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Rhianna – Sexuality
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5034721998773530/

Trey Songz – Give a Little Love
http://www.zshare.net/audio/503132068c242f01/

Kanye West – Coldest Winter (fixed 1)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/506021289ed47c28/

Coldplay ft. Jay-Z – Lost
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5057446691a440ff/

Wale ft. Duffy – Warwick Avenue
http://www.zshare.net/audio/50554740f62f3ad5/

Q-Tip ft. Deangelo – Believe
http://www.zshare.net/audio/50538906bfe821ca/

Q-Tip ft. Raphael Saadiq – We Fight/Love
http://www.zshare.net/audio/504071622d29c4ec/

Ludacris ft. Lil Wayne – Last of a Dying Breed
http://www.zshare.net/audio/50344306a030be10/

Jazzanova ft. Phonte – Look What You Are Doing to Me
http://www.zshare.net/audio/50575563ffce0b94/

Photo back row (left to right) Procter & Gamble brand manager Adam Weber; HSAN President/CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis; HSAN Executive Director Valeisha Butterfield; Ne-Yo; Russell Simmons; Q; TAG Make History Grant winners Blair Alexander, Jr, and Paul Dickens and NAFEO President/ CEO Dr. Lezli Baskerville. front row (left to right) MC Lyte; Chili; Yo-Yo and TAG Make History Grant winner Kiera Thomas

In New York yesterday, TAG Records who recently joined forces with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) to name five recipients of the first ever TAG Make History National Grants Program. With help from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) and a panel of celebrity judges including hip-hop stars Russell Simmons, Ne-Yo, Yo-Yo, Grammy-award winners MC Lyte and Chili and TAG Records first artist,Q, TAG Records honored individuals who have made their mark bettering society.

“The TAG Records mission is dedicated to mentoring and propelling urban youth through hip hop,” stated Adam Weber, brand manager for P&G. “The goal of TAG’s Make History National Grants Program is to recognize the extraordinary strides being taken by select urban students, and we’re very proud to partner with HSAN and NAFEO to provide them with tools to broaden their remarkable contributions.”

After a nationwide search scouring more than 100 college campuses, the chosen student winners each received a $10,000 grant for their exceptional progress in a cross-section of fields ranging from science to the arts.

The winners of the grant included: Blair Alexander Jr. (Morehouse College of Atlanta, Ga.):
For his groundbreaking research in microbiology pertaining to why humans have become resistant to antibiotics, and how to reverse this trend. Alexander will continue to make history as a premier researcher for antibiotics addressing diseases of African Americans and all races relating.

Paul Dickens (Howard University of Washington, D.C.):
First year medical student who has created health and environmental, youth-oriented programming using original hip-hop DVD’s to encourage young people to maintain healthy lives and promoting professions related to this lifestyle.

Chevonne James (Bowie State University of Bowie, Md.):
For her creation and operation of the “Pick A Meal” pilot Program, a program that enables the less fortunate to receive gift cards or “meal vouchers” and allows them to “pick-a-meal” at participating restaurants. This program also provides nutritional supplement bars, mini sanitary kits and bottled water to promote health and hygiene to the public.

Jamel Vanderburg (Wilberforce University of Wilberforce, Oh):
Vanderburg is the 21-year-old founder and CEO of start-up marketing and accounting firm, A & M Financial Services, Inc. This firm assists college students who want to start their own businesses to achieve their dreams, and also focuses on event planning and consulting.

Kiera Thomas (Kentucky State University of Frankfort, Ky.):
Thomas is an award-winning singer and songwriter. She has received this grant for her development and funding of the Kentucky State Show Choir, program committed to team spirit through the finest forms of contemporary vocal music and choreography.

The winners were handpicked from across the country and given grants in effort to support the continuation of their projects.

Gentlemen, ask yourselves this question: If there are two girls, they both have the same type of beauty: cute face, shape, and everything. Which one would you approach? However, the only difference between these two gorgeous young ladies is one is dark skinned and the other is light skinned. Ladies, the same question goes for you.

Fall semester 2007, my friends, Keisha, Monica and I gave a survey to at least 15 PVAMU male students by asking them this same question. 75 percent chose light-skinned, 20 percent chose dark-skinned, and five percent chose both.

