Let me not front like I am an unbiased reporter. I am uber excited that my alma mater, Dear Old Morehouse, has enacted a new dress code that bans brothers from wearing everything from grillz to high heels. Already gangstas and gay dudes are calling it discrimination, but I call it a private college…for men.
Here’s the policy and it applies pretty much everywhere except inside of a dorm room:
1. Caps, do-rags or hoods in classrooms, the cafeteria, or other indoor venues. This policy item does not apply to headgear considered as a part of religious or cultural dress.
2. Sun glasses or “shades” are not to be worn in class or at formal programs, unless medical documentation is provided to support use.
3. Decorative orthodontic appliances (e.g. “grillz”), be they permanent or removable, shall not be worn on the campus or at College-sponsored events.
4. Jeans at major programs such as, Opening Convocation, Commencement, Founder’s Day or other programs dictating professional, business casual attire, semi-formal or formal attire.
5. Clothing with derogatory, offensive and/or lewd messages either in words or pictures.
6. Tops, bottoms and feet coverings should be worn at all times.
7. Sagging – the wearing of one’s pants or shorts low enough to reveal undergarments or secondary layers of clothing.
8. Pajamas, shall not be worn while in public or in common areas of the College.
9. Wearing clothing associated with women’s garb (dresses, tops, tunics, purses, pumps, etc.) on the Morehouse campus or at College-sponsored events.
10. Additional dress regulations may be imposed upon students participating in certain extracurricular activities that are sponsored or organized by the College (e.g. athletic teams, the band, Glee Club, etc).
11. The College reserves the right to modify this policy as deemed appropriate.
I applaud Dr. Franklin, the President of Morehouse, for taking this stand, but find it a bit sad that it’s needed.
So – here are my questions for YOU…
-Will the policy last?
-Will students that like to walk around in pajamas with do-rags and high heels leave the college or just get in line?
-What are your raw thoughts about the whole thing?
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shaun,
I applaud the college for doing this! But i have one question..
isn't there a built-in loophole right off the bat with #1? "…doesn't apply if part of a cultural dress.." Couldn't all of the above be argued as 'cultural dress'? Especially the imposition of trying to enforce one particular 'culture of dress' while suppressing another 'culture of dress'… ?
hmm..it's a slippery slope i guess. but it looks like an effort to push students towards success in a larger culture… I think some students may bail, but for those who get in line with it… they may have greater success elsewhere….
what do you think?
As a fellow student of Morehouse I do ask the question and uphold the standards as we say we are men of Morehouse. On top of that I believe as college students, what are you trying to represent when you wear certain things? Personally I look at them in shame to sometimes call my brother and certainly a man to look up to towards my future. Now I’m not saying you have to wear a suit and tie for everything, I know I don’t, but just present yourself better.
I have the exact same dress code at my house….. Andrea had to throw away her grill.
I absolutely agree with the administration on this – and in fact this new policy has moved Moorehouse up on the list of Higher Education I will be pushing my son to consider for next fall.
Hey Tom,
Since #1 only applies to headwear it will be hard for people to manipulate the policy IMO.
No grills for the baby either? That's just wrong.
The mustache on that dude in the picture is something else.
And considering that Morehouse IS a private college, I'm pretty sure they can do whatever they want with the dress code. If the students at Morehouse really value the education they're getting there, then they'll suck it up and get in line, especially if they're upperclassmen (a change in wardrobe or a couple of new belts are a lot cheaper than having to transfer to another university and possibly graduating late).
Why so Richard?
Hey Man – not sure what happened with your comment. Wanna post it again?
Could it be that what they're trying to suppress here could be considered more of a "fad" than a "culture"?
Hooray for Morehouse!!! My uncle who graduated summa cum laude from this fine institution would be turning over in his grave if he saw what has happened to his alma mater. Morehouse has graduated some of the most influential men in American society and they should be held to a higher standard. Since they are a PRIVATE college, they can institute just about whatever dress code they want, and if the folks that don't want to do this have an issue…like Bishop Long has said "exit, exit, exit, exit!" There are many other colleges and universities one can graduate from that will allow you to dress and act however one chooses. I'm saddened that it had to come to the point where they had to put out a directive, but I'm glad the president had the cajones to do it.
