I'm St. Francis, class of 1964, a different age. My classmates included a few Negroes (as then called), Catholic kids from East Palo Alto whose parents wanted to do a little better than Ravenswood. We - they - all got along fine. No racial invective, or calling out, that I ever heard.

I don't know what the content of the instagram was, but expulsion is certainly appropriate. We had a student expelled during my time for writing a tasteless joke in a year book - 'to a man who likes his women the way he likes his coffee - strong and . . ." You can guess the last word. Pretty tame stuff, but he was expelled. So there is some precedent.

However, if the Instagram posters were former students, I don't understand the ruckus. The school is not responsible for all of the deeds or misdeeds of its graduates. That is a but beyond the charter.

I did not attend St. Francis. I, too, am in the dark about what was posted and by whom. But it does occur to me that St. Francis is a Catholic school that advances the views of the Catholic Church concerning appropriate societal roles and behavior. While churches are inclusive in the sense that they often seek more followers and financial supporters, the Catholic Church preaches and prescribes roles and behavior inconsistent with some social agendas and individual "rights." If a church or private school promotes beliefs or values or behavior not consistent with your own, consider avoiding those institutions. You shouldn't expect to learn much about the unequal treatment of females in society from a male Catholic priest. Women have a limited role in the Catholic Church and in the life promoted by the Church. As to race, most portrayals of Jesus in America present a white man - which would have been quite a miracle in the Middle East. Finally, if you think that learning about and from history is important, you might make a copy of this comment before it is flagged and censored.