the young people's professor

What happenned to college being a place for free thought and expression?

um if i am paying tuition do not tell me what i can wear to class or to eat...i stayed in sweats pj bottoms and slippers at princeton...i call BS

As an alumnus of Morehouse College I see nothing wrong with this policy. It clearly states that the college feels the reasons a student chooses the college are obvious. Morehouse is not often known as an expressive institution; and when it is, it is in a way that is acceptable by the Black middle class. The college's goal is not to produce the typical Black American male, but one of a higher caliber. Not everyone was called to be a Morehouse Man. Of one does not like the rules, there are several other institutions of higher learning that will accept you.

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As you can see from the comment above me... there are those who have given into the heterosexist standard set by white men who didn't consider people who look like us as HUMAN BEINGS. Who are quick to say "either go with it or leave" rather than "lets have a discussion about it"... ITS SOME FUCKIN BULLSHYT!!! thats what it is!! First of all made it clear to us "this is not a dress code"... what??? Its a CLEAR stab at the VERY VERY VERY small minority of feminine students who are unafraid of BEING THEMSELVES (who have NEVER worn a pair of heels or a dress to class a day in their life!!!). MIND YOU! WHATS MOST DISGUSTING is that there are PLENTY of homosexual students who believe this attire policy is APPROPRIATE! INSANE!!! They've fallen victim to this heterosexist standard and believe "there is a time and a place for everything" and Morehouse is not the place for feminine clothing. It really just speaks to the OVERWHELMING issue black gay males have with femininity. This belief that being a man somehow equates with boat shoes and khaki pants. That a suit is going to somehow make u less of a bad person. That a tie equates with "success" and "class." Lets not forget: Masculinity as we know it is SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED. Its REALLY REALLY SAD and the Dr Franklin isn't completely to blame.. but hes damn a BIG part of the problem. What needs to happen is a discussion on the state of the black gay community and how some people need to keep their self hatred TO THEMSELVES and stop imposing it on the rest of the student body. What can you say to a student whos sagging their pants and has grills... with a 4.0 gpa and a few internships under his belt? What can you say to a purse toting, women's jeans wearing, homosexual student whos started their own successful business?? NOT. A. DAMN. THING.

UrSoVain said most of it. Morehouse is at a sort of crossroads right now. The current President was brought in to "restore the old" morehouse and return to some aesthetic of suits and bourgeois white sensibility reminescence of the Ex-Colored Man. I am an adult, and nobody has told me what to or NOT to wear since i was 5 years old. I think that this clothing policy is Morehouse's way of making a scapegoat for the problems of the school.
The vice president called the feminine students on campus, "AN EPIDEMIC that THREATENS the brand of Morehouse." Apparently, Morehouse is not a school, but a factory with a product. I am supposed to be a product of a hundred years of DuBois, white washed, middle class respectability, suited and booted and ready to jive my best for corporate America. We can't even graduate 60% of entering students AFTER SIX YEARS. What is going on?
Better question, Frank, why are you eating in the Morehouse cafe? Atlanta has so much more to offer you in that respect lol. I get off this campus as soon and as often as I can ...

I see nothing wrong with Morehouse having a dress code. Morehouse is a private university and students attend by choice. No one is forced to matriculate there. If you choose to attend Morehouse then you must accept certain rules of the school. It really is as simple as that.

Trust me, they have even more onerous rules at Notre Dame and Brigham Young University that are rooted in those school's religious practices and their desire to maintain certain standards.

You either accept it or choose another school.

hmmmm, when can we expect mandatory pencil skirts and lacefronts at Spelman?

