UW-Madison officials are investigating the appearance of a stripper at a Medical Students Association event last Friday at Memorial Union.
According to UW Medical School Associate Dean for Students Patrick McBride, about 150 students attended the ""Black Bag Ball""—a formal dance and dinner held every semester for medical students and funded by the School of Medicine's Alumni Foundation. McBride said at one point in the evening ""a very small number of students"" moved into a smaller room near the Great Hall where a stripper began to perform, but did not undress.
""Students interrupted the event and said, ‘This should stop,' and sent her on her way,"" he said.
McBride said the performance lasted about 5-10 minutes. He said he did not attend the event and did not know the dancer's identity or business affiliation.
Union Spokesperson Marc Kennedy said in an e-mail that no Union staff he spoke with knew about the incident until after the event.
President of the Medical Student Association, Bob Zemple, said in an e-mail he and his fellow members were ""saddened and embarrassed by the incident.""
""We do not condone these activities and they are not consistent with the values of the school or profession … We believe that students who are hoping to be physicians should be held to a higher standard, and we are taking steps with administration to ensure that this does not happen again.""
McBride said the Dean of Students Office and the School of Medicine are conducting separate investigations and are still determining which students were involved and what Union, UW or School of Medicine policies may have been violated. He said it is too early to determine what disciplinary action the students involved would face.
""It's not appropriate to disrupt a campus event and there are Union policies about lewd and lascivious conduct, and bringing in organizations from the outside,"" he said.
McBride said School of Medicine administrators will discuss their findings at the June Student Promotion Committee meeting, which reviews students potentially violating school policies.
""The school does not condone these activities and will hold students accountable for policies that were violated.""
