Dapper Dean Briggs
Mahalo for your article in the fall issue (“Collecting dust…and value”) about Stuart Briggs and his ukulele (pronounced ooh-koo-lay-lay.) It brought back wonderful memories of the teacher that had perhaps the most influence on my life. He showed me that even in the staid profession of accounting, there was room for the whimsical. He even brought his ukulele here on a visit to the Islands in the late ’70s and played us in the alumni association a tune or two.
It is heartwarming to know that such an important figure in the life of CMC is still remembered these many years later. Thanks so much for writing this. Aloha,
Alan Boyd ’70, Kailua, Hawaii
Fall issue
It was disturbing to read that there are 90 Chinese students at CMC, representing 7% of the entire student body. Given the CMC acceptance rate, this would have meant that more than 920 Chinese students applied to the school, which seems entirely unlikely. More likely, these students pay the full—and outrageous—annual attendance rate of $65,500, representing a cash windfall to the school and thus making these students highly desirable. It is hard to believe that having so many students from any individual foreign nation does much to more fully expose CMC students to that nation’s particular culture. CMC is an American institution and its primary responsibility should be to educate American students. It’s fashionable, of course, to practice diversity, but it shouldn’t be done to the exclusion of domestic students, and it shouldn’t be done to underwrite the profligacy of the school.
Sloane Citron ‘78, Menlo Park
Student protests
Like my fellow alumni, I was deeply troubled by the incidents that took place at CMC in the fall. The campus unrest is unsettling and indicative of our nation, where we have lost sight of how this place ought to work and pander to our worst instincts. Life is not always fair but you get ahead by making it work rather than by blaming others—this applies to either personal or organizational entities.
Keith Nightingale ‘65, Ojai, Calif.