Let's be clear hear in regards to James and Bernie's comments. Morehouse is trying to maintain a reputation which is stating that: A MOREHOUSE Man is to be upheld in the most respectable manner. Walk over to the campus next door via CAU and you will see a different set of standards that would not constitute as class. Do I agree with the dress policy? In some ways, I do. Let me explain. Since being at my institution (Clark-Atlanta) I regularly see jeans-sagging, wife beater with sweatpants wearing individuals prancing around campus. This expression is really inappropriate in so many ways because outside of collegiate life, one could not earn a reputation of respect or even a job sagging your pants or wearing durags. Historically CAU did not come from this construct of "expression." Do I feel that the policy is a little strict? Yes but I have to agree that Morehouse is a private institution and they have made up their mind how they want their students to dress.
While I do embrace expression, I have to agree that the policy works. HOWEVER, there are some underlying issues that need to address regarding dress codes. Morehouse is not better because of how they dress..they are just like any other brothers attending a school of higher learning. Unfortunately, people are taught they are better and hold this arrogance as if their stuff doesn't stink. Morehouse men have flaws just like everyone else and to me that becomes very important. I believe that is important because the underlying factor is that some black men are afraid of being vulnerable, (and by admitting such things as: I love men, I have feminine traits, I come from a single parent home) you attend an institution where you can hide behind a suit, throw up your school's name and legacy and embrace that and deny your flaws and true identity. I digress on that topic though but you get the point.

While there wasn't a formalized dress code at Morehouse while I attended Spelman 20 odd years ago, the reason why it was instituted was young men were getting killed on campus due to looking like gangsters to law enforcement. Moreover, some people who were dressing like that did not attend the school giving it a bad name.

Morehouse, like Spelman does not have extensive Alumni giving. There is not plenty of money that is bequeathed when a few students start a fight. When large donors see this behavior, they pull all their endowments out. Without these endowments, Morehouse will cease to exist. When people say their tuition will pay... These people's tuition will not pay for one light bill in one room...

So, when you feel your rights are overlooked, yes, at a private liberal arts school under the graces of their donors, yes, yes they are. And yes, Morehouse is choosing its donors over its students. When I say donors--donating greater than $100K per year...

Let's consider a couple of things.

1 - This is a private institution of higher learning associated with the Church and therefore, the public liberties most expect do not apply. Morehouse has always been an institution designed to produce a specific kind of Black Man and those who attend Morehouse did so to become THAT type of Black Man.

2 - Black Colleges are in dire straits these days and all of them, including Morehouse, are doing all they can to increase their endowments. And no one is going to give Morehouse money with it's students running around in saggy jeans, gold fronts, and men dressed like women.

As a very recent alumnus I applaud the dress code. Morehouse is a private college whose goal is to shape global leaders. I'm tired of people saying these standard are heterosexist. It is inappropriate in any business setting, possibly outside of the fashion world, for men to wear woman's clothing. As a school focusing on creating the next leaders of business, politics, education, law etc. it would be irresponsible to let these young men graduate without a sense of what the real world requires of them. Allowing these young men to wear dresses and oversized clothes is crippling them in a, no matter how little you want to admit it, extremely conservative business world.

I completely agree with the dress code and wish the line item about sagging and grills was instituted in institutions of higher education all across the nation. I'm an alum of Clark Atlanta University and in the 90's we did not see this type of mess on either Morehouses campus or our own. I attended my homecoming this year and was appauled at what the students were wearing. Traditionally higher education is supposed to separate you from others (and yes I do mean the locals in the projects) and you should hold yourself to a higher standard. Is that elitist? Absolutely! However, you attend college to better your life, so act like it! Why leave the hood just to dress like you're still wallowing in it?

Let me add that I find it ridiculous that people like UrSoVain jump immediately to homophobia.

Some gay men may cross dress but not all cross dressers are gay men i.e. the mayor of East Cleveland.

This is not a "gay" issue. It is about clothing. Stay focused on the issue which is; clothing that is NOT representative of a Morehouse man - gay or straight.

Are you serious, Frank?!? Let me FIRST say, I FULLY support this policy! This is only about ensuring that our young men carry themselves in a respectable, honorable fashion..from dress, to speech, etc. Too many of our young black men are portrayed in everyday media as gold teeth having, inarticulate, pants sagging, ass showing, street corner THUGS. I am TIRED of that image. That image does NOT define what all our black men are about. And whether you want to admit it or not, this image breeds a certain perception and carries with it a certain mentality. Fortunately, Morehouse does not endorse this mentality and has reignited its committment to change today's perception of young black men as lazy, unintelligent, womanizing thugs. Colleges are meant to prepare young minds for the future by 1st teaching them how to operate successfully in TODAY's reality. And in the world we currently live in..a young man can't show up at a board meeting, or a business meeting with ass out, gold teeth, or in pumps and a purse and expect to be taken seriously. Morehouse seeks to shatter the current sterotypes of the young black man and matriculate men who ARE articulate, well dressed, and well prepared to work in any corp setting, or run any business, or speak and relate to ANY group of people...regardless of race or background. I think our community/our people need to wake up and stop glorifying "thugism" in all forms. I agree that as a people...we should rebel against some things..but to rebel against something as positive as this is nonsense, in my opinion. On a side note...as a child, I was ALWAYS taught that a man should remove his hat at the table and inside a buidling...good old school values..all about values and respect. Way to go Morehouse! Prepare those young men for success. As you mature as a man, you put away childish things!

