Kwame Phipps describes how he and his Syracuse roommates co-founded the movement as a way to challenge racial stereotypes.

In a recent article at The Daily Beast, Kwame Phipps '16 (PSc/CCE) describes the day that, coincidentally, he and his two roommates left their apartment each dressed for business. It wasn’t planned; they had separate reasons to don business attire that day. But they noticed how others noticed.

And so the Well Dressed Movement at Syracuse University was born, to promote better dress habits among Phipps’s peers and to counter misperceptions.  It had not been long since the high-profile killings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, and discussion of race on campuses such as Syracuse was robust. 

According to the article’s author, Craig Mills, “Dressing up was a constructive response to address perceptions others might have about them. [Phipps and his roommates] took inspiration from earlier black pioneers who tackled social justice issues. The group’s motto, When you look good, you feel good, facilitated engagement with their peers. Their movement took hold and spread to other campuses, including Binghamton, Cornell, Howard, and Pace universities and Utica College, which validated their efforts.”

Read more about Kwame in The Daily Beast article, "How the Well Dressed Movement Demolished Black Stereotypes."