The reason for this survey was that Keisha, a dark-skinned female, attempted to prove a point to Monica and me. She stated that male students on our campus tend to ignore the dark-skinned females. Monica and I had never encountered this situation before or even noticed it for this matter. After our research, we came to the conclusion that she was right.

Monica would be considered a light-skinned female; however growing up, her family encouraged her to believe dark-skinned women were prettier than light-skinned women. She was often ridiculed for being lighter than most of her family members.

I, myself, could be considered in between dark and light-skinned. I had never been exposed to the criticism of the color of my skin. Personally, my battle was with another African-American issue: which was good-hair versus bad-hair.

The media could be a huge influence on how we perceive certain images, regarding light-skinned and dark-skinned women. Rapper Young Berg, best known for his recent hit “Give you the business,” was recently reported on an XM radio interview as referring to dark-skinned woman as “dark butts.” He stated that deep, brown skin tone women are not dateable for him because they just do not look good enough. According to him the women he dates must pass a “pool test,” meaning the woman must look just as good as she did before she stepped into the pool and her hair should not be “nappy” when stepping out of the pool. He is also reported to say that he wanted nobody darker than him. Furthermore, the next day, after the interview, Young Berg made a public apology to all dark-skin women, claiming that he was sincerely remorseful. Also, he informed the public that his mother is a dark-skinned female.

However, rappers and their influence should not get all of the blame, due to the fact that L’Oreal cosmetics shot an ad with Beyonce. They attempted to darken her skin in the ad for Essence magazine, but lightened it in the ads for the mainstream magazine. Is it possible that L’Oreal darkened the ad for Essence magazine?

The originality of the entire issue within our African-American community, came from the William Lynch speech and letter. A slave owner of the West Indies declared that he discovered the “secret” to controlling enslaved Africans. This theory was an address delivered by Willie Lynch in Virginia 1712 regarding control of slaves within the colony. The letter informs other slave masters how to control slaves mentally by setting them against one another.

“I guarantee everyone of you that if installed correctly it will control the slaves for at least 300 years…

I use fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies, and it will work throughout the South… Take this simple little test of differences and think about them. On the top of my list is “Age”, but it is there because it only starts with an “A”; the second is “Color” or shade; there is intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, attitude of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short…

I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration. The black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands…you must use the dark skinned slaves versus the light skinned slaves, and the light skinned slaves versus the dark skinned slaves,” said Lynch.

Willie Lynch discovered that when the slaves worked together, they were very productive and successful, possibly more than other races. Consequently, he figured out a way to keep the slaves ignorant and mentally dysfunctional.

Today, an issue that black people probably struggle with is attempting to conceive “pretty light skinned or light-brown skinned babies.” As a people, we should strive to improve our personal perceptions of our race. So that when we do have children, we can teach them to love themselves and embrace the race they originated from.

It seems that in recent years, young adults have developed a more competitive nature when it comes to their style, how they present themselves and how others view them. In an already competitive time in their lives, trying to get the grades, build their resumes and score that internship at Goldman Sachs, feeling the need to do it all and do it better than your peers is present now more than ever and it seems that what’s in your closet only ups the ante.

 
Sophomore Jashalynn German says, ” Everybody wants to be a trendsetter and stand out from the crowd so if you have that nice piece of clothing it makes you feel like you’re affecting how others dress. It’s a competition”. The self-inflicted pressure students have to create and carry out an image only adds to the stress young men and women in college feel on top of their academics.

So why is there the pressure to obtain and maintain certain standards of style? The music industry, Hollywood, sports and even job markets that produce wealthy individuals are all just a few areas that send the message to those just out of or still in their teens that to have such extravagant items means you’ve obtained a certain status. And in a time when our country is facing an economic crisis, being able to maintain your place and remain un-phased by the US’ horrific financial standing somehow upgrades you to a whole new level.

So why are students craving exclusive, one of a kind, nobody-else-has-it or nobody-else-can-afford-it items? Sophomore Blaire Smith says, ” Because those exclusive pieces help you define your style and who you are. A lot of it has to do with how others view you and if those pieces help you stand out. Everybody here is here to be different so those things help you achieve that.”

