Essence magazine’s Susan L. Taylor backed out of a speaking engagement a Hampton University, a private, historically black university in Hampton, Va, after learning that a department at the university had instituted a strict no-braids, no dreadlocks policy for its students.
“I recently withdrew my participation in the 28th Annual Conference on the Black Family at Hampton University. It has always been important for me to honor my commitments, so I feel it’s imperative to explain my actions,” Taylor began in a statement to BV Buzz via e-mail. “I began receiving E-mails from numerous sources advising me of disturbing regulations disallowing locks and braided hairstyles for Hampton students. One such e-mail included an Associated Press story headlined: ‘University Bans Certain Hairstyles for Students.’ As a businesswoman and public figure who has proudly worn my hair braided for more than 25 years, I was incredulous and felt insulted. My executive assistant, Debra Parker, contacted the university for clarification, and when she was advised that this was the school’s policy, I easily made the decision to cancel my visit.”
When contacted for comment, a university spokesperson clarified the school’s newly implemented rule. “It’s not a School of Business policy. It’s a policy for the 5-Year M.B.A. Program. It has a very strict conservative dress code that affects only 150 students—not all of the students in the school of business programs or all of Hampton’s students. Like the R.O.T.C. program or certain companies with certain dress codes, students know what the rules are going into the 5-Year M.B.A. Program,” explained Yuri Milligan, Director of University Relations. Taylor still believes that the program’s policy misses the mark and has challenged the university’s president, Dr. William R. Harvey, to re-examine the issue. “Dr. Harvey, I strongly recommend that you reconsider this policy and invite informed image consultants to address students in your business program about how to make individual style work in the corporate environment. Perhaps the greatest challenge your students will face in the work world is remaining whole and true to themselves in environments that are often hostile to African-Americans. Staying connected to our community and culture is critical. Trying to transform themselves to fit into hardly welcoming environments has scarred countless numbers of Black people,” she said.
Dr. Harvey’s office referred calls to Milligan who couldn’t respond to Taylor’s letter to the university president. “I don’t know anything about that,” Milligan said.
Though Taylor did not speak at Hampton, she is in the lineup on the revamped Pantene Total You Tour. She’ll be joining fitness guru Donna Richardson Joyner, ‘America’s Next Top Model’ winner Eva Pigford ‘Girlfriends’ star Jill Marie Jones and Tom Joyner Morning Show personality Myra J. The eight-city tour kicked off in Houston April 1 and has dates scheduled in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York City.
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1 comment:
Wow! As a Black woman w/locks and an MBA, I, too, am insulted by Hampton's backwards policy which supports assimiliation in its most harmful form. This archaic and degrading policy sets HBCU's back to the days of brown paper bag tests. I do hope Hampton students aren't taking this lightly.
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