By Stephanie Terry
Students who make their own individual statement with their style and clothing are also making a bold statement to their professors.
“You expect people that look a certain way to act a certain way,” said Jessie Embry, an American studies professor. “I don”t get a very good first impression from students who break the Honor Code.”
Some professors say they are puzzled when they see students wear clothing that contradicts the guidelines in the Honor Code.
“I try to avoid it, but there might be some reactions I have based on someone”s appearance,” said Ronald Chamberlain, a professor for men”s athletics.
Honor Code issues may lead some professors to judge their students.
“I wonder, ”Why are they dressed like that?”” said Randall Jones, a German language professor.
Jackie Robertson, a math professor, said she especially doesn”t like immodesty.
“I have a hard time when a girl walks in with cleavage showing, but I”m not going to judge her and I”m not going to let it affect me,” Robertson said. “I don”t judge my students on their looks.”
Likewise, other professors do not make conclusions about their students based on their appearance.
“I try as best I can to keep my opinion open,” said Gregory Pettys, a social work professor. “I try to really encourage students and help them. I find that they are the opposite as what I thought. I try to be flexible to challenge my initial thought and let them define themselves within the classroom.”
One typical stereotype against appearance is that a student is as smart as they look.
“Because of culture at BYU, we”ve built the idea that looks relate to intelligence,” said Steven Renshaw, an engineering professor.
Embry reminded that everyone has a tendency to stereotype.
“That”s the way we simplify the world,” she said.
Other professors disagree, saying there is no bias toward appearance.
“The appearance is pretty singular at BYU,” said Bill Olsen, an anthropology professor. “People are so homogeneous that I don”t pay attention to it anymore. I mean, you often can tell the business students because they are dressed in office attire. But I”ve never heard of a bias.”
Aside from students” clothing, another bias issue deals with gender.
Renshaw said the engineering department can seem like it has a bias against women in their college.
“There is no female faculty,” he said. “It”s a lot rarer to have females involved. The general bias is that they can do it [engineering], but it is not what they want to do. Generally they don”t want to do it, but they do it because it sounds good.”
In social work, Pettys said the bias goes the other way — against guys.
“In social work, the general student body is more female,” Pettys said. “I try to encourage males because there”s so few of them to make it a career.”
In dealing with diversity, Pettys said he goes out of his way to encourage and help international students.
“I try to be a mentor to them because I hope these individuals will be successful,” he said. “But I do not automatically look at someone and make ethnical assumptions.”