Along with the influence from other areas, students are also influenced by each other. If a student sees another wearing something that’s of limited release, one of a kind or has the usual characteristics of something that might have a large price tag, it grabs their attention and makes them crave that same item or something better. No one wants to feel less than or out of the loop so to fill that void student’s are overcompensating, and often times overspending, to be apart of their desired ‘in crowd’. In a college-setting, the competition seems to carry over into what one wears as a means of defining themselves in a sea of what can at times seem like clones. And if it’s true that your image represents you and who you are, it’s only natural that everybody would want to be represented well.

It’s fashions survival of the fittest-where do you stand?

–story courtesy of The Maroon Tiger–

–photos courtesy of Lateboots.com

All my life, I have wanted to be a journalist who was known for contributing to the betterment of society. Someone pitched an idea for a story on interracial relationships. That is always interesting, but I thought that it was a little overused.

“Let’s do gay relationships instead,” I blurted out. It was like I had an out of body experience. I felt as though I literally watched the words leave my mouth and I had no control. Oh no, I thought, what did I just do. I thought bringing awareness to an issue such as homosexual relationships would be a good place to start, but I had no idea what I was in store for.

In my attempt make the story balanced and nonbiased, I tried to call everyone I knew who was gay or lesbian who was in a relationship. The conversations went from “hey, how are you?” to “you want to interview me for what?! There’s no way I would ever do that. Don’t call me anymore.” I was stunned, because some of the people I knew personally and I couldn’t believe the way they were acting.

Nonetheless, I found people, two days after I had pitched the idea in our planning meeting. Great, two gay guys. Now I just needed a minister, a lesbian, and a straight person. How hard could that be? Well, after calling about 15 local churches in Greensboro, getting cussed out by two ministers (who shall go unnamed), hung up on by several secretaries, and given the “we’ll get back to you” answer, I found out how hard this truly was.

I was so overwhelmed by the negative responses, I just decided that I would not call any more ministers. Thinking that it was a huge blow to my story, but not to be discouraged, I continued on. After about a week and a half, and a first draft of the article, I had just about let given up. The article had been tabled twice, and I was beginning to get frustrated. Then I found someone, who also happened to be president of Acceptance Without Exceptions, a gay-straight alliance on our campus. Great! I thought to myself.

Now all I need is a straight person. After about four days of searching, I again was getting discouraged. I had a lot more opposition than I had planned on. It wasn’t until an hour before the final piece was due on Sunday that I was able to secure my source.

Pulling all of the elements together was the simplest thing out of the process. I just had to get through the week, knowing that the photos that we were running would hit front page, and they were above the fold. When I saw the layout I was excited but scared. What if something happens to my friends? That Monday before the issue came out, I called everyone in. “I think we may want to look at your safety…” I told them.

Previously, I had them all sign a waiver that released the paper of liability and gave us the right to use their names, but now I wasn’t so sure. We decided to change the names of the gay and lesbian students in the article, and leave the straight student the same, only because he represented what we thought was the common campus opinion. How wrong we were. When the article finally appeared on Wednesday at 8 a.m., I was so nervous. I hadn’t slept the night before, thinking about what would happen. At exactly 8:30, my phone started ringing, and it didn’t stop for three days.

I had so many calls coming in questioning me as to what I was thinking writing that article, and so many more thanking me for writing it, a lot of them went straight to voicemail. I just couldn’t answer fast enough. Even the Vice Chancellor called me to commend me. Then I realized that out of the 5,000 copies we circulate, this was probably the first time I had seen about 3,000 of them snatched up within hours of distribution. EVERYONE had a Register in their hands. I logged into Facebook, only to find an inbox of about 45 messages, and an honesty box filled with nasty comments, and they wouldn’t stop coming in.

I just turned it off, I couldn’t believe how rude people were. Then I found out that the straight student had his car egged, and that he was calling me a “plagiarist.”

[Note: He misunderstood the meaning of the word plagiarist.]

I called him, and played back the tape I recorded in our conversation. Word for word. “Oh well, never mind I guess. That is what I said.” Exactly. It’s now about two weeks later, and people are still talking about it. That was the first time I have ever seen people read the register from cover to cover and actually remember exactly what we ran. I’m proud of myself, but I also feel like a lot of things got out of hand.

