Question about academic regalia

capybara · March 15, 2001, 4:58pm

This just didn’t feel like GQ material. An example for ellucidation:
Ok, a person graduates from, uh, Mid-Western State U. with an MA. The person goes to the University of West Coast and graduates with a PhD. in the same subject, Baroque Estonian cabinet-making. The colors of MWSU are red and white (oops, I mean, “crimson and cream”-- shudder) and UWC is blue and yellow, and the department of early modern Estonian cabinetry is part of the School of Art, which has been rumored, at MWSU at least, to involve, ahem, lilac in the hoods (does this vary from school to school?).
So, what does one wear at commencement at UWC? Any regalia from the Master’s degree school, or does said recipient just wear UWC robe and hood, and a mix of the two at the commencement ceremonies of the comfy, well-paying rustic 4-year college she soon recieves tenure at? What does this outfit end up looking like? With this mix, wiIl I look like it’s Pride Week?

cher3 · March 15, 2001, 6:25pm

I believe you just wear the regalia of the school where you received your Ph.D. Doctoral gowns are also a bit fancier, with black velvet bands on the sleeves. You might also have the option of wearing the special School of Art variation. You don’t wear the colors of the school where you receive tenure at all (if I’m understanding your question properly.)

CrankyAsAnOldMan · March 15, 2001, 6:33pm

The hood of an academic gown is lined with the color of the appopriate discipline, as you’ve realized, but these are the same no matter where you go. Lilac will be Lilac whether you’re at Florida International or University of Puget Sound. The cut of the robe and sleeves varies by level of degree (Masters are different from Doctoral, for example.) The actual university plays little part in the robe or hood, but the cap or mortarboard are different (not unlike how nurse caps used to be). In an academic procession, you’ll see some faculty with really unique mortarboards (like big squishy octagons), and that reflects the institution from which they received their (usually highest) degree.

I don’t know that the baccalaureate hood has a disciplinary color, however. Maybe it’s optional. I know many schools don’t bother with hoods at all at the baccalaureate level. Mine did, but ours were all the same color regardless of major.

waterj2 · March 16, 2001, 12:51am

The most interesting thing along these lines that I’ve seen was when my college (RPI) got a new president. They went all out for the investiture ceremony. For someone seriously interested in academic regalia, it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event, due to the variety and color involved. Anyways, the program they gave us said this about academic dress:

The academic costume, consisting of cap, gown, and hood, takes into account three factors: degree, field of knowledge, and granting institution.

The cap that is known as the “mortarboard” style originated at Oxford. The recipient of a doctoral degree is entitled to wear a gold tassel. Rensselaer’s doctoral cap is the “Beefeater” style and the trustees’ cap is a six-cornered tam with a gold, metallic tassel.

The gown varies for the respective degrees. Until the last two decades, a black gown was the basic garment. By the precedent set by Harvard, more American institutions are permitting the use of college colors. The cherry-red gowns worn by Rensselaer trustees were updated to mark Rensselaer’s 175th anniversary and include purple stripes on the sleeves and a purple chest piece denoting the governance of Rensselaer.

The sleeves of the gown denote degree: Bachelor’s sleeves are long and pointed, Master’s sleeves are square at the bottom, and Doctor’s sleeves are bell-shaped and barred in either black velvet or velvet of the color used to designate the subject-matter field.

The hood, fastened at the throat and suspended from the shoulders, carries the greatest symbolismof all the components of the academic costume and dates back to the 12th century when it was intended as a head cover and shoulder cape. Its length, width, and color trim, and the color or colors of the lining indicate the wearer’s highest advanced degree, the field in which it was awarded, and the school from which it came. The lining carries the university’s colors–the Rensselaer hood has a bright, cherry-red chevron on a white field. The velvet trim reveals the wearer’s major area of study.

I knew there was a reason I saved that program for the last 18 months. Although I suppose it didn’t actually answer your question.

brachyrhynchos · March 16, 2001, 1:13am

Lilac is for dentistry or dental surgery.

Academic Colors

I had to actually go dig my hood out to see what color was there. Deep blue for velvet (philosophy? for Ph.D - it’s in biology) and orange lining for <drum roll> Idaho State University. Go Bengal Tigers.

When I was there, my advisor got his robe out to go to the graduation to hood one of his doctoral students. He found it full of moth holes, so we put masking tape under the robe to cover the holes and painted the visible tape with black permanent marker. We were such a class act.

capybara · March 16, 2001, 3:35am

Ah, ok. I see. I was confused-- I thought you wore a hood from where you got a master’s and robes from your PhD (if you had both).
So I’m NOT lilac. Hmm. I’m not sure WHAT I am, though. White, I think. Hmm. Anyway, thanks. I think my school’s robes themselves are dark blue, which wil be cool (I’m having a bad term and I need to fantasize about something, um, terminal).