Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Dress Code Restricts Opportunities

To the Editor:

Last Friday, during the Cawley Career Center’s Government & Nonprofit Career Expo, I was denied entrance because of my “inappropriate and unprofessional attire.” I was wearing a white blouse, dark-wash jeans and leather boots and planned to stop by the fair on my way to Georgetown University Information Services, where I work in website production. The Career Center employee who called me out as I tried to check in for the event insulted my attire and refused to check me in. I debated with him briefly about what is and what is not appropriate to wear to a career fair before giving up and going to work. I never entered the fair.

I cannot deny, the dress code for the event was listed as “business professional,” a requirement that the university dictates on all too many occasions. Georgetown’s devotion to formal dress perpetuates an opinion that already permeates much of the professional world: If you look poor, you can’t be smart. Barring students who may not have financial access to high-end professional attire from university-sponsored opportunities is unacceptable and embarrassing for a school that claims devotion to social justice.

As a university, we must support students from all backgrounds in post-academic pursuits. While an employer that hires based on appearance over qualifications should raise a red flag to job searchers, it is in the end up to the employer, in an interview, to make such judgments. However, the university and the Career Center should support and protect students against employer discrimination in these cases, not the other way around.

Haley Lepp
SFS ’15

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