UHD has offered a small clothing closet for years, but last week launched the larger "Gator Shop" with more options and a stronger campus presence. Photo: Shafaq Patel/Axios
University of Houston-Downtown last week unveiled an expanded professional-wear closet where students can pick out business and formal clothing for free.
Why it matters: Professional clothing is expensive — and for many first-generation and low-income students, it can be a barrier to landing a job.
At the announcement of UHD's new partnership with HISD, leaders stressed the focus isn't just access to college, but setting students up to succeed once they're there.
How it works: The "Gator Shop" closet is inside the Gator Resource Center, where students already go for support — including getting access to Gator Mart, which offers free groceries through a partnership with the Houston Food Bank.
The clothing shop is stocked with more new and lightly used, dry-cleaned donated clothing — both professional attire and everyday wear — in a range of sizes.
What they're saying: "It's not like they rent it to go do an interview and bring it back. They're actually going to take it and it's theirs — for all shapes and sizes," Daniel Maxwell, vice president of student success and student life, tells Axios.
