other, deeper issues.
I am not accusing you of anything insidious. In fact, as an entrepreneur, I appreciate your persistence and fastidiousness. That being said, please let this go. At this point, a well-reasoned decision has been made by a very qualified committee, incorporating fans and fan feedback. I can think of dozens of better causes for you: many of which would be constructive to the school and actually help fundraising, recruiting, etc. I believe this does not.
I hope you will accept this post with the respect with which it was intended.
Thanks and GO JACKETS!!!!