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 professorÂ’s lectures not wearing a thobe would not be permitted in his classroom.