<p>Aside from the appalling ignorance of confusing cross-dressing with "a gay lifestyle," how far will the college go in telling students what to do? </p>
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[quote]
The dress-wearing ban is aimed at a small part of the private college's 2,700-member student body, said Dr. William Bynum, vice president for Student Services.</p>
<p>"We are talking about five students who are living a gay lifestyle that is leading them to dress a way we do not expect in Morehouse men," he said.
<p>Single-sex colleges have long been an environment in which females feel safe to explore their sexuality. It's a pity the same does not hold true for males.</p>
<p>Sad to hear. While it is well within the university’s rights to ban cross-dressing (and it is there choice–further exposing there stupidity–to associate cross-dressing with a “gay lifestyle”), it is wrong.</p>
<p>Chances are any college like this isn’t worth going to anyway… However, in their defense (which is far outweighed by the contrast), an all-make college may have a premise to pass such an act.</p>
<p>IMHO a college that excludes certain people based on their gender or race is by definition not an inclusive college. It does not surprise me that such a college would make rules that end up excluding other types of people.</p>
<p>It seems to me that when a student chooses Moorehouse, he is looking for a very specific, and perhaps narrow spectrum of a living environment ( albeit, with another, very specific slice of life very nearby; Spelman. Rules unheard of on mainstream campuses there as well.).</p>
<p>“The policy also bans wearing hats in buildings, pajamas in public, do-rags, sagging pants, sunglasses in class and walking barefoot on campus.”</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaken, it is the only school of it’s kind. </p>
<p>Many have thought it worth attending, and for a very long time.</p>
<p>An extraordinary number of companies recruit heavily at Morehouse and its sister school, Spellman College. These two schools are probably the most famous historically black colleges in the United States, and the job opportunities for their graduates are phenomenal.</p>
<p>Given that, I think that a lot of African American guys – and some guys of other races – would want to go to Morehouse even if the school REQUIRED them to wear dresses and go barefoot.</p>
<p>The students who wish to cross dress may go to another school if they dislike the rules. I have no problem with a school setting the standards and the students choosing whether or not they wish to meet them.</p>
<p>Cross dressing doesn’t particularly bother me, but I don’t like do-rags and sagging pants. However, I also wouldn’t personally choose a college that had a mandated dress code. To each their own…</p>
<p>I agree with the previous poster who pointed out that cross dressing is not necessarily related to homosexuality.</p>
<p>It goes beyond simply telling students what they can and cannot wear to class. Most people would have no problem with a rule that mandates, say, students are not allowed to wear suits of armor to class. This rule, however, sends a clear message to Morehouse students (and prospective applicants) that the “gay lifestyle” is unacceptable and substandard.</p>
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Agreed. Morehouse is a niche school like Deep Springs and Brigham Young. You can’t reasonably expect them to be all-inclusive, as that is not how they were designed.</p>
<p>Morehouse is still a wonderful school. Some of the African American families from my kids high school proudly send their kids to Morehouse and its sister school. </p>
<p>As for those who criticize it for not being “inclusive”…LOL…it’s college for black men…it’s not going to be “inclusive”…LOL</p>
<p>I don’t know the specifics of this ban; more likely it was a ban of wearing clothes that would cause undue distraction on the campus. This is a school that has a dress code; this would fall under that standard. They probably consider cross-dressing as some kind of dressing in “costume”…which would also likely be forbidden.</p>
<p>“Most people would have no problem with a rule that mandates, say, students are not allowed to wear suits of armor to class. This rule, however, sends a clear message to Morehouse students (and prospective applicants) that the “gay lifestyle” is unacceptable and”</p>
<p>I don’t see it that way at all. I think we have all agreed that cross dressing has little if anything to do with a “gay lifestyle” I am not WELL versed, but I am versed enough to know it is not a sexual preference issue. I heard about the no baggy pants thing quite awhile ago. Would that get a thread on CC? I do not believe sexual preference is a bigger issue at Morehouse than it is on most other campuses, though Morehouse, and Spelman, and many HBCU’s, lean toward the conservative. That’s what I mean when I say kids, or their parents, choose these schools for a reason. The message is, when you "buy into Moorehouse, Spelman, etc, you buy into the “image”.</p>
<p>BTW, they do exclude woman, but they accept all races. I think last years dorm president then valedictorian was White.</p>
<p>Is it even possible for a woman to crossdress anymore? I mean, how could you tell? Most of what used to be considered men’s clothing is now unisex clothing.</p>
<p>Well, I was questioning whether the college’s stance makes any more sense than attempting to prevent women from wearing pants. If a company started making dresses specifically for men, would it still be crossdressing then? Or what? At what point does it go from “crossdressing” to “normal”? </p>
<p>It’s true pants/shorts/almost any kind of clothes for women are no longer thought of as crossdressing, but I remember seeing an anti-suffrage political cartoon from “way back when” that showed women wearing trousers, smoking, and talking politics–the implication clearly being that this was a RIDICULOUS scenario that could NEVER happen. ;)</p>
<p>However…that’s not the point. I really don’t see this as it’s been portrayed here…as some kind of anti-gay thing. I think the school is against anything that looks like a person is wearing a costume, because it would be distracting.</p>
<p>“Well, I was questioning whether the college’s stance makes any more sense than attempting to prevent women from wearing pants.”</p>
<p>Yes. Women wearing pants is currently very mainstream and conservative. Not baggy ones though…I wouldn’t be TOO surprised if “excessive piercings” where on the list. At my kids high school, no piercings for boys, no “unusual” hair, including dred locs, “cuts”, not tats…My son get’s in trouble with some regularity…And we actually PAY to send him there!!</p>
<p>And visitors can pretty much wear what they want. </p>
<p>The school also takes a “stance” on not admitting woman. Is it the only one left?</p>
<p>Frankly, if the students put up too much of a fuss, the school might just “go preppy” and define a uniform of some type…khaki pants, logo’d polo or button down shirt with tie, and blazer. </p>
<p>This is a school that is trying to defy a stereotype about young black males. It’s trying to demonstrate that the men from Morehouse are prepared for the corporate world. This is why the black families from my community want their sons in that school. They don’t want their sons do-ragging and pants-sliding (or even cross-dressing), because none of that prepares them for the corporate world (try showing up for work at a Fortune 500 company as a cross-dresser and see how far that gets you.).</p>
<p>Good for the school in taking a stand that they believe in. I am sure they will be skewered by the politically correct crowd, but what is wrong in trying to ensure your students conform to your guidelines and ideals.</p>
<p>As mom2collegekids so aptly notes, this appears to be the school not wanting kids dressed in some kind of costume or causing a distraction. It is all part of Morehouse and better preparing them for the corporate world. If the students do not like it, they certainly have the option of going elsewhere</p>
<p>Bravo Morehouse for taking a stand you believe in</p>
<p>I was not being critical, I was simply stating the obvious, just as you are stating it. You seem to be personally OK with it and that is fine with me. </p>
<p>For me personally, I would not like to attend a single-gender or predominantly single-race school or for that matter a hetero-only school that explicitly forbids cross-dressing. But that is because I like diversity. Not everyone has to.</p>