By Shayla Aponte ’19, Staff writer
Lebanon Valley College students have the opportunity to get a complete professional outfit for free at the new Dutchmen Career Closet.
The closet, located in Chapel 114, is a store created by LVC staff for students who can’t afford or who don’t have professional attire of their own. The closet gives them the ability to begin building their professional wardrobe for free. Renata Williams, director of intercultural affairs and inclusive programming, said students were the reason for creating this resource.
“There have been students that have expressed a lack of financial resources to obtain professional clothing when going to internships or job interviews,” Williams said.
Based on that feedback, the Career Closet came into place. All LVC students have access to the Career Closet once a month for one complete outfit.
“This allows for every student at LVC to get the chance to shop at the Career Closet,” Williams said.
The clothing in the store is provided by donations from faculty, staff and administration. The school is also partnering up with other local stores to help with donations to keep the Career Closet in stock.
“Fortunately, Jetset’s closet in Hershey and Target in Harrisburg have agreed to partner with us to donate some clothing as well,” Williams said.
The Dutchmen Career Closet opened in late September, and a number of students already have their first professional outfit.
“I am excited to use the outfit I got at the Dutchmen Career Closet for my next interview,” Rachel Duong, a junior English and Spanish dual major, said.
The Career Closet will put out new clothes once a month to give students more options each time they come in. To visit the Career Closet, students are asked to make an appointment.