Southern University Leader Wants a Student Dress Code. Is That Professionalism — or Policing Personal Style?

BATON ROUGE, La. (BAMM Network) — Southern University System Board Chairman Tony Clayton wants the university system to consider a broader student dress code, arguing that students should present themselves in a way that reflects the professional preparation expected from a college education.

Southern University students gather on the Baton Rouge campus. A proposed systemwide dress code is raising broader questions about professionalism, personal expression and how HBCUs should prepare students for the workplace. (Southern University and A&M College)

Clayton raised the issue during the Southern University Board of Supervisors meeting Friday, saying he wants the chancellors from Southern’s campuses to discuss the idea before the board’s Sept. 18 meeting.

“I walked around campus the other day. I think we need it,” Clayton told board members.

Clayton’s proposal comes as other historically Black colleges and universities are revisiting expectations around student appearance. Tuskegee University recently adopted stricter rules prohibiting items such as bonnets, do-rags, bedroom shoes and revealing clothing in classrooms, dining facilities and other official university spaces. That policy has drawn both support and criticism from students.

Southern’s situation, however, is more complicated than simply deciding whether to create a dress code from scratch.

Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge already has attire rules in its current student code of conduct. The policy says students should dress in a manner representative of a higher education institution and lists do-rags, bonnets, sagging pants, bedroom or shower slippers, excessively revealing clothing and certain offensive apparel among unacceptable attire. Students are also encouraged to wear professional clothing on Wednesdays.

Southern University System Board Chairman Myron K. Lawson has called for discussion of a student dress code across Southern campuses, saying students should present themselves professionally as part of their college preparation. (Credit:Southern University System)

That means the discussion could ultimately focus on whether those standards should be strengthened, more consistently enforced or adopted across the entire Southern University System, which includes campuses and institutions in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. The system currently operates five institutions.

The proposal arrives amid a larger cultural debate at HBCUs over where professional preparation ends and regulation of personal expression begins.

Supporters of campus dress standards argue that colleges should help prepare students for workplaces where appearance and professional presentation still matter. Critics counter that broad dress codes can drift into policing Black cultural expression, particularly when policies single out items such as bonnets, do-rags or certain hairstyles and clothing styles.

At Tuskegee, junior Serenity Mitchell told the Alabama Reflector that the rollout of that university’s new rules risked creating an inaccurate impression of students.

“I think that releasing it in the way that they did made it look like students were kind of walking around here looking any type of way, and that’s just not true,” Mitchell said.

Southern’s board has not adopted a new systemwide policy, and details about what Clayton would want included — or how violations would be enforced — have not yet been made public.

For now, the debate leaves Southern with a broader question increasingly confronting HBCUs: Should preparing students for professional life include telling grown adults how they should dress on campus?