College is meant to prepare you for the real world. In the real world there are rules. some spoken and some unspoken, but rules none the less. what if i showed up to work tmmw (a corporate setting) wearing flip flops, unshaven and with a grill. you know what would happen. is it fair that my self expression is limited. perhaps not, but my mom taught my a long time ago life is not fair. if you want to pretend that taking a stance against rockin some pumps is Morehouse trying to target gay students i disagree. Morehouse is simply saying certain expressions of culrure whether that be hip-hop culture or gay culture are not acceptable in that setting. again certain expressions are not acceptabl that doesn not mean certain cultures or lifestyles are not accepted.

Perhaps they should have spent a little more time proofing the document. I assume in directive #2they meant to say "shades" are not to be worn in clsss.

"Sun glasses or “shades” are not to be work in class or at formal programs, unless medical documentation is provided to support use."

There are lots of problems with this policy, but I doubt seriously they are solved by the paralysis of analysis.

As a Morehouse Man, I do believe in free expression, but free expression is not free, it comes at a price.

I would say that in a white-normative culture, that if black men want to express themselves in the ways Morehouse has restricted, they go to predominantly white institutions like NYU, where tropes of white normativity will cover them. This is to say, since they are black, nobody will give a damn about how they dress (and probably whether they are successful) anyway.

How about some analysis of that???

I also do think Morehouse needs to take great steps to address homophobia, but gay men ought to nuance their relationship to transgendered men. I mean are transgendered men, men? And I mean this in the literal sense about gender? Person are transgendered, because they do not consider themselves male. They do not male identify.

And I think transgender is different from gay men wanting to be respected.

Whether you're straight or gay or bisexual, you still are a gendered male. Transgendered desire not to be gendered males. And regardless, take your grill out your mouth and your do rag off your head!

Morehouse alum '95...u make some VERY good points!!! Also, "Anonymous"..you make some very good points as well. I especially agree with the statement "Morehouse is simply saying certain expressions of culture whether that be hip-hop culture or gay culture are not acceptable in that setting. Again certain expressions are not acceptable...that does not mean certain cultures or lifestyles are not accepted." GREAT point, in my opinion.

This is the typical clash between modernity and post-modernity.

Clearly falling in the latter, I'm still desiring dialogue with the elders, but they don't see the value in it. The Morehouse mindset is still very much modernist in it's approach to societal norms, and I may add Eurocentric. Not the end of the world because reality is that we do live in Western society. However, I think Franklin and the administration is really addressing a small percentage of Morehouse students who operate on the fringe for the most part anyway. Sadly, however, the tenor of the dress code is "No gays and thugs."

This easily deals with the problem as it's presented itself and fails to ask the deeper and much more pertinent questions. Such as, I would seriously want to know why a young man would choose to go to Morehouse and dress in women's clothing--and I think because of the stark contrasts of that, it's a question worth asking, not for the sake of judgment, but for the sake of understanding another POV. By the same token, there are clearly some ontological issues concerning black identity as to reasons why young black men, myself included, feel the need to sag our pants, wear fitted caps or to wear grillz, and doo-rags--but again, no one wants to deal with those questions.

To me, it seems that Morehouse is showing these young men how to assimiliate properly into dominant culture. Again, not the end of the world, but is the assimilation for the sake of changing the system later on, or just for the sake of using the system to point back and say how Morehouse prepared me for the system properly.

To use the "love it or leave it" policy does nothing more than create class divisions amongst our own black community and we're already separate enough from dominant culture, we need not do it to ourselves.

