ACADEMIC ATTIRE
The pageantry and dress of the academic procession have been inherited from the medieval
universities of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Academic life as we know it today began in the Middle Ages, first in the Church, then in the
guilds. The teaching guild was the guild of the Master of Arts, where the Bachelor was the
apprentice of the Master and the dress was the outward sign of privilege and responsibility.
Principal features of academic dress are the gown, the cap, and the hood. Both Cambridge
and Oxford since the fifteenth century have made academic dress a matter of university
control even to its minor details and have repeatedly published revised regulations. American
universities agreed on a definite system in 1895. In 1932 the American Council on Education
presented a revised code which for the most part governs the style of academic dress today.
THE GOWN
The flowing gown comes from the twelfth century. While it originally may have been worn
as protection against the cold of unheated buildings, today it has become symbolic of the
democracy of scholarship, for it covers any dress of rank or social standing. It is usually
of black material. Bachelors’ gowns have pointed sleeves; masters’ have long pouch-like
sleeves which reputedly were once used to carry books and food. Doctors’ gowns are faced
with panels of velvet down the front and three chevrons of velvet across each sleeve. The
president’s robe has four velvet chevrons across each sleeve.
THE CAP
When Roman law freed the slave, he won the privilege of wearing a cap. The academic cap
is a sign of freedom of scholarship and the responsibility and dignity with which scholarship
endows the wearer. While usually shaped like a mortar board, some caps from some universities
are made of a round, soft velvet material. The tassel may be black or colored according to the
scholarly field of the wearer. Only the doctor’s cap may be of velvet.
THE HOOD
The hood is trimmed with one or more chevrons of a secondary color on the ground of
the primary color of the college. The color of the facing of the hood denotes the discipline
represented by the degree; the color of the lining designates the university or college from
which the degree was granted. A selected list of colors follows:
Agriculture..........................Maize
Arts, Letters........................White
Business.............................Drab
Dentistry...............................Lilac
Economics.....................Copper
Education...................Light Blue
Fine Arts............................Brown
Forestry........................... Russet |
Journalism....................Crimson
Law................................... Purple
Library Science.............. Lemon
Medicine............................Green
Music.................................... Pink
Nursing.............................Apricot
Speech...................... Silver Grey
Pharmacy................ Olive Green |
Philosophy..................... Dark Blue
Physical Education....Sage Green
Public Administr......Peacock Blue
Public Health............ Salmon Pink
Science.................................Golden
Social Work............................Citron
Theology.............................. Scarlet
Veterinary Science..................Gray |
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