Career Closet moves its location from JRL to Eldridge Hall

Racks of clothes now stand within Eldridge Hall following the Career Closet's move. Sydnee Pennington photos

Following more than seven years held within Lewis Hall, the Career Closet, a resource for students to get free professional attire, recently moved into Eldridge Hall.

“The Career Closet was designed to help students prepare for presentations [and] for interviews by providing them with gently used professional attire so that they can look very professional,” said Director of Career Services Arminda McKee. “We have a variety of things, new and used, from donors in the community and alumni.”

In the Career Closet, there are several racks of professional clothes, free of charge for students to keep. Students can choose up to three items from the closet per semester and only need their student ID to “check out.”

It’s also open to all Troy students, and, according to McKee, the popularity of the program is expanding.

“On average we see around one hundred students per semester, but believe it or not, since we’ve relocated to our new space here in 102 Eldridge Hall, we’ve seen over eighty students since the beginning of class, which was three weeks ago,” McKee said.

The Career Closet offers their clothes tostudents who may not be able to easily access stores or have the proper funding for professional attire in mind, all through the help of donations.

“We are always looking for donations, [so] we really try to get as much clothing as we can for these students,” said Adviser of Career Services Jennifer Holbert. “I think a lot of students don’t have a car, and obviously there's a cost if you go to a store.”

“Here it’s free. If we are saving them two or three hundred dollars and they are able to get things here, I think it meets a real need.”

According to Assistant Director of Career Services Alicia Womack, she’s seen students put the Career Closet’s clothes to good use.

“We have had several students come in for interviews, but also for Freshman Forum, SGA, TrojanVision and all sorts of things,” Womack said.

Those interested in paying the Career Closet a visit can go to Eldridge Hall room 102.