The dress code email sent to ULB students ahead of their June graduation

A Belgian university has come under fire for requesting that female students wear a "dress or skirt" and a "nice revealing neckline" to their graduation ceremony.

In an email sent to medical students at Free University of Brussels (ULB) ahead of their June graduation, students were advised on a suitable dress code for their ceremony.

The email read: "From an aesthetic point of view, it is better young women to wear a dress or skirt, and a nice revealing neckline."

Male students were advised to wear a suit to the event.

The email said that the proposed dress code was not mandatory, adding: "Of course ladies, this advice is not obligatory".

The dean of the medical faculty, Marco Schetgen, confirmed that the email was sent out by the secretariat but said he was shocked when he discovered its contents.

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He said it was likely sent by a woman, as the secretariat does not include any men, according to Belgian news outlet RTL.

Outraged students have shared the email online where people have criticised it for its sexist tone.

An ULB students' Facebook page also shared a response it had received from a student, which read: "No one has the right to tell you how you should feel in your skin.

"Nobody has the right to tell you how to dress. No one has the right to tell you how to play your role as a woman.

"No one has the right to take away this freedom that has been (and is still being) obtained with such difficulty."

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