My wife and I are constantly surprised by what people think is appropriate to wear to our black church, much less out in public. When people see anyone out in public, they "tag" you into categories--old man, young woman--and you become an avatar for that group. When folks wear slippers, pjs, and bonnets (not a stylish wrap but a $1 shower cap) to the store or on a plane, that tag gets put on everyone in that group. And if you are dressed appropriately, you still get tagged, but with "At least HE/SHE isn't dressed like THAT." Tuskegee is reminding its students of something our pastor says, being black does not require dressing or acting like the streets. Be the best of God's children.
The college I attended, nearly 50 years ago now, was at that time owned and operated by General Motors, as a co-operative engineering and management education institution. The dress code was very lose for most classroom sessions, tighter for lab sessions, because of safety reasons, and a norm existed (some instructors included this in their grading rubric) that required student presenters to wear "professionally appropriate" clothing, shoes, and hairstyles. The usual way it was expressed by the instructors was "dress like you're presenting to your boss's boss, asking for funding for a project you really want to do."
I think Tuskegee might be better served by asking the faculty to establish a norm of this type, so that students are coached and provided with opportunities to practice and get feedback about how their style choices affect their ability to communicate for different purposes and to different audiences.
That college is now called Kettering University, and their currently best known graduate is Mary Barra, GM's president.
I think Fire is expressing luxury beliefs in this essay. We learn behavior by how we behave it’s not like math that we learn didactically. It is not unreason to believe that this is a way of Imparting the behavioral skills needed to thrive in our society
This isn't a free speech issue. Confusing the "expression" of wearing pajamas to class with freedom of expression is a real waste of time.
My wife and I are constantly surprised by what people think is appropriate to wear to our black church, much less out in public. When people see anyone out in public, they "tag" you into categories--old man, young woman--and you become an avatar for that group. When folks wear slippers, pjs, and bonnets (not a stylish wrap but a $1 shower cap) to the store or on a plane, that tag gets put on everyone in that group. And if you are dressed appropriately, you still get tagged, but with "At least HE/SHE isn't dressed like THAT." Tuskegee is reminding its students of something our pastor says, being black does not require dressing or acting like the streets. Be the best of God's children.
The college I attended, nearly 50 years ago now, was at that time owned and operated by General Motors, as a co-operative engineering and management education institution. The dress code was very lose for most classroom sessions, tighter for lab sessions, because of safety reasons, and a norm existed (some instructors included this in their grading rubric) that required student presenters to wear "professionally appropriate" clothing, shoes, and hairstyles. The usual way it was expressed by the instructors was "dress like you're presenting to your boss's boss, asking for funding for a project you really want to do."
I think Tuskegee might be better served by asking the faculty to establish a norm of this type, so that students are coached and provided with opportunities to practice and get feedback about how their style choices affect their ability to communicate for different purposes and to different audiences.
That college is now called Kettering University, and their currently best known graduate is Mary Barra, GM's president.
I think Fire is expressing luxury beliefs in this essay. We learn behavior by how we behave it’s not like math that we learn didactically. It is not unreason to believe that this is a way of Imparting the behavioral skills needed to thrive in our society
Ms. Lasky, you could not be more wrong in either your criticism of Tuskegee's policy or the effects you predict it will produce.