Since I have been a student at Florida A&M, rattlers have made it known that we are a university where fashion matters. Dress code is not just a conduct but it is incorporated into everyday lifestyles.
Sometimes I have to question where I am. Is this really a college campus? If this is a university, is there a concert going on? I cannot understand why four-inch heels and tights seems to be the clothing of choice. Why ladies feel the need to paint their faces as though they are Rembrandt or Picasso, or even if 22 inches of hair are really called for?
It seems as though FAMU women are getting out control and some are leaving nothing to the imagination. As I sat in the breezeway of the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication with a fellow Rattler, I couldn’t believe the outfits and hair colors that I saw. Most of them walked past this school but I couldn’t help but wonder, “Are they even enrolled? Looking like that I hope not.” From the tights that show their veins, to shirts that show cup-sizes, the clothing many FAMU women seem to think is acceptable is rather tasteless. The shorts and skirts I saw made me wonder if the 50-degree weather I felt was the same weather everyone else was feeling.
I wouldn’t be surprised if these are the same women that get upset when guys sit on “The Set” and bark at them or say degrading things. They are only calling you what stars call video girls since that is how you feel it is acceptable to come to your university.
I think it is about time that these ladies grew up and realized, people aren’t going to take you seriously with your red, pink and purple hair. Professors aren’t going to take you serious with belly rings and a tattoo showing because you thought a crop top was appropriate for ENC 1102. Have some class. Some female students wonder why they only attract “goon daddies” or “dope boys,” well if you didn’t come to school looking like a “Project Chick” then maybe you could get yourself a wholesome man.
Someone that can see past your shape and physique, because half the time these men aren’t looking at your face but at the way you are dressed.
I am not at all saying that your outfits are not cute, ladies. But there is a time and a place for everything. In college, no matter what major you are, you should show a sense of professionalism. Of course it’s appropriate to “shake it up” in these outfits in the Moon on a Wednesday or at Baja’s on a Saturday but not to wear to your 8:00am Physical Science class.
If you deem it necessary for at least one article of clothing to be tight, balance it. Let the shirts be tight and the pants snug or vice versa. I do understand the concept of a blouse showing your cleavage, however don’t have the nerve to wear a scarf.
FAMU has a code of conduct but it’s obviously not being enforced in the classroom and something has to change. There should be a higher quality of character and sense of pride that we are looking for in the students. If someone randomly walked on campus I would want them to feel as though the students were tasteful not tasteless for their dress codes because people normally judge what they see first. And if the first thing they see is “ratchet,” they put the rest of us in the same category. Professors from lower level courses such as PSY 2012 to upper level course like PUR 4801 should hold their students accountable. I am not advocating that we wear business casual everyday but something needs to be done because I give it two more semesters before KOD and Strokers start having recruitment fairs here.