Year in Review, Spring: Gender-Neutral Dress Code Passed by Faculty

After a year of discussions surrounding the topic of a gender neutral dress code and hours of work from PEA’s Student Council (StuCo), the faculty approved the StuCo’s modified dress code proposal. StuCo presented its proposal to the faculty on May 4, and one week later it passed by a majority vote. Under the amended dress code, students may wear a dress shirt, sweater, turtleneck, dress or ethnic attire. A dress shirt is defined as a blouse, polo or collared shirt. All hemlines must be at least fingertip length, all clothing must be clean and in good repair (not torn, frayed or cut off) and students may not wear hats, athletic wear (i.e. leggings worn as pants, mesh shorts, sweatshirts, t-shirts), strapless tops or tops with straps fewer than two inches wide, or apparel that reveals the midriff, buttocks or chest. The changes are a big step in the push for gender equity on campus, as they insure a dress code which does not force a student to openly express their gender with the clothes that they wear. It aims to eradicate the previous sharp binary distinctions in the dress code, especially with the tie requirement.