Tuskegee President Defends Dress Code as Key to Student Success

Tuskegee University President Dr. Mark Brown is defending the historically Black university's renewed emphasis on student dress and conduct standards, asserting the policy is designed to foster job readiness and discipline rather than to police personal style.

"If you raise the bar, students will reach it," Brown stated in an interview. "We're unapologetic about that part."

Following the issuance of a pre-arrival memo requiring business attire for meetings and professional dress in classrooms, along with restrictions on non-religious head coverings, Brown reported observing positive results during the initial days of the academic year. "The bar was raised and it was being reached," he said. "But the same is true as if you lower the bar, or if you go past the mistake and fail to address it: That becomes the standard. And so, you know, we are a university of standards. I believe all of higher education should be a university standards."

The policy has faced criticism from advocates for freedom of expression, with some labeling the rules, which include bans on items like durags and bonnets, as "respectability politics." Brown, however, views the dress code as an integral component of a broader initiative aimed at enhancing student success, which encompasses punctuality, attendance, internships, professional certifications, interview preparation, and overall workplace readiness.

"The focus is how do I make you a professional in whatever space you want to go in?" Brown explained. "Any higher education institution in the country that's not focused on student success, no matter what type of university that is, is not focused where they should be. That's why we exist."

Brown noted that the policy itself is not new, but Tuskegee is applying "greater emphasis" to ensure graduates are equipped not only with degrees but also with the professional habits that employers expect. "It’s not the world we wish you were going into, it’s the world you’re going to go into," he said. "It’s not the way that we wish an employer would perceive you. It’s the way the employer will perceive you."

The ongoing debate about the value of a college education increases the pressure on universities to demonstrate their role in preparing students for post-graduation life. Brown emphasized that Tuskegee aims for students to leave with more than just a GPA and a diploma. "We want them job-ready," he stated.

He cited punctuality as an example of a seemingly minor habit that can have significant workplace consequences. "Would it be sad for us to allow a student to come to class late, practice that for four to five years, and then find out that no matter how great they were with their 4.0 or 3.8 GPA, it won’t keep them that job?" Brown questioned.

Addressing concerns about potential financial burdens associated with professional dress requirements, Brown stated that Tuskegee is prepared to offer support. Approximately 70% of students on campus are eligible for Pell Grants, and the university's Golden Tigers Community Closet is available to assist students needing professional clothing. "If a student needs help with that, we’re going to help them. That’s not going to be the barrier between compliance and getting ready. We’re going to remove that barrier."

The university also intends to host professionals to instruct students on the specifics of business attire, such as proper coat buttoning and tie-wearing techniques. "I really want us to bear down and double click, to use a common term these days, on the fact that we have to care as much about what happens in school as what happens after school," Brown said.

Brown pointed to the university's recent employment statistics, reporting that about 70% of students who graduated in May had already secured employment. "Seven out of every 10. That is the challenge. That’s what we should be debating."

Critics, including the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), have raised objections, particularly regarding restrictions on durags and other items associated with Black culture. FIRE Senior Program Counsel Haley Gluhanich commented, "Tuskegee can’t promise students broad freedom of expression while enforcing a sweeping dress code that regulates ordinary, non-disruptive expression. Preparing students for professional life is a legitimate goal, but it does not hinge on requirements about what adults wear to class or lunch."

In response to such criticisms, Brown referenced Tuskegee's historical context, including the Tuskegee Airmen, as an example of preparing individuals to demonstrate competence despite societal prejudice. "My race and my ethnicity would have absolutely nothing to do about it. That’s not the subject. The subject is social and economic mobility and student success," he stated.

While acknowledging broader debates on culture and expression, Brown reiterated that Tuskegee's primary responsibility is to prepare its students for success within existing societal realities. "I’m not discarding the debates. The debates are great. I think America is great because we have debate. But that’s not the purpose of the university in this sense. The purpose of a university is, while the debates go on, to be prepared."

Brown reported that while he has heard criticism, he has not encountered significant pushback from Tuskegee students and has received positive feedback from other university leaders. "This is not unique. If you go to many universities, they have dress codes, they have these kinds of things. Perhaps we are, at this moment, [placing] a greater emphasis."

For Brown, the fundamental question is whether universities consider their responsibility to students to extend beyond graduation. "If we think the degree ends the relationship, I do not. I think the relationship and the value of the time here ends down the road, when that student is getting a return on investment."

He concluded, "That matters the most for those students who are economically at a disadvantage, who are using education as a springboard to do better. But do we expect them to practice that when they start work? Or isn’t the classroom an extension of that? Isn’t it a laboratory by which you practice these very important skills? I think it is."