Here at Pepperdine University there is no dress code.
This allows students the freedom of expression through their dress. Many policies at Pepperdine are on the stricter side with this being a Christian university, however students have free reign when it comes to what they want to wear.
“I wouldn’t want to come from a place of legalism where I was imposing that on our students,” Dean of Students Sharon Beard said. “I would not be in favor of imposing a dress code.”
Students overwhelmingly said they do not want a dress code and enjoy wearing whatever they please. In comparison to other Christian universities, Pepperdine is rare for not having a dress code and administrators do not seem to worry about modesty.
Dress code standings at Pepperdine and other universities
Pepperdine, like many other private Christian schools, enforces rules related to Christian values. Pepperdine is an alcohol and drug-free campus and students are not allowed to have sex in the dorms, per the Student Handbook. One policy, or lack thereof, that differentiates Pepperdine from similar universities would be a dress code.
Some 93% of school districts have dress codes, Eesha Pendharkar wrote in a 2022 article for Education Week. Most administrators set dress codes in place to form a safe and non distracting learning environment.
Christian schools add a desire to dress modestly.
Abilene Christian University, a fellow Church of Christ school in Abilene, Texas, has a moderate dress code. A few of their rules are as follows:
– No shorts shorter than 3” inseam
– No halter tops
– No midriff showing
– No clothing promoting alcohol
Another sister school in Searcy, Arkansas, Harding University, has stricter dress code for their student body. A few of their rules include:
– No shorts shorter than mid thigh
– No top shorter than mid thigh when worn with leggings
– No cut offs
– No tank tops
– No exposing chest or side
Even other Christian universities in California, such as California Baptist University, have their version of a dress code in their handbook.
“The University recognizes that individuals have a freedom of personal choice;” the University handbook reads, “however, members of the CBU community are expected to reflect modesty and appropriateness.”
CBU has a strict swimsuit policy of one pieces and tankinis for female students who would like to use the pool recreationally and a rule of a 5-inch inseam for male shorts.
Other Christian schools in the area, such as Cal Lutheran, Biola and Loyola Marymount University, have no dress code for students.
Hannah Schendel, junior business administration major said she would need to buy a whole new wardrobe if Pepperdine were to implement a dress code.
“I did have a male professor tell me to put on a jacket one time in accounting,” Schendel said. “I was a little taken aback because what I was wearing wasn’t even bad. It was just a tube top.”
The majority of Schendel’s clothes would break a typical high school dress code, but she said she feels comfortable to wear them in college.
Beard said Pepperdine has never had a dress code, and the effects of adding a dress code would negatively affect the student body.
“Our former dean of students, when he was in college, he didn’t go here, he went to Harding University, got called in for his hair,” Beard said.
That former dean, Mark Davis, agreed with students that there should be no dress code and encouraged Pepperdine to differ from these other Christian universities, Beard said.
Essentially, she thinks it would do more harm than good, be hard to enforce, and she sees no issue of modesty on campus. In her 25 years working for Pepperdine she has never deemed dress code an issue.
“I have never had a conversation with a student about modesty,” Beard said.
Modesty through the Christian lens
There is a constant debate within the Christian community about the idea of modesty. Conceptions of modesty in clothing have been ever changing and subjectively defined. Most recently, Christian leaders have debated whether leggings are sufficiently modest.
“Is there an exact checklist of what is modest?” Religion Reporter Ruth Graham wrote in an article for SLATE. “Or just a spirit of not trying so very hard to look good in all the ways that are so relatively unimportant, while also, of course, looking traditionally feminine?”
Many people are unsure how to define modesty.
“What modest is is absolutely culturally defined and socially defined by one’s given context,” said Falon Barton, campus minister for University Church of Christ.
In her role as a minister, she does not deem a dress code necessary for the Pepperdine campus.
“Wearing clothes is very much a form of self expression and God cares about that,” Barton said.
Barton explained that when God talks about modesty in the Bible, he is often talking about modesty of wealth and less about modesty in clothing.
“I think that the way that we often assume God cares is often reductionistic and actually more simplistic than what God actually cares about,” Barton said, “and so I think God is far less concerned about whether a woman’s ankles will lead someone else into lust and God is much more concerned about whether our clothes alienate us from each other and alienates us from ourselves.”
Beard said a dress code can set up a mindset of how a student’s dress relates to faith life.
“It has such a negative connotation of thinking that if you dress modestly then you’re more pious than someone who doesn’t and I don’t think that really gets to the heart of where a student is with their faith,” Beard said.
Allisen Winn, sophomore economics and business major who is active in Christian faith, said she has regularly heard debate about modesty in the church. Winn said it is a personal debate about what is modest and what is not.
“For me personally, I believe it’s more of dressing for myself,” Winn said, “not dressing for other people.”
She said her active faith is not affected by what she wears or what other people think of her clothing.
Students voice need for self expression
Interviews with four students found that the consensus was that no student wanted a dress code. Every student wanted the ability to dress as they felt comfortable.
“Implementing a dress code would really change the tone of the school and who goes here,” said Kelsey Ramsey, sophomore integrated marketing communication major.
Ramsey said she believes freedom of expression is important and for her it would take away the excitement of getting ready.
“Instead of it being college where you come and make your own choices,” Ramsey said, “it would be more like a high school all over again.”
With campus officials intending to cultivate a strong, academically focused environment that aligns with the Pepperdine mission statement, Ramsey said she believes that the school should focus more on academic achievements rather than a dress code.
“Is dress code the most important thing happening for college-age students?” Ramsey said. “Or are there other things in terms of structure or rules that we could put more emphasis on rather than what people are wearing?”
Going to college means growing up in several different aspects, one of which is freedom of dress, students said.
“Even though I don’t dress very open, I feel like having the option to if I wanted to is a blessing,” said Tatyana Sevajian, sophomore computer science major.
Campbell Hamilton completed the reporting for this story in Jour 241 under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos. Dr. Littlefield supervised the web version of the story.
