Editor’s note: This article is a part of a head-to-head. Read the other article here.
The style of the average student at the University lacks respect and effort. Walking around campus, you’ll see sights ranging from students not wearing shoes to the infamous shirtless guy. The trends among the female population consist of wearing t-shirts that are three sizes too big, creating an appearance that the female is not wearing shorts. The male population sticks with t-shirts, basketball shorts and tennis shoes. The lack of effort college students make is troubling.
The trend of dressing in “shacker” attire is a common joke among students. This term refers to when someone wears the shirt of someone they went home with after a night of partying. This fad is common on campus and happens often; it is even made light of on popular social media accounts. This is disrespectful to many people, but it is especially disrespectful to the professor who received high levels of education to educate University students.
The fads on campus are even transmitted to incoming freshmen who begin purchasing extremely large t-shirts and doing everything they can to not look put-together for class in an effort to fit in. These trends are even supported on social media. The University should take a step in the right direction and demand its due respect by imparting a class dress code.
Students should have to dress up in order to be admitted to class. Big t-shirts are not appropriate class attire. Athletic wear should be limited and business casual attire should be required once or twice a week. The University should hold their students to a certain standard just as their future employers will. The majority of the students come from high schools that enforced strict dress codes. The University should maintain these principles but hold them to a lesser standard. There should be guidelines regarding class attire but not restricting to the students’ individuality.
The benefits of enforcing proper dressing on students are numerous. Students would feel more confident in appropriate clothing. This would allow them to participate in class more often and ultimately end in better educational results. They would show the respect they have for their classmates, professors and themselves. When one dresses nice, they present themselves respectfully and receive equal respect in return.
This dress code would also encourage students to build their professional wardrobes. Most occupations require business attire and it is essential for students to learn how to dress. This requirement from the University would teach young adults how to dress and allow them to collect business clothes to build their closets for the future.
Students at the University are putting no effort into their appearance and as a result, disrespecting their classmates, themselves and their professors. The trend of showing up to class with little to no effort put in one’s appearance is a lazy epidemic that has to change. If the University enforced a dress code, the students would only benefit.
Britany Diefenderfer is a 20-year-old English literature junior from Thibodaux, Louisiana.
