Tuesday wasn't all blue, I support the Prez!

On Friday I got an Email from the University of Michigan Business School's Dean Robert J. Dolan stating that diversity was still a strong part of the atmosphere at the Business School I graduated from in 1994. His Email, which was sent to all alums, was to support a very firm and public statement by University of Michigan’s President, Mary Sue Coleman, who was responding to the State of Michigan’s passage Tuesday of Proposition 2 which essentially bans affirmative action policies for all state universities. I share her concern for this passage as well as her conviction in fighting it.
Below is the Email I sent her today offering my support.


President Coleman,
I wanted to personally reach out and thank you for your firm and enlightened stance on diversity on that wonderful campus. I chose UM’s Business School largely because of it’s diversity. Prior to entering UM I had only one African – American teacher, Mr. Lumpkin my 7th grade keyboard teacher. My two years at UM were wonderful. They were filled with interactions, debate, and dialog from young men and women all over the world. We shared a common bond, a desire to seek wisdom and recognizing that it often can come from a person whose gender, socioeconomic status, race, nationality, or sexual orientation my be different than our own. As an African-American male with a solid pedigree, I have an undergraduate dual major in Mathematics and Computer Science, I had plenty of options for my graduate business education. Michigan was all I’d hoped for and keeps me coming back to campus regularly in the years that have followed graduation. I recruited for my employers, Booz, Allen & Hamilton and Accenture, as well as conducted strategy consulting career fairs and seminars for case interviews. I have worn the maize and blue with pride in my travels all over the world, and especially here in Texas where I’ve called home since July, 1994. I am proud to say outstanding athletics only makes up a small portion of that motivation. That campus is a special place in no small part because of it’s diversity and I am proud to read your firm and passionate views on keeping it that way. If there is anything I can do to support your efforts please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Next year I will start medical school and I am certain the diverse points of view and passion I experienced during my two years there, along with the rich dialogue in the years since graduation with alums all over the world, have helped shaped my attitude of compassion and caring for the least among us. These existing attitudes were certainly enhanced during my years at UM. These attitudes are critical components of my decision to leave a successful strategy consulting career to serve as a physician for the urban, underserved. Diversity, and the resulting appreciation for those whose circumstances may be different than my own, were critical building blocks to my conviction to serve and they would not be quite as strong if not for my experiences in Ann Arbor. As you well know diversity has it’s benefits so much more far reaching than do numbers on charts. A campus that welcomes women, the poor, and people of color is a tremendous advantage Michigan has over other ‘top’ universities. I firmly support your efforts in keeping it that way. Please keep fighting the good fight and, now more than ever, sustain your voice of leadership that helps us yell with even more vigor and pride, “GO BLUE!”
Charles Senteio
MBA 1994

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I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
-- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.