Striptease

As a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, I experienced both curiosity and anger as I read the article detailing a birthday-celebration striptease at a dining hall (Metro, Nov. 7).

Is it incumbent upon the college, as some suggested, to condemn the stripper? If so, then shouldn’t all institutions, public and private, be accountable for adjudicating a collective morality?

Is the striptease, as presented in the article, an incident that merits references to “harassment,” “denigration” and “degradation”? I respect someone’s right to voice their opposition to the incident, but the vitriolic condemnation issued by some makes me wonder if they have any reserve of urgency left for confronting societal ills outside a sheltered, college environment, or will they one day cry “wolf” and find no one listening?

Is the representative from Pomona College’s Women’s Union aware that propagating any stereotype, in this case one directed toward CMC, is a disservice to all parties involved?

Individually and collectively, the Claremont Colleges have served their graduates well by striving to endow them with an appreciation for rational discourse. An isolated incident in a dining hall should not detract from this pursuit.

BRUCE COLIN, Redondo Beach