Eliot Auction Reflected Outgoing Community

To the editors:

On behalf of the students of Eliot House, we would like to take issue with Melissa Crocker's unfair characterization of last week's Eliot House auction as a "rather staid" affair, reminiscent of our "uppercrust" past (Opinion, April 26).

Perhaps Crocker arrived as the Auction was closing, because in our most conservative estimation, at least several hundred Eliot residents showed up to bid on such unique items as an oil massage, a conducting lesson and a personalized cheer from the cheerleading team. If anything, the high turnout and raucous bidding--Crocker was clearly not present for long enough to appreciate just how lively it was--reflects Eliot House's ability to develop into a more rambunctious and outgoing community, despite the author's assertion to the contrary.

The most distressing misstatement by Crocker is the that audience was "prim and proper" Hardly the case! Our Stein Club supplied the audience with substantial amounts of liquid enthusiasm. Stein Club's presence seems to be the best explanation for how an 8-cent goldfish could be sold for nearly 50 dollars.

Our hosts Hunter Pierson and Luke McLoughlin did a magnificent job keeping the auction exciting and keeping the audience rolling on the floor with laughter. It is to their credit that we raised well in excess of $3,000, the most successful house auction that Eliot has ever had. As for hosts' tuxedoes, Crocker seems to be confusing stuffiness with style. Elitism may be gone, but Eliot will always have class.

The writers are the co-chairs of the Eliot House Committee.