Public Service Academy Look: Corporate Casual

The folks behind the legislative proposal to establish a U.S. Public Service Academy are getting down to the nitty-gritty. In fact, they've published a 54-page draft blueprint for how the academy will function. The document not only describes the academy's proposed organizational structure and academic programs, it lays out such details as an official policy on student uniforms:

Academy students will be required to wear uniforms during class and official events. Most public servants wear some manner of uniform or follow a dress code. The requirement of a uniform emphasizes students’ new identities as members of a group united by a sense of mission and purpose that is larger than individual ambitions. Uniforms blur the socioeconomic origins of students, placing them on an egalitarian plane. Uniforms also help create an esprit du corps that will bind students to each other and to the Academy’s service mission. Academy uniforms and dress will send a message about the standards of character and leadership to which they will be held.

The standard uniform will be casual: navy pants (women may choose to wear a skirt), black dress shoes, and a polo-style collared shirt with the Academy logo. Uniforms can reflect seniority, merit, and/or current offices held. The shirt could include the use of stripes and stars to designate offices, merit, or seniority. More formal uniforms, an obvious requirement for certain events, will include a blazer or suit-jacket that has the logo emblazoned on the front pocket. While this is a federal service academy, the post-graduate requirements may be filled outside of federal service, whether at the state or local level. Therefore, although national symbols will be incorporated (red/white/blue & stars/stripes), federal symbols such as the eagle of the official government seal will be avoided.