Working on campus I can honestly say that the students are not in an uproar over the dress code. One crucial item to remember is that the dress code has made changes for heterosexual men as well. Not only are no women clothes permitted but nothing that reflects the Hip-Hop generation as well, which for me gives many class implications considering that over 80% are on some type of financial assistance.

Spelhouse was hit by the recession but not enough where we are so desperate for donors that we result to projecting a certain image to gain dollars.

One thing that the media is leaving out about the dress code is that it only applies to two things:campus events and academic settings (ie class). The students are still allowed to dress however they please as long as they are not wearing it to class nor any formal campus events. Morehouse states that this is to prepare their students for professional settings. Many of the careers these students are seeking will not allow them to wear sagging jeans, do rags, sunglasses nor women clothes to work.

I think what saddens me most about this dress code is how it has overshadowed the rise of violence in the AUC. I lost one of my residents whom I was close with to gunfire last month. There have been more robberies and shootings this year with the AUC than the community has seen in awhile.

The student body is focusing on how to remain safe and build community relationships, the dress code was not a main concern.

While I am as liberal as any I do believe there is a time and place for everything. Morehouse and Spelman have changed since I was a student and both schools are very intentional about creating safe and equal policies for every sexual orientation. The student body is a lot more acceptable.

Granted it is not perfect and we do have a way to go. But I am grateful that my younger Spelman/Morehouse sisters and brothers understands that it doesn’t matter if your sister wears timbs and do rags or your brother wears pumps and dresses that they are you still your brother and sister.

The media is making our schools look way less tolerant and using the dress code to stir up an environment based on misinformation.

Yes we are historically Black schools but the strength of our history is the power that we have had and continue to show in changing, adapting and growing. Spelman and Morehouse is not the same dangerously homophobic environment it once. Nor is it close to being the utopia of acceptance it could be. But one thing it is, is a safe space for many of every sexual orientation. Don’t allow the media to convince us otherwise.

(Written from my phone so I apologize for any misspelled words or typos)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry