To the Editor:
With no valid basis for attacking my position, Professor Craig Steven Wilder ("The Passion of the CEO: T.J. Rodgers' Crusade," April 13) chose to use an old device: to create offensive statements, attribute them to me and then attack -- just as he did in his recent lengthy, inaccurate op-ed in The Dartmouth. For the record, I simply do not believe in, nor have I ever espoused, any of the following views or characteristics attributed to me by Professor Wilder: "promises to eliminate diversity objectives in admissions," "passion to be elected," "antagonistic intentions toward a group of students [minorities]," "targeted assaults on anything that smacks of the interests of minorities and women," or "pretend[ing] that race and racial injustice do not exist."
If Wilder had taken the trouble to read my trustee candidate statement on the Dartmouth web site for more than sentence fragments to insert into his attack, he would have read the following introduction, which is followed by a statement that is obviously inconsistent with his claims: "Diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of the American Dream. My home state of California is very diverse, one of the primary attributes contributing to California's high quality of life."
With 35 percent minority employment, my company, Cypress Semiconductor, is more diverse than Dartmouth has ever been. That diversity is one reason I chose to live in California.
My primary complaint about so-called diversity programs in universities is not so much the inclusion of minorities according to quota, but the very suspicious and disrespectful way that these programs cause people to treat each other, the very way Wilder treated me in his letter -- with the presumption of bigotry.
Wilder ought to consider the possibility that his views are extraordinarily racist. From his lofty position, he has deigned to "help" the minorities that he clearly considers to be incapable of succeeding without his help. His position is condescending, arrogant and completely racist.
Consider the healthy diversity that exists in Silicon Valley. In my company (a typical Silicon Valley company), our minority employees don't need or expect to be given special privileges to succeed, because they know that their company believes they are competent and that they will be promoted on merit. That our executive officers are 33 percent minorities makes the point much more effectively than any affirmative action program. In Silicon Valley's enlightened multicultural society, gossip about whether or not a vice president achieved his or her position by quota or by merit is simply irrelevant.
We rarely discuss race because it doesn't matter. Individual merit is what matters. Individuals should not be "judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character" as Martin Luther King Jr. said. And Professor Wilder was wrong again when he presumed hypocrisy on my part by speculating that I do "not quote Dr. King while pursuing [my] other daily business." King's and Gandhi's quotes are used in my speeches to our 4,000 employees -- right next to those of Churchill, Einstein and Ayn Rand.
Wilder is absolutely right in one of his implications: I could never represent his views as a Dartmouth trustee, because I treat minorities as true equals, not as social welfare projects.
