Campus Closet Provides Students with Low-Cost, Professional Clothing

It all started with a few boxes scattered around campus — in dorms, academic buildings and even the administration building. Inside lay donated blazers, shirts, shoes, pants, skirts and ties.

By April 8, those donations transformed Student Street inside the Morrison Commons into a pop-up boutique. 

The Career Closet, a collaboration between the Augustana Student Association (ASA), the Student Success Center and Augie Thrift offered business casual clothes to students at prices ranging from $1–3. The event aimed to make professional attire — typically an expensive investment — accessible to students preparing for interviews, internships or graduation.

“We’re college students. We’re going to be entering the professional world really soon,” Sen. Abigail Smith, chair of ASA’s Curriculum Committee, said. “It’s kind of essential that we have these business casual clothes for any occasion, really.”

Proceeds from the event will go to Midwest Street Medicine, a nonprofit that provides medical care to Sioux Falls’ unhoused population. Wendy Mamer, a student success adviser who helped organize the event, said giving back was one of the most rewarding aspects for her.

“Not only are we able to donate the proceeds to them, but the remaining clothes — we will give them the option to sort through and see if it’s anything that could be helpful,” Mamer said.

ASA has floated around the idea for a Career Closet for years. This year’s Curriculum Committee decided now was the time to bring it to life.

Fourth Year Sen. Elijah Schipper credited Smith with pushing the project forward.

“Abigail is just somebody that doesn’t settle,” Schipper said. “She said, ‘You know what, we’re not just gonna go and attend UCC meetings and call that it. Instead, we’re going to do something that actively helps the community.’”

Schipper explained that donations came from collection bins placed across campus, as well as from the theatre department, which contributed suit jackets and a lot of the formal clothing.

“It’s just heartwarming to see the amount of clothes that people are donating,” Schipper said.

Affordable, professional clothing was exactly what sophomore mathematics and secondary education major Ridge Fisher hoped to find. 

“I was looking for mostly, like, suit jackets or nice shirts,” Fisher said. “You don’t just have to go to a store and pay $90 for a suit jacket. You can get it for $3 instead.”

Smith said that she hopes the Career Closet will become a recurring event and has already started planning improvements for next year, from adding mirrors and disinfectant wipes for shoes to creating a makeshift dressing room. 

Fisher agreed that the event should become an annual one.

“If they have the opportunity, they definitely should do it again,” Fisher said.