The University of Connecticut Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has partnered with Goodwill to organize a pop-up professional clothing closet on the second floor of the UConn Bookstore, from Monday through the rest of the month. Students will have the opportunity to take up to three pieces of clothing in total, according to USG director of external affairs Nick Lanza.
The closet’s grand opening will last from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, March 3. After Monday, it will remain open from Monday through Wednesday each week until March 26, according to a USG Instagram post. The closet will close during the week of spring break, from March 16 to March 23.
According to Lanza, the closet serves as an opportunity for students who might not have access to professional attire needed for interviews and other professional events.
“We want to give students the opportunity, for students who are going out and interviewing now for jobs, especially at the end of the year, to be able to also look their best,” said Lanza. “A lot of students on campus, we found, don’t have access to professional clothing, and we see USG as a resource to possibly do that in partnership with Goodwill.”
The closet will feature 800 pieces of clothing donated by Goodwill, according to Lanza and USG deputy director of external affairs Olivia Eshoo. Students will also have access to changing rooms and mirrors to try on clothes.
“We have changing rooms available so students can try on different things in mirrors,” said Eshoo. “There’s always going to be staff there, at least one person on the USG end, if not multiple, that are happy to help.”
The limit of three pieces of clothing per student is in place so that all students can benefit, according to Lanza and Eshoo. USG is hoping to continue something long term as well, though that is still in the planning stages.
“And so, we’re working with Goodwill to do this pop-up clothing closet for the rest of the semester and we’re also hoping to do something long term,” explained Lanza. “We don’t know what that’s going to look like yet, but this is really to provide a service that students have been looking for, for years, and years and years.”
The clothing is available to all undergraduate students at Storrs, according to Lanza. Students should remember to bring their student ID with them to verify their student status and track how many pieces of clothing they are eligible to take.
While the clothing is only open to Storrs undergraduate students, USG is accepting donations from anyone who would like to give clothing. Though only professional clothing will be featured at the closet, other types of clothing are still welcome as they will go to Goodwill, emphasized Eshoo.
“We’re still actively accepting donations. I’ve had a few professors reach out already, wanting to donate their professional clothing for the closet,” said Eshoo. “The only donations that are going towards the clothing closet are specifically professional clothing because that just adds to what we can give to students. But then just regular clothing is going to go back to Goodwill.”
Lanza added that the closet serves as an opportunity not only for students to get professional clothing but also for the university community to give back.
“So, not only is this an opportunity for us to provide for our students, it’s an opportunity for us as a community to give back to other people,” said Lanza. “Professional staff, professors, people who work in various departments, if they have old clothing that they can donate, being able to organize that as a student government, and then donating those clothes to Goodwill, that expands our impact.”
According to Lanza, a survey will also be provided for students to give feedback.
“We also have a survey for students to fill out to let us know what clothing is there that they like, what clothing isn’t there that they would like, just giving an overall review, when they want it to be open, all that sort of stuff,” said Lanza. “So based on those responses, that will really inform our conversations of what this is going to look like in the future.”