A senior student at a Mormon college in Idaho was sent away from her final exam in late December after arriving to the exam in “skinny jeans,” according to Maclean’s magazine.
When the exam invigilator turned away the Brigham Young University’s Idaho campus (BYU-I) senior, Rachel Vermillion, along with several other students, Vermillion told Maclean’s she thought he was “joking.” A sign outside the exam room read “No Skinny Jeans,” according to ABC News.
BYU-I is a private university owned by the Church of Latter Day Saints, which upholds many religious standards. Dressing modestly is something students agree upon before registering for the school. Clothing banned from the campus includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, crop tops, and low-cut shirts in the back or the front and anything that doesn’t cover the shoulders, according to the school’s website.
A BYU-I vice-president later clarified that the university has no ban against skinny jeans and that the psychology department misinterpreted the university’s dress code, according to Maclean’s.
The department had interpreted the university’s Dress and Grooming Standards, which reads: “Clothing is inappropriate when it is . . . form fitting.”
Brigham’s public relations manager, Andy Cargal, confirmed that the university has no policy regarding skinny jeans.
“BYU-Idaho does not ban skinny jeans and has no plans to do so,” Cargal said.
Cargal said she heard Vermillion was able to take her exam later, but he could not reach Vermillion to confirm.
It isn’t only big religious universities who uphold strict clothing policies. St. Joseph’s High School in Ottawa received a lot of attention in October 2011 regarding the tight-fit yoga pants and leggings that many girls wear.
Girls aren’t banned from wearing the yoga pants, but the dress code implies that a long shirt must cover the pants. Kristina Maliza, a grade 10 student at St. Joseph’s, said this isn’t a new rule.
“[They’re just] enforcing a rule that’s always been there,” she said.
Malizia said she doesn’t feel personally affected by the rule for tight pants. But the reaction of her classmates differed.
“All of the girls that like the attention that guys give them when they wear these yoga pants and tight jeans are all very upset, because now they won’t be able to get the attention that they like,” Malizia said.
Malizia said there’s a Facebook group and petition that was circulated among students to get the school administration “not to ban yoga pants.”
“Everyone is most definitely overreacting because they aren’t banned,” Malizia said. “I think the school is doing a good thing, because it is a Catholic school and we must be dressed appropriately.”
