North Campus Slated To Open Third Career Closet At MDC Later This Fall

By Nidley Charles and Nikole Valiente

North Campus is adding a Career Closet hub, making it the third Miami Dade College campus to offer the service.

The program, which has existing sites at Kendall and Hialeah campuses, provides students with free professional attire and accessories to use for job interviews. 

Evelyn Rodriguez, the senior director of campus administration at North Campus, said the new location is expected to open later this fall, possibly as early as November.  

“We are excited to move forward with the Career Closet and look forward to growing it like our food pantry,” Rodriguez said. 

The facility, which will be located in Room 3130, will include dress shirts, blouses, slacks, skirts, dresses, jackets, shoes, heels, ties and jewelry. 

A large blue hanger with the MDC logo and the words “North Campus Career Closet” adorns the site’s exterior wall. The room has laminate flooring, dressing rooms, mannequins and storage cabinets. It will also feature an island in the center to house miscellaneous accessory items.

Students will be able to visit the space once a semester to retrieve items they want to keep permanently. 

“I’m excited as well to see the vision of the Career Closet become a reality,” said Youdaris Mira, Chairperson of the School of Global Business. “This will provide our students with access to resources that hopefully contribute to their professional development.”

The campus is currently accepting donations to stock the Career Closet. 

They can be dropped off at three sites: Single Stop in Room 1119-B, Student Life in Room 4208 or the School of Business in Room 1256. 

Mu Epsilon, the Phi Theta Kappa chapter at North Campus, started collecting donations for the Career Closet last fall as part of a student-led project. In addition, a community member, who wants to remain anonymous, has also donated suits. 

 All items, which must be new or gently used, will be washed and steam ironed.

“I believe that the Career Closet will be a great, efficient way for students who don’t have the funds or resources to get clothes from the store to find clothing to wear if there’s a meeting or if they want to look professional for an event,” said Kervin Lundy, who serves as the treasurer of Minorities of the Future—an organization that fosters the development of young minority males at North Campus.

The Hialeah Campus opened the College’s first Career Closet in the spring semester of 2022. Kendall Campus opened its site this past November.

Once the North Campus locale is open, students will be able to visit by making an appointment at Single Stop.

“A lot of other campuses have career closets already, so it was only a matter of time before we had to open our own closet and have these same resources here for students across the board,” said Janet Mapp, director of Single Stop—a program that provides free services for students, including access to a food pantry, financial coaching and tax preparation.

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