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REXBURG, Idaho (AP) -- A Brigham Young University-Idaho professor has banned students from wearing jeans and T-shirts in his medieval history classes and requires business suits, ties or dresses in other classes.
"A university is preparation for the real world," history professor Ryan Crisp said. "To teach students to think and act at a professional level."
In his 200- and 300-level courses, Crisp requires khaki pants, sweaters, skirts and collared shirts. Students in his 400-level class must wear formal business attire.
A professor at Boise State University says the policy burdens students already on tight budgets.
"It's difficult enough for students to afford their college education without requiring them to wear special clothing to class," said Lynn Lubamersky of Boise State's history department. "You can learn history while wearing flip-flops, jeans, T-shirts."
BYU-Idaho, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a dress code that bans shorts, facial hair, body piercings, flip-flops, and sexually suggestive clothing. Students who don't adhere to the code can be suspended.
Crisp's requirements go beyond that rule.
"Anyone with a university education should expect to dress appropriately," he said.
Freshman Robert Harvey at first chafed under Crisp's dress code, saying "they shouldn't tell us what to wear."
But he changed his mind after wearing casual business attire to Crisp's History 306 class, and hearing how poor students during medieval times shared cloaks to attend class.
"I like it because it takes more effort," Harvey said.
That might carry over into the work world, said Steve Karstad of Idaho Commerce and Labor.
"Dressing up a little shows effort and care," Karstad said.
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Information from: Post Register, http://www.idahonews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
