Asmar McGlone, a sports management junior at North Carolina Central University, was recently stopped by campus police for his choice of attire.

McGlone, who said he was running late for class and was dressed in pajamas, claimed he was walking down Lawson Street when a campus police officer told him, “You can’t wear pajama pants.”

Campus Echo

Asmar McGlone

On Oct. 10th McGlone posted his opinion of the matter on the EOL Eagle’s Nest unleashing a flood of opinions, both pro and con.

Later McGlone decided to write about his experience on the “Eagle Status,” an online campus social networking site. He titled the post, “Unfair clothing issue at NCCU.”
 
“Is it fair that I can’t wear pajama pants but women can wear anything and I do mean anything?” McGlone wrote.

“Things are getting just a little too serious,” said McGlone. “School is home, and I am here more than home.”

The argument over the pajamas touched many nerves of pro-pajama and anti-pajama students.

“People make pre-judgments on the way you look,” said Briana Aguilar, mass communication senior. “This is a place of business. We have people that come on campus that could provide you with so many opportunities.”

“If a student, during the poorest of times in 1944, can come to class with one jacket and one pair of pants and still adhere to the school's dress policy, I am sure in 2009, we as students, can have pride in ourselves and come to class with class and decency,” wrote brobin25.

The dress-code issue is not new. In 2001, Angela Terry, then the vice chancellor for student affairs, issued a list of dress code standards for students. In it she discouraged doo-rags and see-thru mesh shirts.

According to a 2001 Campus Echo story Terry was informed by a University attorney that enforcing a dress code would be a violation of individual freedom and would only be legal at a private institution.

N.C. Central University Police Cpt. A. J. Carter said he had no comment on the situation other than to say, “We do not enforce house rules."

[Related story: Morehouse Dress Code Contains Surprises]

Chris Hess writes for The Campus Echo, the North Carolina Central University student newspaper, which originally published this article.