January 26, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
Should a Black Woman be the next LPGA Commissioner? Myneca Ojo shares her thoughts and opinions on this question in a personal video interview with Kelley Pierre, Director of Circulation and Consumer Engagement for the African American Golfer’s Digest.
Ojo is Director of Diversity & Inclusion at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Former Mayor of Hanover Borough, PA, where she was the first African American and second woman mayor of Hanover Borough, representing 16,000 residents. She has also served as Diversity manager for the Maryland State Highway Administration.
After completing his 11th year as LPGA Commissioner, Mike Whan notified the LPGA Board of Directors in early January that he has made the difficult decision to transition out of the LPGA in 2021. While no firm date has been set for his departure, this announcement begins the start of a Commissioner succession process. Would this top executive vacancy be an opportunity for the LPGA to exercise its diversity and inclusion efforts by appointing a Black woman to the role?
Ojo is an avid golfer and was one of four Black women (who became known as the Fairway 5) who played the Grandview Golf Course in York County, Penn., on April 21, 2018. The women filed a 2020 racial and sex discrimination lawsuit in U.S. Middle District Court against the course, the claim related to an incident regarding Steve Chronister, a former York County commissioner and a course official, who approached the golfers on the second hole telling them they were golfing too slowly and called police on the group.
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