People only read it because it was controversial. It shouldn’t be that way. Maybe now that everyone is reading, things can change.

Goodman, 45, has seen an increase in calls to the center about censorship over his 20 years there. High school and college papers also ask about freedom of information, libel, copyright and privacy issues, but censorship prompts more than a third of all calls.

And while censorship can occur at any college publication, students at historically black colleges might be disproportionately affected, Goodman said during an interview from his office in Arlington, Va.

On many [black college] campuses, administrators are extremely sensitive to the public image of the institution because they have received so little respect for many years from the rest of the world, he said. It really is a direct consequence of any organization that has felt beleaguered and unappreciated. There going to be more sensitive to criticism even when it comes from within.

The Student Press Law Center doesnt gather statistics comparing incidents at historically black colleges with others, so Goodman’s observation is based on the centers work in the last decade on behalf of newspapers, including The Script at Hampton University, The Spokesman at Morgan State University, The Peachite at Fort Valley State University and The Famuan at Florida A&M University. (See sidebar.)

The overall increase in censorship cases might be a sign that more students are aware of their rights and are willing to do something about them, suggested Adam Goldstein, a new-media specialist among the organizations nine lawyers and interns.

From 1993 to 2003, the last full year for which statistics at the Student Press Law Center are available, the number of censorship-related calls rose from 545 to 876. Additionally, in 2003, the center received 2,471 total requests for legal advice, and 38 percent were about censorship. In addition to students realizing their rights, Goodman saw two other possible explanations: First, school administrators are focusing their energy on fund raising and starting to see their roles as that of CEOs. Therefore, they treat dissent as criticism and, like a CEO, they’ll fire people, Goodman said. This doesn’t work when youre running an education system. You have to model certain democratic values.

The problem is, when you censor, everybody loses, Goodman cautioned. Because society is becoming more critical of the mainstream media, he added, the negative attitude might have trickled down to student media, inviting more attempts by student and university governments to control what students publish.

As a journalism student, you feel like youre fighting a giant all the time, said Talia Buford, editor of The Script. Its good to have someone in your corner to fight the battle with you. Buford called Goodman in 2003 when Hampton University’s acting president confiscated 6,500 issues of the newspapers homecoming edition because the editors would not publish a letter from the acting president on the front page. The Student Press Law Center has supported the editors at the private, historically black university with legal advice and publicity intended to keep the news industry and the public focused on the newspaper’s rights.

Among the most difficult censorship cases, Goodman said, are those dealing with advisers being fired because of the content of the paper. Often, It’s legally permissible but you know it’s wrong, he said. It’s very frustrating.

One such case was that of John F. Schmitt, former adviser of The Peachite at Fort Valley State University, a small historically black school in Georgia. The university had not renewed Schmitt’s contract in 1998 because of his refusal to censor the paper, which published articles that were critical of administrators. He sued and in 2002, won a $192,000 award, the largest of its kind. The settlement agreement included new guidelines to protect free speech and job security for advisers at The Peachite.

Goodman hasn’t had 20 years of straight victory: A low point came in 1988, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier that high school officials with substantial and reasonable cause could censor a public school-sponsored publication that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission. The ruling does not apply to colleges, but some try to use it to justify their censorship attempts.

Over the years, the Student Press Law Center has developed strategies to fight back. Having frank discussions with school administrators about the students’ rights can often lead to compromises or decisions that support student publications. Other times, it is necessary to embarrass a university publicly over its censorship.

Sometimes, as when 6,000 copies of The Herald were stolen recently by a fraternity at Arkansas State University, a newspaper just wants guidance. There needs to be a central place to get sound advice, particularly about legal issues, said the adviser, Bonnie Thrasher. None of us are that familiar with dealing with it. The SPLC serves as that place.

Goodman never expected to make a career of SPLC advocacy. He grew up on a cattle farm in Versailles, Mo., where his father subscribed to eight newspapers.

While a journalism student at the University of Missouri, he got a scoop about a prostitution ring on campus. If you write this story, be prepared to go to jail, a lawyer told him when he sought advice. As he was in the midst of applying to law school, he decided to drop the story.

To this day, I regret that decision, Goodman added. I would’ve rather gotten advice as to finding a solution for writing the story. Instead, this lawyer scared me off from doing the story.

