A new dress code at Tuskegee University has stirred up debate among alumni in the D.C. area.
Tuskegee’s new policy says students are required to arrive on campus with a business suit and proper shoes. The Alabama HBCU is prohibiting students from wearing bedroom shoes, bonnets, durags and revealing clothing to class and the cafeteria.
The university president said the goal of the new dress code policy is not to restrict students from enjoying their college experience, but to establish a solid foundation for when students graduate and enter the workforce.
Tuskegee alumna Gwen McKinney said she is glad that university president Mark A. Brown is taking action through the dress code to ensure students dress appropriately in the classroom.
“I just think it was a breath of fresh air, between alumni and the administration taking a stance and saying ‘you know what, there’s a time and place for and a setting for every kind of dress,’” McKinney said.
The university will offer a community closet for students who are in need of professional attire.
Imani Cheers, an associate professor at George Washington University and an alumna of fellow-HBCU Howard University said she sees this policy as an important standard for the university within the history of HBCUs.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have standards for us,” Cheers said. “If we look at the archives of all of our HBCUs — Howard, Tuskegee, Spelman — the list goes on and on. There’s a point in our illustrious history where everywhere, everybody was dressed down, dapper, suits ready to go.”
Cheers noted that Brown’s identity as an alum of Tuskegee himself means he truly understands the university community when he makes such decisions.
“It’s so important that you mention that this president is an alum of Tuskegee University, because he’s family, as someone who not only understands and appreciates the culture of the university, but he’s coming in and saying ‘I am here to make change,’” Cheers said.
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