I’d like to announce my candidacy for admission to the College of Business at Illinois State University Masters in Business Administration program. Accompanying my application will be the following photo:

I got a call from an MBA student this morning telling me about the hoopla over a widely-publicized dress code for the CoB at ISU. The code, which mandates business casual dress for its students, is in place to prepare ISU students for the professional environment in which they’ll find themselves after graduation. Shortly after the call, I saw in my RSS reader that InsideHigherEd.com had reported the story and a full explanation of and opinion on the code was published by College Freedom.

I’ve helped clients with the GMAT and taken it myself. My combined Quantitative/Verbal score was 780 and Analytical Writing was 5.5 [mock test]. My first successful businesses blossomed 10 years ago; I currently maintain a private consultancy. I have the scores and the skills for an MBA program, so I thought, “Let’s do this, ISU!”

Then I read the details about the dress code and started to worry:

Clothing should be pressed and never wrinkled. Torn, dirty, or frayed clothing is unacceptable. All seams must be finished. Any clothing that has words, terms, or pictures that may be offensive and/or create a hostile environment for other students is unacceptable.

The dress code goes into detail about acceptable dress for women and men:

A general guideline for business casual attire for women includes: Khaki, corduroy, twill or cotton pants or skirts, neatly pressed; sweaters, twinsets, cardigans, polo/knit shirts, tailored blouses; Solid colors work better than bright patterns.

A general guideline for business casual attire for men includes: Khaki, gabardine or cotton pants, neatly pressed; cotton long-sleeved button-down shirts, pressed, polo shirts, knit shirts with a collar; Sweaters.

College Freedom sums up what’s not allowed:

Yes, students in these classes will be forced to wear business casual clothes, and all sneakers, flip-flops, baseball caps, shorts, T-shirts, and pajama bottoms will be banned.

Headwear [and presumably other clothing] worn for religious reasons is, of course, acceptable. Be careful not to offend with your golf shirt, though. The policy suggests that one:

Use common sense when wearing clothing that has words on it; people are easily offended or distracted by words.

All elements of the dress code considered, my candidacy is in trouble. Though my humble home has not the space for a varied professional wardrobe, I try. I can also promise now that the horse manure stuck to the bottom of my wheelbarrow - my preferred mode of transportation - will be brushed off my Hee-Haw overalls before I step foot into the classroom. And hey, I’m reading Forbes.com on a 17″ widescreen in the photo - doesn’t that count for something?

Professional dress codes aren’t always a bad thing; I’ve written in the past about why teachers should dress professionally and how they might go about it. Appropriate dress for a given job reflects a seriousness of purpose and can help establish respect and authority.

But there’s a big difference between a public school teacher and a college student.

College students at all levels are, theoretically, adults. Part of being an adult is evaluating a given situation and choosing a response to it. Once that response is chosen and implemented, an adult deals with the consequences. That’s adult and professional responsibility.

If a student wants to wear clothing of his choice, he should have that right - and that right includes dealing with the consequences of that choice. If I want to sacrifice the benefits of dress for personal pride, expression, or any other reason, I’m going to do it. I like Ratt, The Scorpions and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sometimes I wear t-shirts [with or without sleeves] that show it. In casual situations, I tend to wear Carhartt pants and old, soft t-shirts. Overalls, t-shirts and boots don’t have any bearing on my knowledge of business, economics, physics, history, or any of the other undergraduate curricula I’ve mastered.

I do, however, recognize that I’m frequently in situations that require different kinds of dress. When I was running for public office here in Cooperstown - the local Board of Education - I presented myself as though I were a representative of the District. Take a look at my photo on the right sidebar of this site; neatly-cropped hair, tasteful facial hair and sharp dress [I have a penchant for Brooks Brothers and Claiborne, in case you were wondering]. Job interviews, client meetings, etc. warrant such dress. It’s common sense; if I wear my Hee-Haw overalls to a job interview, I won’t be surprised when I don’t get the position.

I could present myself differently as a candidate or consultant, but I chose not to. I don’t want to deal with the potential negative consequences of choosing a different path. The difference between my decision then and an ISU College of Business student’s circumstance is that I had a choice while he does not, despite his decision to pay an arm, leg and 12+ months of his life for his MBA. I’ll let you do the math for an undergraduate’s commitment.

But students aren’t the only ones subject to the dress code. Instructors are only eligible for raises if they conform. College Freedom points out that this is likely a violation of the AAUP’s stance that instructors not be evaluated by non-academic criteria.

Having said that, there are many - including students - who are in favor of the code:

Rob Duerr, a junior who is president of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO), implied that students who have trouble with the policy are acting out of laziness. He said there was also an added benefit for outside visitors to the college, such as recruiters, who “come and they see everyone dressed up and they get a better impression of what’s going on.”

Mr. Duerr should realize that there are plenty of reasons for a student’s dress. Financial hardship - that sad condition in which one can only browse the J. Crew catalog enviously and not actually make purchases - certainly qualifies. A busy schedule is another; when I was a graduate student I dressed very casually. Why? I was working at an executive recruiting firm 35 hours a week, running a University publication for another 20 hours and taking 16 credits of graduate study [and involved in a serious relationship and maintaining friendships - you know, those social things that make up one’s life]. The last thing I wanted to do was sit around during class time in clothes I didn’t want to wear. I most definitely didn’t have the time to make sure my clothes were always pressed perfectly [nor did I have the money to have a service guarantee that].

And Mr. Duerr should also realize that a quality program imparts upon its students skills that are relevant to the course of study and the professional use of the degree. If that program needs to mandate those skills, it fails to instill them naturally. Though seeing rows of smartly-dressed students might impress an employer visiting the campus, it tells them less about “what’s going on” and more about what they were able to do before they left the house in the morning.

And where are the diversity-mongers and 1st amendment zealots? They might actually be useful in this debate.

The bottom line [I borrowed that phrase from the business world!] is that we need to teach students to step up and make good choices, not force them into a synthetic, arbitrary decorum, even if those standards are meant to mimic normative dress in the business world. We need to let our students behave - or not - like adults at their own discretion and deal with the consequences when they don’t.

The dress code is also a step in a dangerous direction. If the college is committed to optimizing its students’ future careers, it might as well regulate several elements of one’s persona. Obesity discrimination in hiring is rampant; should ISU force its students to maintain a proper Body Mass Index? Bearded men have been shown to be “trusted” less than clean-shaven men - should ISU require the razor? More realistically, ISU could ban cigarette smoking on campus to keep its students from experiencing hiring discrimination in the future.

Or the College of Business at Illinois State University can grow up itself by letting its students behave like adults.

I hope that ISU takes a hard look at this policy: why it’s unnecessary, why it’s insulting and why it mocks the very elements of professional conduct that it claims to protect.

So, if any of you want to write recommendations for my MBA candidacy at Illinois State University, call my cell at 607.435.8354 or e-mail me at [email protected]. To those currently serving or attending ISU, say hi when I’m on campus in Fall 2008!

UPDATE at 08.22.07, 4.01pm:

If students are burdened with financial hardship and need professional attire for job interviews [or classtime, apparently], check out my article on charities that provide the clothes you’ll need. And, if you’re a professional with a cluttered closet, consider donating.