An internship at the Student Press Law Center gave him a chance to be the giver of advice, and paved the way to his future career. He became SPLC’s director in 1985 and it was his first job out of college.

When I came here, I only planned to stay for two to three years, but it’s 20 years later and I’m still here, Goodman said. Frankly, though, I don’t think I’ll ever find work more satisfying than this.

Daarel Burnette II is a student at Hampton University.

–courtesy of The SCSU Collegian–

http://www.thescsucollegian.com/media/storage/paper1317/news/2008/10/28/News/Battling.Censorship.Of.Campus.Publications-3508873-page3.shtml

Brown, a sophomore psychology major from Boynton Beach, Fla., was one of four students involved in the accident. Celicia Portis-Temple, a finance major from New Orleans, La.; Dorris Perry, a criminal justice major from Marrero, La.; and Abena Smith, a psychology major from Arlington, Tenn. were all injured in the accident. Portis-Temple and Smith have been released from the hospital and are recovering at their homes. Perry is still hospitalized at the Memphis Regional Medical Center.

This tragedy comes weeks after another Jackson State student, Chelsea Gladney, a sophomore business administration major from Jackson, Miss., was seriously burned in a accident when her SUV collided with a semi-truck on her way to church on Oct. 5.

A candlelight prayer vigil, sponsored by the Student Government Association, was held on campus on Monday, Oct. 20 on the Gibbs-Green Pedestrian Walkway to encourage families, friends and students to be strong in the face of these tragedies.

“There is power in the spirit of prayer. When spirits gather and raise a voice in prayer, it is a power that God will listen to and it’s a healing process. The spirit will reach out to the hurt and encourage them to heal,” said Jackson State President Ronald Mason, Jr.

Hundreds gathered, including former high-school classmates and students who were currently in the same organizations with the young ladies. Smith is a member of Tiger Pride Connection (TPC). Perry and Portis-Temple are members of the NAACP. Brown was also a member of NAACP.

“Dorris and I went to high school together and those of you who were her friends knew her as Deka. Deka would want us to be happy and not sad during homecoming week,” said Jasmine Love, sophomore class president. “Pray for the families and the others that were injured and put yourself in their shoes and imagine it were you. Continue to show support to those who need it.”

Tommy Morris, director of the JSU Center for Student Leadership and Involvement, also offered words of encouragement at the vigil.

“Death is a mystery that none of us knows. Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. All we can do is hope and pray for the morning because the morning will come,” said Morris. “Remember there is someone greater than us. God comforts us and makes us strong; in this be comforted and know that the morning will come.”

Jamie Bender, a sophomore mass communications major and former roommate of Brown was saddened to hear of her death.

“Deka was fun to be around. We were total opposites but found a way to connect,” said Bender. “If you needed something and she had it to give, she would. She was just a good person,” said Bender.

On Tuesday, the day following the vigil, students rallied in support of Gladney’s recovery by responding to a blood drive on the JSU campus sponsored by Mississippi Blood Services. Another blood drive for her took place on Oct. 12 at Lynch Street CME Church.

“I have never given blood before but because this is for a specific cause, to help a JSU student, I decided to give,” said Sherrell Jones, a freshman biology, pre-med major from Vicksburg, Miss. “I’m scared but its for a good cause, so I’m sacrificing myself.”

Natasha Jennings, a senior elementary education major from Indianola, Miss. was also at the drive to show her support for Gladney.

“I am giving blood to help out Chelsea. You never know when you might need blood,” said Jennings.

The Division of Student Life will be offering counseling on the second floor of the Student Center in the Meditation Room and the campus ministry offices. There will also be a worship service in Ballroom A of the Student Center on Sunday, Oct. 26.

The Latasha Norman Center for Counseling and Psychological Services will hold grief counseling sessions entitled “You Are Not Alone in Your Grieving,” from Oct. 20 – to Oct. 31 in several locations on campus. For information, call 601-979-0374.

Some Black college students embrace the business-casual dress code with personal style

A young man wears a tailor-made black suit accentuated with mid-gray pinstripes followed by a mauve tinted French cuff dress shirt complemented with an eggplant bowtie striped with the colors gray, white and gold. He adds a personal touch of style with a set of suspenders, antique cuff links, a white presidential folded pocket square, vintage leather band watch and black leather dress shoes that complete the ensemble.

