BUEA, CAMEROON – Ludwig Metuge, director of student affairs at the University of Buea in southwestern Cameroon, says that campus authorities have been sending students home in the past year for behavior he calls alarming. He says students are wearing inappropriate clothing, such as lingerie, to class.
“There are some sexy dresses that a woman would normally wear indoors to entice the husband or partner,” he says. “Such indoor dresses when worn outdoors into the university becomes abnormal, and this is what some students of the University of Buea are doing.”
Metuge, who is also a lecturer in the English department, says that female students are the main culprits that have caused university authorities to become stricter about enforcing the campus dress code.
“Indecent dressing among University of Buea students, female students especially, is a very serious issue,” he says.
Metuge says it’s easier to define decent dressing than indecent dressing.
“Female students’ dresses should be at knee-level and not [above],” he says. “Dresses should not be transparent. They should put on breast wears … Dresses should cover all sensitive parts, like breasts, lower belly, waists, buttocks and, of course, thigh[s]. Trousers should not be too tight and very short.”
Metuge says that boys should also dress in a way that respects their minds and reflects their self-esteem.
“Boys should wear trousers properly,” he says.
He says that male students shouldn’t wear pants below their hips or informal pants meant for relaxing at home. As for shirts, he says that male students shouldn’t expose their chests.
“They should button up their shirts properly,” he says.
Authorities don’t send male students home for having dreadlocks and wearing earrings. But Metuge says these students are portraying themselves negatively, and people view them as rascals.
He admits that fashion is as dynamic as culture itself, to the extent that it’s almost impossible to change the mindset of young people when it comes to clothing. But he says that some students are wearing outfits in the wrong settings, which could lead to heightened sexual violence on campus.
As the University of Buea administration becomes stricter about implementing its dress code, some students say campus security has embarrassed them and violated their personal freedom by sending them home because of their clothing. Other students say the increased enforcement of the dress code is necessary to prevent their peers from wearing clothing on campus meant for going to clubs or to bed. Campus security officials say they have resumed dress checks, which sometimes draws insults and abuse from the students they send home. Linking indecent clothing and sexual violence, staff members say the dress code is crucial for campus safety. But lawyers dismiss this link and say school authorities can’t punish students for legal behavior. School authorities encourage faculty and staff to educate students about proper clothing in a friendly and nonaggressive manner and students and campus police to resolve issues of disrespect.
The University of Buea has had a dress code since its inception, leading many to nickname it “Government High School Buea.” In recent years, the university relaxed the campus dress check. But with the emergence of new fashion trends thanks to globalization, the university administration decided last year to tighten enforcement of the dress code. Administrators, faculty, staff and campus police now send indecently dressed students home to change their clothing.
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