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For nearly a year, Adrienne McNeil has maintained that an employee at the Country Club of York humiliated her because of the color of her skin.
In April, the black community activist told The (Baltimore) Sun that a doorman at the country club stopped her as she headed through the main entrance on her way to a Junior League of York dinner.
"Ma'am, I think you're lost," she recalled the man saying. "Are you sure you belong here?"
McNeil, 31, who is a Junior League member, had written a similar version of her encounter in a Feb. 10 column for the York Daily Record/Sunday News.
McNeil and the country club's management disagree about what happened on May 1, 2007.
Thomas Matthew Czaus, the club's chief operating officer/general manager, said the club investigated McNeil's complaint and said whatever happened "certainly did not happen as described."
"We don't have a doorman," Czaus said. "So, that part of the story is somewhat in question."
McNeil, a native of Baltimore who became executive director of York County Community Against Racism in June 2007, said she is not surprised that the club's investigation did not support her claim.
Before working for YCCAR, McNeil had been the director of community outreach and multicultural affairs at York College.
"It's typical of what happens, the denial that takes place," she said. "I could care less what (Czaus) has said. I will never forget that degrading, humiliating and demeaning experience. He was not there, I was. I know what happened that night."
After her encounter with the club, McNeil asked the Junior League to no longer hold events at the Country Club of York.
However, the league scheduled two more events at the club, she said.
"As a result of the experience I had in May, I told the league that I would not be attending those two functions or any functions at the Country Club of York," McNeil said.
Maintaining composure
In August 2007, when the Junior League resumed its meeting schedule, McNeil told its executive committee about what happened on May 1 and asked the organization to stop holding events at the country club.
She is the Junior League of York's chairwoman of planning, but her role does not include deciding where the group's events are held.
About one month later, the hostess of the league's May 2007 dinner, who is also a member of the country club, asked the club to look into McNeil's claim, Czaus said.
The club interviewed workers and supervisors but couldn't confirm McNeil's version of what happened.
"We found that there might have been an interaction between (McNeil) and the greeter," Czaus said. "(The greeter) did not recall anything that may have been confrontational."
That evening, the club had stationed a female greeter at its main door. Her job was to direct people to their respective events, Czaus said.
The greeter was dressed in a standard club uniform that included a white shirt, black pants and a black vest, he said.
The greeter has since left the club on her own accord, Czaus said. Citing privacy issues, Czaus would not release the greeter's name.
McNeil said that she, on the night on the incident, spoke to other Junior League members about what had occurred. She said she also talked to a member of the Country Club of York's management, who apologized and told her the club trained its workers to welcome guests appropriately. McNeil doesn't remember that manager's name.
"I thanked him for listening," she said. "At that point, it was over for me in regards to the country club. I would never support that organization again."
McNeil said she didn't expect the club to take any action in regards to her specifically.
"I just don't want that to happen again to anyone of color," she said. "It's just about not having anyone go through this again. This is about a bigger issue about the culture of the country club and not one individual person."
Czaus said it's possible that McNeil had been heading to a different function and was not in the right area.
"They may have inquired if she was lost," he said. "Or it could have been a greeting of, 'Welcome to the club and can I direct you to your room?'"
After the investigation, the club sent a letter to the league's hostess apologizing that not all of her guests' expectations had been met.
"There will always be someone out there saying something negative," he said. "It hurts a little bit. But we keep putting on that smile. We want people to arrive happy and leave happy."
Still, the country club does have a history of not accepting minorities, said George Ruffin of York. Ruffin, 60, said that he has heard that in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the club had excluded minorities.
"But times are changing," he said. "And we have to change with the times."
Last spring, the club approved Ruffin's membership. Ruffin, a North Carolina native who moved to York in 1966, said one reason he applied for membership was because he believes that "York is trying to eradicate racism, and I felt that this was one way to do that."
He said he believes that he is the country club's first black member.
Czaus said the club doesn't keep statistics on the race of it members.
The $20,500 initiation fee may prove cost prohibitive for some people who may want to apply for membership, Ruffin said.
"The longer the club went without a black member, the longer it would take for the perception of the club being racist to change," he said. "This is a start, like Jackie Robinson breaking into baseball. It has to start somewhere."
Ruffin said he would encourage other blacks who want to become members of the club to apply.
"As a member of the club and as a black American, I've been treated very well at the club," he said.
Staying, for now
Lori Stephenson, president of the Junior League of York, said she regretted that her group's association with the club had been called into question.
"The Junior League of York will continue to hold functions at the Country Club of York, as well as at many other York County locations. Statements made by Ms. McNeil are not on behalf of the League's executive board but are her own comments," she stated in an e-mail.
"Needless to say, I'm furious," McNeil said. "I found out that these events were happening via e-mail. I expressed my overall disappointment."
McNeil said she may ultimately opt to transfer out of the Junior League, but has chosen to stay for now.
"The Junior League has been extremely supportive of (other causes), despite the league holding events at the Country Club of York when I asked them not to," she said.
sadkins@ydr.com;771-2047
AT A GLANCE
The Junior League of York
Started in 1930, the Junior League of York is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the action and leadership of trained volunteers, said Lori Stephenson, president of the Junior League of York.
The league has more than 200 members.
The Country Club of York
The more than 100-year-old golf course features a clubhouse that serves more than 80,000 people annually. An individual membership to the club includes a $20,500 initiation fee and $355 monthly dues.
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