Inarguably, Markus T. Cook has class – even when it comes to what he wears to class. The economics and finance major at Morehouse College “dresses to impress,” as a standard for classroom attendance and campus image. This is a student who has no problem with emerging dress codes at historically Black colleges and universities because he already “dresses the part” in preparation for his future transition into the business world.
The importance of making a good, lasting first impression is vital, whether it’s scholastic, business or social. These HBCU campuses echo written and unwritten rules on how it’s imperative to present oneself with valor and high morale in public and private. You can ask any student who attends a HBCU about the importance of reputation and mostly all will put heavy emphasis on image.

“A first impression is the only impression, so I make sure that I am dressed my best at all times. I believe in being above average in all that I do, especially in presentation,” Cook says.

Universities and colleges can no longer believe that students come to college fully equipped with the knowledge needed for them to survive in the business world. Booker T. Washington, an alum of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) and founder of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), taught the basics of hygiene and dress along with academics and industrial labor.

More than a century after Washington founded Tuskegee (1881), the need to teach students basic presentation is still present. Clark Atlanta University addresses this by offering a program helping students to make adult decisions, including “dressing the part.” Chris Clarke, marketing major, believes it is warranted.

“Education is just as important as style and presence and it must be taught together as a standard,” Clarke says.

“Society demands something more in presentation of oneself. Attire is important in every field of academic study as well as business positions. Dress codes educate and influence students on what is presentable and appropriate for different occasions,” says Jeremy D. Wilson, counselor and recruiter for Admissions and Enrollment Management at Tuskegee University.

Stride, communication and pride are critical to anyone when it comes to personal marketability, and clothing is a key tool in sending the right message. When it comes to campus events such as balls, galas and cabarets, clothing that upholds class and refinement is standard. Then when it comes to socializing, going to the cafeteria or being on the “yard,” a more casual, laid-back look is acceptable. Most importantly, attending class is an event in itself where students invest love, time, money and effort in presenting themselves to their peers and professors.

Clothing oneself for any occasion can be a task. The weather and season play a major part in choice of articles of clothing worn each day. Whether it’s urban, high, era, modern, business or homage to a decade, they are all genres of fashion in which people take part. The public has to dress based on profession, occasion and status. People believe and wear what the media promote, and also what the profession requires. Many HBCUs are taking note and adding dress into the scholastic part of teaching, as it was commonplace in the past with enforcing dress codes. Dress codes support times past when it was the standard for students to wear the best and be the best.

Dress code initiatives are being made at many historically Black institutions, leading students to ask themselves, “Should the everyday task of clothing oneself become a chore?” Hampton University, for one, is infamous for its “strict” dress code.

“The dress code isn’t meant to take away our individual voices but prepareus for the real world,” says Taira M. Daniel, a music engineering major at Hampton. “People are sometimes judged based upon our appearance rather than our knowledge in the workplace. Dress codes stress [the] importance of first impressions, whether we are dressed in casual wear, business attire or formal attire.”

Other schools are following suit. Tuskegee University’s Andrew F. Brimmer College of Business and Information Sciences enforces a business-casual dress code every student must adhere to in the newly built state-of-the-art academic building. Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications is in the process of implementing a dress code for their classes to increase awareness, transition, and growth in dress.

“HBCUs will not be the institutions that have gotten lazy in style or relaxed in dress,” says Talia Nichole Hawley, a hospitality management major at Howard and member of the international honors business fraternity.

The question never asked is, “What is a dress code?” Oftentimes, within a code’s complexities, one can see that both written and unwritten rules are followed daily. A dress code adheres to the standards that the establishment sees fit to promote and the values it was founded on. Dress codes are always built in a society that relates to signals given by the person wearing the clothing. Indication of status, income, occupation, ethnic background and religion can all be showcased through dress. HBCUs have enforced these “old” rules on their students because they know social and psychological studies prove that what a person wears conveys a message in personal, cultural and intellectual identity.

