Wow. I just learned something new. I did not realize that some undergrads actually gave the students hoods. I was under the impression that people only got hoods for Master's degrees. I looked at Pitt for an MSW. I have some credits towards my MSW through Pitt when I worked as a caseworker. Is that what you went for? My parents were happy I graduated, also. Neither one of my parents went to college, so it was a great day. I just complained to my boyfriend how I was so annoyed that we never get anyone really famous (like you having Dan Marino at Pitt) and instead we get the Dean of our colleges or something speaking. Do you know Syracuse had Joe Biden last year? Joe freakin' Biden (although he graduated from Syracuse Law School, so that is expected) and we don't get anyone like that! That is cool that you go Dan Marino. If you don't mind me asking-did he go to Pitt or something?

I looked into graduation regalia after/during my graduation because it was interesting, basically nothing is universal, though it is more common for graduates to get hoods than for undergrads for example. Wiki is actually a decent place to start if you're interested.

I'll be honest. I didn't even know about the hood thing until I went to buy my cap and gown. I didn't know what the other piece of fabric was for, so I asked the lady at the bookstore. She explained it to me. I later talked to my other co-workers who have their MSWs and they all said they were hooded, as well.

If you don't mind me asking (this goes for anyone who knows about Ph.D.s or any other graduate programs) if you already hold a Master's degree and have honor cords from both undergrad and graduate school, when you finish your second Master's degree, Ph.D., or law degree, do you wear any of the stuff from your prior graduations such as hoods and cords? I was thinking about this the other day.

The hoods were smaller but had similar regalia on them. Mine was purple for I don't even remember what reason.

No, I went for super secret spy stuff.

Both of my parents had degrees - my mom had an Associate's and a Bachelor's (that she finished when I was 12 - she was very proud of me for going all the way through in 4 and then 6 years) and my dad has 3 Master's degrees (as well as a Bachelor's). I didn't have much of a choice in the undergrad ceremony but it wasn't that bad - we ended up having a really nice dinner after with toasts and love and it was cool - just me and my parents (my brother couldn't make it up). I always liked having alone time with the two of them.

If my mom had been able to be there I might have walked for my graduate degree but that's a big if. She was very proud that I would be the first woman in her family with a post-graduate degree, and in a male-dominated field.

Dan Marino grew up in Pittsburgh less than a mile away from Pitt's campus. He grew up dreaming of playing football for the University of Pittsburgh. He went to Pitt, played football, graduated, and was drafted into the NFL where he had a long and wonderful career (even if it was for a team that I can't stand).

There are numerous parks, football fields, statues, etc. named after Dan Marino in and around Pitt.

Dan Marino spoke at the general, all schools graduation. There are two ceremonies for everyone (because of Pitt's size) so there were different speakers for everyone. I think for my grad school there was some sort of steel drum band or something - I didn't pay much attention because I didn't have much interest in going to them.

I looked at Syracuse for my grad school but although the grad school at Syracuse was a little more prestigious than the one at Pitt I chose Pitt because it was more down-to-earth and a little less egg-heady. I don't regret the choice one bit, but there's no denying the prestige of the Maxwell School.

My high school only allowed NHS stoles as regalia if you were graduating. Nothing else was permitted. And the way they did it would have solved the "I stole my sister's cords" problem because our homeroom teachers had a list with who was in NHS and they gave out the stoles and we had to return them afterward. We also did this with our gowns, which I appreciated because who needs those things afterward? We actually couldn't get our diplomas until we handed back our gowns, so that was an effective method.

Penn State still does not allow any type of graduation regalia, however people still wear it. I just went to graduation last week and I remember seeing a few DST stoles and remembered them because I thought that they looked sharp. But I also get the idea that graduation is a time for uniformity, since you are all getting essentially the same honor. They only have people with honors/high honors/highest honors stand up at the ceremony, and that's it. And the speakers could be famous people (ex: there was an author as the Liberal Arts college speaker, but at the Health and Human Development college graduation it was our woman's basketball coach, so someone in-house.) But with upwards of 10 graduations in one weekend with about a thousand students in each, every one of them can't go all out. They did away with the "main" graduation years ago, although I don't know why.

PS- Decorating your cap is ridiculous, and beach balls are altogether unnecessary.

If the hoods and cords just represent the previous degrees, NO.

If the hoods and cords represent some affiliation or honor that you have held throughout your graduate degrees, and it is the procedure to wear them for every graduate commencement, PERHAPS.

