Campus Closet: Let the Clothes Have Your Back

Clothing is a possession often taken for granted. It’s something we wear day-to-day, and, unless it’s a special occasion, most people don’t think too deeply about what they wear. Especially in the university demographic, where many students struggle with paying for groceries in any given week, never mind nice clothes, appearances are often neglected. As we college students prepare to enter the workforce, there’s one thing our classes neglect to teach us about: image. What we wear can have a vast impact on the way we are perceived, especially in a professional setting. Wearing business clothing to an interview tells the interviewer that you take the position seriously and you can handle dressing that way when you’re “in the office” too— not to mention the unconscious effect that a clean and neat appearance has as opposed to a messier one.

This is why we at the UArizona Basic Needs Center classify clothing as a “basic need”. Not just because it’s essential to have at least something to wear (unless you want to be arrested for public indecency), but because it’s essential to have clothing appropriate for every situation, especially professional ones. And after recognizing this, Campus Closet was born.

Campus Closet is a free service that helps provide this basic need to members of the campus community who can’t acquire it otherwise. We have distributions every week where all UArizona students, staff, and faculty are welcome to get clothes, shoes, and accessories— at absolutely no charge. All you have to do is bring your CatCard. Here’s how it works:

1. You show up to our location in the Sonora Room on the 1^st floor of the SUMC and show your CatCard to get in.
2. Browse around like you would at any store! We have tons of racks with all different colors, styles, and sizes available.
3. Once you’ve found some items you like, feel free to try them on— we have two dressing rooms and want to make sure you feel great in what you get.
4. Narrow it down! The Closet uses a point-based system, so everyone who comes into the Closet gets four points each distribution. Different items are worth different amounts of points!
   1. Professional Dresses & Blazers – 2 Points
   2. Casual Dresses, Jackets, Shirts, Pants, Shoes – 1 Point
   3. T-Shirts & Accessories – 0.5 Points
   4. You can get an extra point by bringing your own bag, tagging us on social media, or donating some of your own clothing!
5. Check out and be prepared for any style situation that comes your way!

Even if you don’t have anything pressing coming up, still feel free to come in and browse around at the Closet. We love being able to help members of our community find clothes they love, whether that’s a full suit or a party fit.

Campus Closet is entirely donation-based, so if you want to support our organization, please donate clothes! Though anything is appreciated, we’re desperately in need of men’s professional shirts and blazers sized X-Small, Small, and Medium, as well as plus-sized women’s blazers, dresses, and slacks. If you don’t have any clothes you’d like to donate, we also accept monetary donations— everything we receive is put to good use to help make our organization the best possible resource for the University of Arizona community.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Campus Closet Executive Director, Hannah Stewart, at ua.campuscloset@gmail.com. For updates on the Closet, follow us on Instagram at @ua.campuscloset.