Tuskegee University president defends dress code after backlash: Raise the bar, students will reach it

Tuskegee University President Dr.Mark Brown, a retired Air Force major general, is defending the historically Black university’s renewed emphasis on student dress and conduct standards, saying the policy is aimed at preparing students for the workplace rather than policing personal style.“If you raise the bar, students will reach it,” Brown told Fox News Digital in an interview.“Why don’t we raise the bar? That’s what I think we ought to do.

We’re unapologetic about that part.”After issuing a pre-campus arrival memo requiring a business suit and shoes for business-like meetings and professional dress in the classrooms, as well as barring non-religious head coverings, Brown said he saw that evidence of success during the first days of the school year.“I had a wonderful time riding around and walking around the campus on the first and the second day of class,” he said.“The bar was raised and it was being reached.

“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 university’s policy has drawn criticism from freedom of expression advocates over restrictions that include bans on items such as durags and bonnets, with some critics framing the rules as “respectability politics.”Brown, however, said the dress code should be viewed as one part of a much broader push toward student success that includes punctuality, attendance, internships, professional certifications, interview preparation and workplace readiness.“The focus is how do I make you a professional in whatever space you want to go in?” he said.“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.

That’s exactly why we exist.”The policy ...