The dress code is a touchy subject. You will not lose your salvation if you wear ripped jeans, tank tops or jewelry. However, we all signed papers that said we agreed to abide by Southern’s rules.
The fact is, almost everywhere we will work in the future will have a dress code. I will probably not wear shorts to teach my students. A lawyer would not be taken seriously wearing a tank top in the courtroom. It isn’t a faith issue, but it is a respect issue. In class we should be adhering to what we said we would do.
I understand why we have one, and we should have dress code. We need to be prepared to act professionally and learn to respect authority. At the same time, the school might be overreaching it’s authority with such strict policies.
Here’s what we should do: decriminalize professional looking jewelry. A good rule of thumb might be to only wear a piece of jewelry if the First Lady might wear it. Anything that she would not wear should not be classroom attire.
Loosen rules on shorts during warmer weather. Walking from one end of campus to the other is terrible in the heat at the beginning and end of the year. Let people wear clothes that cover but are cooling when they work out. Tank tops that aren’t too revealing make the heat of working out so much more bearable.
In the end, we need to be respectful. But the school should also respect us and what our needs are. Respect goes both ways.