One of the other key reasons HBCU presidents, faculty and staff have begun to enforce a dress code is because they have seen the culture make a drastic change. They have noticed how some of their students get lazy and parade in pajamas, baggy jeans (showing underwear), head scarves and do-rags that uphold stereotypes of being “trifling” and “shiftless” in the Black community. The presidents began to realize that when students “dressed down” everything else went down including morale, academic achievement and overall performance.

“I began to see a decline in performance when they began to remove dress codes in the early 1970s and it was stable at first but in the 1990s it began to get out of hand when students embraced a too-relaxed standard of dress,” says Booker T. Felder, a former professor and director of arts and fashion at Tuskegee University.

The concept of educating students to have a simple black suit and tie for a male, and a decent primary color dress or business suit for a female is important. These basic staples are building blocks to a growing professional wardrobe. Accessories can be used to add personality to the overall presentation.

Not all students are adhering to the “code.” Some argue that dress codes are a chore and [they] suppress students’ individuality and creativity in personal style.

“I would rather wear my casual clothes to class. I perform better in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt; it is what I’m most comfortable in when I study at home and when I go to class,” says Brandon Williams, a biology major at Tuskegee University.

Other HBCU students who support dress codes suggest that personal style can still be shown through a business-casual standard. These students see it as an opportunity to add to their wardrobe and challenge themselves to be fashionable in the classroom and workplace.

Brandon McCaskill, a communication major at Florida A&M University, is a proponent of a hybrid of students’ wardrobes. “When dress codes are implemented at institutions, I feel that they are preparing students for a transition to their respective industries upon graduation. We need to build our business wardrobe after spending so many years building our casual and personal wardrobe and bring them together.”

HBCU students of the past have always been pioneers in style, quality, and taste. Students have a strong sense of defining personal identity through clothing. They know it’s hard work being a part of a whole and still being able express individuality through intellect, style and standards. Some students walk with pride on their campuses knowing that they can wear business-casual clothes and set themselves apart from the plainness of black, whites and grays of the past. The variety of hues to choose from within the business standard of fashion reflects personality and promotes “swagger.”

Nicholas Williams, a criminal justice major at Grambling State University, offers this definition: “Swagger is how one presents his or herself to the world. It is shown from within and can be evaluated on how a person handles a situation and shown in appearance, dress, and [the] self-confidence it echoes creativity from within that shines through in academia and language.”

This comes from a man who wears “more slacks than jeans” at an institution with no dress code at all.

Many students at HBCUs know how to dress and still be creative. They clothe themselves with eccentric colors, accessories, and trendy yet classic fashions. Personality is not lost within suits and ties. Taking limitations to a new height with power colors like reds, blues and greens enhance appearance and give off positive energy. Antique jewelry, and vintage articles can be worn with a business- casual standard and style to get your personality and point across in a subtle but professional way.

“We have evolved on campus and made our hallways the ‘runways’ and our ‘yard’ the platforms, and there is nothing wrong with that when we are performing in the classroom,” says Kristina Barre an occupational therapy major at Tuskegee University.

Some HBCU students are taking matters of dress into their own hands. Students at Morehouse College implement their own system of governance; students critique each other on fashion and style as they continue to upgrade as a family and brotherhood. Justin Major, an economics major with an English minor, knows this firsthand.

“At Morehouse, we often partake in friendly competitions to be the best-dressed. We understand how important image is in the corporate world, and these competitions help prepare us for the future,” he says.

HBCU students are also getting to the point where the fight is not against the dress code but for the dress code. It’s imperative students break stereotypes promoting the idea that when they dress, speak, and act with class and dignity, they are talking and acting and dressing “white.”

The confidence is internal as students go out into the business world knowing that a dress code implemented in college helped nurture their business ideals as well as their business wardrobe. Many students at HBCUs are doing their part and realizing that in order to be successful in any area of life they must be up to code.

Howard Morris, a biological sciences and pre-med student at Hampton, is a proud member of this class, and says it’s not just the “in thing” for the moment.

“The dress code is in no way intrusive or restrictive; it just sets a standard of dress that we as Black college students, soon to be professionals, should uphold,” he says. “This is not a trend or passing phase in our presentation. We will continue to dress business-casual for the rest of our lives as the dress code has educated us to have higher standards for ourselves.”

-courtesy of the Black Collegian-

http://www.blackcollegian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=578:dress-code&catid=98:1stsem08&Itemid=263