Students at Alabama’s Tuskegee University will be required to wear a business suit when arriving on campus this semester under a strict new dress code that also bans certain headwear — sparking a heated online debate.
Tuskegee University, a historically black university about 40 miles east of Montgomery, unveiled the updated policy last week in a message from President Dr. Mark Brown to students and parents.
Students must “arrive on campus with a business suit and proper shoes for a business meeting,” Brown said.
The updated dress code also bans “revealing clothing in class, to the cafeteria or in official settings like Convocation,” along with banning “bedroom shoes, bonnets, or du-rags to class or the cafeteria.”
“The goal here is not meant to restrict you from enjoying the Tuskegee Experience, but to prepare you with a solid foundation for the workforce you will enter once you leave Tuskegee,” Brown added.
The university also announced a ban on cellphone use in classrooms and reiterated its mandatory attendance policy.
The message did not specify what penalties students could face for violating the dress code.
However, Brown said faculty members “will be empowered to respond to students who are inappropriately dressed based on these guidelines.”
The policy quickly blew up online as critics accused the university of unfairly targeting black students.
“To me, this isn’t about professionalism. It’s about respectability politics. It’s the idea that Black people have to constantly edit ourselves, tone ourselves down, and distance ourselves from parts of our culture to be viewed as acceptable,” one Facebook user wrote.
“Let’s not forget these are paying students who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of what they choose to wear on any given day. A dress code may shape appearances, but it won’t eliminate bias,” another added.
“There is absolutely no correlation between what you wear to class, in college, and your future as a professional,” a third posted.
The dress code’s supporters said the ruling brings back standards and teaches students skills they will need after graduation.
“It’s a shame how many young adults don’t know how to dress professionally for an interview. These are skills that should be mandatory at college level,” one person wrote.
“Dressing appropriately for class, meetings, and professional settings is not “White culture” or an erasure of heritage. It is adult competence. Millions of Black professionals have long understood this without drama,” another said.
Kaylan Parham, who graduated from Tuskegee in 2022, said she was surprised by the response because the school’s dress expectations have been in place for years.
“It feels like they were just kind of refocusing, like just reminding you of the standards that we already have,” she told Birmingham’s WVTM-TV.
“That was normal to see men walk around with suits or a nice shirt and tie. The ladies all dressed up, even if they weren’t going anywhere. It was just normal,” she added.
The updated policies come as Tuskegee prepares to welcome its largest freshman class in more than 32 years.
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