When you make a choice to attend a private institution, you surrender certain rights and freedoms. The same as with any other place outside of your own home in the world. Even Burger King can refuse to serve you if you don't have shoes or a shirt. If one chooses to express himself through fashion that is against school policy but helps express himself, then more power to him. However, he made a choice and cant have it both ways. This is the reality of the real world and the most important lesson that college-age students can learn. D. Mack, House, '03
I think the new policy may be just the push Morehouse needs to return to its more prestigious days. I know guys who refuse to set foot on that campus because of what its become. Overall, unfortunately this newly popular culture has infiltrated every industry including higher education and someone has to stand up and say enough is enough. Will this decision be received by everyone? The answer is a resounding no, but at the end of the day, it's a private school and they should be able to enforce their own policies and those who are not happy, well there's always the right to chose which school to attend!
I moved to Atlanta few years ago and quickly learned about the the reputation of Morehouse Men and what it means to be a Morehouse man. There's a lot of pride among Morehouse graduates and I think that's a wonderful testament to the community Morehouse has built. However, my experience living in a building and a neighborhood with a lot of Morehouse men has not matched that pride or that reputation. I think something got lost in translation with the current generation of students. I have found graduates in their late 30s and much older to be gentleman who live their values. I've found the current generation of Morehouse students to be little more than educated gangstas. So I applaud Morehouse administration for making this move. I hope it helps restore the Morehouse reputation and instill a sense of personal and institutional pride in the young men who go there.
Shaun, it was probably during our time there that Morehouse really began to lower the standard and expecation of her students. We saw first hand the damage that it did to our school. I applaud Dr. Franklin for bringing back the high standard. I believe the policy will last and the students that are supposed to be there will to. Will they like it at first? Many will not, but it will make them better.They'll learn to appreciate it as they get older!
educated gangstas?!?
There are all kinds of wrong with that statement.
I think the problem is that this type of policy reeks of the "us vs. them" dichotomy; the black vs. white mentality and not dealing with the shades of gray that most of us always have lived in, but societal norms always deemed us to pick sides. Essentially what I heard was what you said "No gays and thugs allowed."
I think it's sad that it's 2009 and we still can't even have an open dialogue to discuss what would be the appropriate course of action. I'd be willing to bet that administration didn't have a full and open dialogue (not a speech where admin. talks and student are forced to listen) with the students before moving forward with this.
These two sentences from the story really made me scratch my head, and wonder about the mystique of The Morehouse Man…
It is the restriction to women’s clothing that has many students up in arms.
“Some believe that this restriction is what the entire policy is correlated around,” added Edwards. “It is all an issue of perception and what manner of image you want to prescribe to.”
i'm not sure it's about gray. or black or white.
it's about green.
become valuable in whatever society or culture, and you will get paid. be successful. learn to talk, dress, etc., so you can compete with (and succeed) those in power and you can change the system. unfortunately, larger society doesn't see 'gays and thugs' and contributing, valuable members of culture/society. that's a shame…but it's the world we live in.
but i'm sure you're right… the students didn't get to 'vote' on the policy. perhaps because the students are not the ones in charge.
Welcome to the real world.
I think this is overdue. People have been fooled into thinking that they can appear and dress however they want to without judgement. I applaud the president for setting standards for our young men. I'm sure there will be many accusing the school of making some attempt at "Europeanizing" students. And as a Morehouse graduate, I am well aware of those accusations, since many of my fellow students said similar things. I don't believe that is what the stand is about. My goodness, we're asking someone to wear business casual attire, just as an organization that these men may work for may TELL them to wear business casual attire. Leave the other clothing for the club or whatever other social event you go to.
On the other hand, maybe it's not the clothes, but a particular mentality that we need to take a stand against.