Frank, it's obvious you're still a kid with a lot to learn. A huge part of the reason there is so much dysfunction in the black community is the unwillingness of society to stand up to this "anything goes as long as I'm okay with it mentality." In other words, I can play my music as loud as I want. I can curse in public places as much as I want. I can act out any anti-social behavior, short of breaking the law, as much as I want because it's my business. The real world doesn't work like that. There are things called standards and values that hold society together. When those start to slip, everything falls apart. That's why kids are hitting each other in the head with planks here in Chicago. You're free to dress like a thug, but be prepared to get treated like one. And I do mean thug. There is nothing inherently black about saggy jeans and T-shirts to your knees. That's reflective of prison culture. One day you'll be old enough to realize that. And by the way, I went to business school at Emory. I'd love to see you walk in the building wearing a dress or a platinum grill. Let me know how that goes with the administration.

Being a grandmother of a child that will be attending Spellman next year I say halleluiah. This policy should be for EVERY institute of learning and not just college. Express yourself AFTER you have received that education then put it to use to change what you disagree with. It doesn't matter what your sexual or gender preference is, I say yes Morehouse thank you. I hope other HBCs follow, especially CAU where I have niece attending.

College is where most of us do our growing up. We don't just pay for the education, we pay for the experience.

It seems perfectly logical to me that they would want to shape a generation of men who are used to dressing like men.

It's difficult to get used to wearing khakis instead of jeans, and not everyone knows the difference between a pair of loafers and a pair of oxfords. The only way you learn these things is being exposed to them. You gotta put the fitted away at some point, and there's nothing wrong with the school forcing you to do that.

The arguments about hetero-normativity and other equally weird Critical Theory terms seem to miss the point. Being a black man in America isn't easy, and we need to maintain a certain look not to be shut out of society. Good job to Morehouse, I hope more schools follow suit.

Yes Frank you are trippin my brother. Get real man..young brothers need structure to survive in this world as we know it. Creativity and self expression are wonderful and when you are paying the bills as a grown man...do what you need to do. Play by the rules on campus or take your ball and find another place to play.

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I am grateful for the dialogue I have read thus far. I must say Frank that I am a little miffed that you would disagree with Moorehouse's standards. I teach a a public black institution in Maryland and it's appalling the lack of disrepect that our young proteges have for those trying to teach them. There is a false sense fo entitlement given to these young people to the point of if they feel they come to class they should receive no lower than a B. I am really thankful for the person who commented about gender, but for the postmodernist view over modern, it is just the to the postmodernist nothing makes sense. Also for the person who thought Dubois was an assimilationist, you have him mixed up with Washington. Education is the key, but as long as we are driven by self-aggrandizemet and instant gratification, we will continue to have our young men represent to the world that black men portray all the stereotypes that have been imposed upon us by mainstream media. Thuggism should not be a badge or honored adorned by black men or black women. We used to be the race of respectability although we have always been painted as the lecherous,lascivious ones.

Expressionism I believed was when someone created his or her own form of self-expression. Some people need to review Salt and Pepa's recording. Wearing the pumps and carrying the big purses, small sweaters and handbags are not forms of expressions, they are outside of mainstream normativity by a group of people who would untilize mainstreams tools to justify their own ends. In same vein as thuggish apparel, they are people who wish to belong to a certain group. It is not just happening at moorehouse but at other HBCU's as well. On the whole the Black community is still a conservative group, which is why it is rare if any that any queer theory is being taught at our compuses.

Excuses should not be made for bad behavior. When I went to school LL Cool Jay and Bobby Brown were the fashionistas, never did we see his undergarments via sagging.

First, Frank--once again your prose are fluid and concise and compelling. Well done! You really have mastered the english language and mood of the moment. Secondly, I'm sure this push is a diversion. Something tells me that the university has bigger fish to fry but as in all abusive situations the bully focuses on the victims and make them the reason for the problem. It's a dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. They seem to be saying: Don't be on the own low and don't come out. Other silent oration is, "even though you pay to attend this school and the words "your school" and "our school" are deployed -- they are empty rhetoric. Not allowing men to make their own choices in such a minor thing as what one wears is scarring. Not being able to choose what you wear makes one insecure and rebellious about something that is only of major concern when you are African American.

Finally, Frank -- you can speak for me anytime. Your commentary is a perfect blend of academics and pop culture. Wright On!