ashanti baby i don't know why you want to do me wrong

I remember being given the rundown about the strict dress code, prompt schedule, etc and I was scared to death. There was absolutely no room for error because your sentiments, remarks,values, and most importantly your ACTIONS were a direct reflection of every Black person in America. I was raised by a generation of Black people who were obsessed with Black excellence which was often right in line with total assimilation. Being expected to spout bible verses and black history at any given time. Sit up straight, you must wear pantyhose, cross your legs at the ankle, and your skirt should hit no higher than your knee.

It was similar to the feeling I would get when I was sitting in the front pew of The First Baptist Church as a little girl with my grandma and rest of the deaconess board.

I still recall the feeling I got when visiting it's campus. I remember my trip to HAMPTON as a high school junior as part of a tour of all the HBCUs on the east coast from PA to FL. If I was an administrator in a business school I'd be looking to admit students who were on a mission to learn how to succeed, not on a mission to send a message. A B School had better be teaching students how to provide that impression. We who have been fortunate enough to be able to hire people, are not looking for social justice, we are looking for people who will help us succeed.

'Who would better represent the company?' is the question the hiring authority might ask. One interviewee appears dressed in a business suit and is well groomed, and the other, with equal skills, comes in jeans and if male, hair to his shoulders, or braided. Think for a moment about a hiring authority, whose mission it is to find people who will help make him or her and the company successful.

NC Central is educating some of its students in appropriate dress code and grooming too. Hamilton's B School is not in the business of social engineering, it's in the business of positioning its graduates to succeed in a business career.

Ashanti baby i don't know why you want to do me wrong