‘Revealing necklines’: University in hot water over graduation dress code

A Belgian university has apologized after female students were asked to wear revealing outfits to their forthcoming graduation ceremony.

The suggestion, made via email to students at the Free University in Belgium (ULB), read: “From an aesthetic point of view, we recommend the young ladies wear a dress or skirt, as well as a nice décolleté [a revealing neckline], and for the gentlemen, a suit.”

The email goes on to say that the supposed dress code “is not mandatory.”

The request, published on the ULB Confessions Facebook page, caused a furor online, with the page’s administrators posting a student’s impassioned response.

"No one has the right to tell you how you should feel in your skin,” the post read. “Nobody has the right to tell you how to dress. No one has the right to tell you how to play your role as a woman.”

Replying to the post, one user suggested that students attend the graduation in turtlenecks and long sleeves. “What better way to protest?” the person asks.

The university issued a statement via Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, apologizing to all who received the message.

“The Faculty of Medicine, through its dean, presents its sincerest apologies to all the students who have received the email mentioned below,” the apology read. “It goes without saying that the instructions related to the clothing of young graduates are also displaced that [are] contrary to the values on a daily basis by ULB and the faculty.”

Meanwhile, the ULB Confessions Facebook page continues to mercilessly rib the university over its faux pas. On Saturday, the group posted a picture of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner surrounded by a number of scantily clad women at his LA mansion.

The caption reads: “How they saw the students in [the] faculty of medicine this year.”