Today I participated in a panel at the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building that was timely considering the news about the Morehouse appropriate dress policy which has garnered national attention.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/17/college.dress.code/

So I was joined by Dr. Tony Pinkard of UNCF, Dr. James Moore of Ohio State University, and Dr. William Bynum of Morehouse College. The moderator was Dr. Bryant Marks who directs the Morehouse Male Initiative.

We had a robust conversation. My point was that I did not want schools to jump on the dress code bandwagon since Morehouse's policy is part of a broader context of the 5 wells: well read, spoken, traveled, dressed and balanced. Too many of the policies are now used punitively when we really should form relationships with students and then help change their behaviors, in love.

The Prez