JACKSONVILLE - Three male students at Jacksonville University have been punished for installing a stripper's pole-dancing stage in a campus apartment, and a female student has been punished after winning the dance contest, a university spokesman said.
About a dozen women competed for a $100 Victoria's Secret gift certificate Sept. 11, said James Foster, a 20-year-old junior from West Palm Beach who hosted the party. None of the women disrobed.
The men bought the steel pole at a Home Depot, bolted it to the concrete ceiling and attached the bottom to a wood stage covered in red felt. "Honestly, we just wanted to say we had a stripper pole," Foster said. "We never actually expected girls to dance on it."
When university officials ordered the men to remove the pole, they complied, but not before building a huge party around it.
Signs reading "Pole Dancers Wanted" were posted around campus, and the men bought huge quantities of beer. Men were charged $5 to attend, and women were let in free. The party ended after the beer ran out.
John Daigle Jr., a school spokesman, said the party's hosts may have broken several rules, including violations of policies banning lewd or incident behavior; making unapproved changes to university property; and possibly violations of alcohol policy.
Daigle, citing privacy rules, declined to identify the students involved or their punishment.Foster said he was put on probation through Nov. 9 and had to write a letter of apology.