I'm glad the college has done this, but its unfortunate that they had to. I mean seriously..wearing pajamas to class, house shoes, womens clothing and shoes..? After all this is an institution of higher learning.
THANK YOU DR. FRANKLIN, it's about time someone stood up on this issue. All should take heed in our society as a whole. We all need to set these standards and regain some 'respect' as a people! Our men don't seem to realize how the way they dress implies who and what they stand for. Thank God that Morehouse is a private school and can make such demands. Sincerely, from a HBCU grad.
Pastor S- When the righteous are silent "All" suffer. Thank God, for a righteous man who is not afraid to raise the standard. Hopefully, all will become – Silent no longer whom God has called to raise the standard.
I applaud the by any means neccessary approach towards professional and academic development Morehouse continues to implement through the intents of this policy. I can say that I have benefited personally from this approach. I recall that from middle school all the way through high school, my father never allowed me to turn in a writing assignment until he felt each sentence was grammatically correct, and demonstrated excellent word use. Finally, I asked my father how a physics major who does annual financial reporting for a life insurance company (basically a number cruncher) had the skill set required to ensure that every piece of writing I submitted as a sixth grader was ready for the New York times (I was not always happy about this, because it involved me rewriting papers 5 times when I could have gotten an A with the first draft). Interestingly enough, it dated back to an English professor he had as a freshman at Morehouse that refused to let a student leave his class without being an effective writer. That professor's teaching methods seemed harsh or extreme, but they were clearly effective. While a dress code at the University level may seem extreme, Morehouse can be confident that their graduate are prepared to present themselves in a professional manner. I think this type of development is one of the aspects of a Morehouse education that attracts talent; I doubt that a dress code would be much of a deterring factor.
Whether we call it "shame" that we've had to come to this or not, I'd rather that it be NOW than later! THE TIME HAS COME!! As a man, there is an absolute that he is "…to put away childish things"…"the childish things" includes childish decisions that are morally insensitive to and/of which are demoralizing the collective whole/purpose. The collective whole/purpose in this case is "to higher educate…the person, the mind, the body and Spirit for the betterment of the collective whole".
The decision stamps the footprint of AN URGENT CALL TO ORDER.
I do not agree with this policy at all. It is one thing to not want your students to dress like thugs, but to ban them from wearing hoodies, hats, and baggy jeans anywhere on campus is ridiculous. I can possibly understand banning this in the classroom but to tell me that I cannot where my hoody or baggy jeans in the cafeteria is overstepping your bounds. I understand it is supposed to be an institution of higher learning but I learn just fine with my hoody. Also, these are grown men who attend a 'prestigious' university I am sure that they know when where and how to dress for appropriate situations and in my opinion the classroom isn't one. If these men missed this important life lesson while attending Morehouse the institution has failed them greatly. I am speaking on this as a college student and I attend a well known private university (ND) and they do not have a problem allowing their students to attend class in pjs. Being a senior in college I know for a fact that sometimes it is just one of those days when you get to class on time by the help of God and a nice sprint. LOL and pjs are the best you can do. All in all this policy is not cool at all!
so let me understand this…you can be punished (how they exactly plan on doing this is beyond me right now) for dressing like a thug, but if you shoot someone 3 times (which is definitely thug like behvavior) your "punishment" is that you are allowed to stay in school and receive your degreee (a la joshua brandon norris)? hmmm, kind of interesting, isn't it? where's the balance?
mooo sounds like a bunch of cattle being rounded up and picked out tha heard 4 being diffient
Conservatism is characterized by forced uniformity and fear of change. Liberalism is characterized by a tolerance for people and lifestyles unlike one's own. At the extremes, conservatism morphs into tyranny and liberalism becomes anarchy. Dress codes are an element of forced uniformity. If you want to know where the policy takes you, watch the movie Pleasantville. Freedom loving rebels are going to be more tolerant of aberrant behavior, while status quo society is going to condemn and restrict behavior of non-conformists. The question is really which societal values are we willing to sacrifice on the altar of values we hold more dear.
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