The average college student’s attire is so typical — t-shirts, jeans, sweats emblazoned with a university’s logo — that it might as well be described as a uniform. But a host of historically black colleges and universities have taken a firm stance against sloppy style by imposing a campus dress code of their own.
But a ban on cross-dressing at Morehouse College in Atlanta ignored larger issues, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports: for the past few years, black colleges have been campaigning against sneakers, baggy pants and slovenly t-shirts in an effort to impress visitors and donors, as well as prepare their students for the real world.
At Morehouse, the handful of men wearing women’s clothes wasn’t what prompted the dress code, according to Robert Michael Franklin, the college’s president. Instead, he says, it was the image of a “thug culture” on campus that he felt was harming the reputation of Morehouse, which is among the most storied black colleges in the country.
“There was a negative impact on student learning, on faculty morale, and on alumni satisfaction with the college due to the perception of unbridled freedom of personal expression,” he says.
At Savannah State University, school rules dictate that female students can’t bare their midriffs or backs. And since 2007, students at Paul Quinn College in Dallas who don’t sport “business casual” clothing can either pay a $100 fine or join president Michael J. Sorrell on his early morning jog.
But at least students at those schools won’t face a public shaming for failing to dress the part: a Brazilian university recently expelled a female student for wearing a mini-dress to class, and added insult to injury after buying newspaper ads to proclaim her immorality.