MURFREESBORO — Beginning
next academic year, the service that makes sure MTSU students look their best
when interviewing for jobs will have a permanent location.
Raiders’ Closet, the collection of donated gently used
professional attire, will move into the former testing center next to the
Career Development Center on the third floor of the Keathley University Center.
“I’m hopeful that, by the time school resumes for the fall,
everything will be in place,” said Dr. Virginia Hemby-Grubb, a professor in the
Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and founder of the
service.
Hemby-Grubb has used Room S130A, a classroom in the Business
and Aerospace Building, as a repository for the suits, dresses, shoes and
accessories. They have been accessible to students only from 2 to 4 p.m. on
Fridays, which Hemby-Grubb hopes to change after the move.
“The move will help with visibility,” Hemby-Grubb said. “It
will also make it easier to open more frequently to students during the week
and not just on Fridays.”
She said she believes the closet’s new proximity to the
Career Development Center will benefit both offices because students who go to
the center for counseling can be sent next door for professional apparel, and
students who go to the closet for apparel can be sent next door for
counseling.
Hemby-Grubb said she hopes that relocating Raiders’ Closet
next door to the Career Development Center will ensure that MTSU students take
full advantage of the resources available to them to secure both internships
and full-time jobs.
In addition, the new location will have more space to store
more clothing, including the closet’s line of business casual attire that
students might want to wear for classroom presentations, internships or student
teaching sessions.
Hemby-Grubb’s concern for students recently was validated by
the National Business Education Association, which honored her with its 2014
Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award at the group’s annual conference in Los
Angeles.
In addition to her teaching philosophy, her students’
evaluations of her and the recognition she has brought to the discipline of
business education, the judges cited Raiders’ Closet as a major reason for
giving the award to Hemby-Grubb.
“I felt I was giving back to the students through this
project,” Hemby-Grubb said. “I knew we had students who didn’t have suits or
the money to buy suits.”
In the meantime, the closet needs more items, especially
men’s dress shoes and men’s suits for both exceptionally small and
exceptionally large men. Hemby-Grubb frequently scurries to local stores after
hours when students contact her with emergencies.
Last fall, a student who had a job interview on a Monday
approached Hemby-Grubb on a Friday after realizing he did not have a suit.
Raiders’ Closet did not have his size, a 50 long.
After frantically calling consignment stores and finally
finding a suit, Hemby-Grubb sent her husband to pick it up.
“I took one look at the suit and was totally impressed with
the quality as it was an impeccably maintained chocolate brown Jones of New
York men’s suit in a 50,” she said.
She couldn’t tell whether it was long or regular until the
student tried it on and found it to be a perfect fit. Raiders’ Closet provided
his accessories. He went to the interview and got the job.
To ease the strain on Hemby-Grubb’s pocketbook, Raiders’
Closet has an MTSU Foundation account that enables donors to contribute money
to the cause.
“I’ve spent money out of pocket this year that I’m not
getting reimbursed for because we don’t have funds,” chuckled Hemby-Grubb. “I
can only do that for so long before I have to start looking for donations.”
For more information about Raiders’ Closet, contact
Hemby-Grubb at 615-898-2369 or virginia.hemby-grubb@mtsu.edu or Jaye Kiblinger
in the Office of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship at 615-898-2902 or
jaye.kiblinger@mtsu.edu.
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