JEDDAH, 20 November 2007 — In an apparent backlash to students wearing tight blue jeans, administrators at the College of Sciences of King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) in Jeddah are ordering their students to come to class wearing thobes, the traditional Saudi dish-dash.
“He told us that at the beginning of this week and since then, we are wearing thobes as if we are school students,” said Ibrahim Al-Oafi, a freshman at the college, referring to one of his professors. Primary and secondary Saudi students must wear uniforms to attend classes, but this dress code is not required at the university level.
According to Al-Oafi, the professor held a piece of paper in front of his students in class and told them that it was a circulation from Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of Makkah Region, ordering the students to wear thobes.
Students said that the professor is taking a strong-armed approach to the dress code on his class in order to oblige his students to follow them, especially because his class is for freshmen. Any student who attends this professor’s lectures not wearing a thobe would not be permitted in his classroom.
However, a university official, who did not want to be named, denied that the KAAU has received any such orders form the governor’s office and that this decision has been a reaction to students arriving to class in what they consider inappropriate attire.
“University’s staff ... have spoken about the inconvenient outfits that students were wearing,” said the official. “This has included low-waist jeans that show underwear as well as very tight jeans.”
He said these outfits do not suit Islamic culture. No official punishments have been set for not abiding by the new rule.
A directive issued earlier this year requires medical students to wear scrubs after the third year due to their work with potentially hazardous and infectious materials.
