Second Prom Nixed
, Dec. 2 — A second Catholic high school on New York's Long Island, Chaminade High School in Mineola, is canceling its proms this year because of what administrators say is “a toxic culture of overspending and overhyping among students,” said the newspaper.
Another local high school, Kellenberg Memorial in Uniondale, N.Y., called off its prom several weeks ago due to similar concerns. Both schools are administered by the Marianist Fathers and Brothers.
As at Kellenberg, many Chaminade students and parents have complained about the loss of the prom.
One student, sophomore Sean Robert, 16, took a different view. The prom, he said “has become a vehicle for night-long debauchery, not a fun rite of passage to end the year. “I think it was the right thing.”
No Beantown Bacchanal
, Dec. 6 — Boston College has put the brakes on an in-your-face AIDS benefit dance sponsored by homosexual students.
The Jesuit school said the theme of the event, originally slated as “A Night in Gay Paris,” would have been at odds with Catholic teachings, reported the daily newspaper.
“Gay students are accepted and welcomed at Boston College, but as a Catholic university we cannot sanction an event that promotes a lifestyle that is in conflict with Church teaching and the mission and heritage of Boston College,” said BC spokesman Jack Dunn.
Harvey Silverglate, a Boston lawyer who specializes in free speech on college campuses, said the school is within its rights to set its own policies as long as they are consistent.