I now see why I didn't know that some schools forbid certain graduation regalia. A few people ignore the regulations and do it anyway. LOL.

Why would one wear multiple hoods? I think they'd die of heat stroke or something.

No, I was just asking because I wasn't sure if you could do such a thing. So, then (for DrPhil and anyone else who knows) if I graduate with another graduate degree, I can't even wear my honor cords such as my Kappa Delta Pi honor cord for education (since I am still a member and faithfully pay my membership dues)?

I don't think they would. LOL.

I have never heard of people wearing hoods or cords from previous graduate degrees. But, that may happen somehow, somewhere, and some reason. :)

Check with KDPi? Possibly depends on what your future degree is in and whether your grades remain high.

I can't imagine someone perping NHS or Cum Laude (the only things you can get cords for at my HS) at the school I graduated from. My class was only about 40 people so if anyone had tried that everyone would know, and I imagine someone would make them take them off.

I seriously lol'd at "Master of Thrift". Although I don't think I'll have the same issue since we're not allowed to walk if we're not wearing the cap, gown and stole the University sells. I understand the need for uniformity, but it's such a racket - the stuff is really cheap quality and you end up spending close to $100 for the minimum required package.

On a related note - I'm graduating next week and I'm going to have the University stole and some cords, so I thought wearing a Kappa stole/cords would be overkill. I really want to graduate with something Kappa on me, though, so I was thinking of wearing my badge on the stole or gown. Has anyone else done this?

I wore my badge on my dress inside my gown (in case I took the gown off and accidentally lost my badge) but a fair amount of my sisters wore it on the gown itself, especially if they didn't have a stole or cords for Alpha Gam.

I think I've already cemented myself in this tread as the one who has no fun. I didn't decorate my cap, either.

You don't wear multiple hoods. If you have your doctorate, believe me--one velvet-lined, knee-length hood is enough and you would die in two even if it's forty degrees inside.

What you're supposed to do when you get advanced degrees: you wear the hood and lining colors of the school of your last degree. My doctoral hood has an edge of royal blue velvet that matches my tassel and the 3 velvet stripes on my sleeves because royal blue is the color of a Ph.D. (An Ed.D. has aqua, an M.D. has green.)Then the satin hood lining is maroon and white for Mississippi State. If you've been in the academic world for awhile, you can often identify the degrees and schools of many faculty members at a graduation.

What I wonder is which hood lining colors are worn by all those people who've been getting online degrees from non-brick and mortar schools.

I think most of those schools have colors. I think University of Phoenix is maroon or red and white, Kaplan is blue and white, Strayer is black and red or something similar, Ashford University is Purple and Yellow, Capella is red and white.

Whatever colors appear on the websites of such universities, basically.

I just looked at my hood for my bachelor's though and it looks like it's maroon and not purple - maybe for Gannon? There's a lot more maroon than gold. Not sure.

I didn't get a hood for my master's since I didn't attend the ceremony - it looks like it should be aquamarine in color.

ETA: after further reading, the velvet part is gold colored - social sciences - I guess that fits. I thought the gold was for Gannon, too. It's pretty obvious that I didn't seem to care much about graduation or academic dress, hehe.

Hm they probably have some sort of school colors.

My favorite variation on hats is the Tudor bonnet although I enjoy the slightly pointed tams too. Even though their meaning wasn't immediately apparent to us as graduating students, they certainly set the profs apart and made us google them later :p

We got to vote as a graduating class in med school whether we wanted the standard mortar board or the tudor bonnet. The class before us wore the tudor bonnet, but I was beyond grateful that we chose the mortar board!

Nooooo you should have had the bonnet! :p

I couldn't believe the class before me chose to wear them! They looked so silly, but I thought that many of them were rather pretentious.

Carnation,

What you described in the OP isn't really surprising to me, but I haven't noticed it yet myself. We do say that the only regalia items allowed at graduation are given out by the school at honors night or through pre-approved clubs, like a medal for Beta, etc.

I'm not sure what gets enforced however because once the graduating class is a certain size, it gets kind of unmanageable. We have a hard enough time with the clearly stated aspects of dress code for the graduates like guys wearing white shirts rather than pink or whatever. While I personally wouldn't care if they had on different colored shirts, they've (and their homeroom teachers) been thoroughly briefed on what's required in advance and I've witnessed a couple administrative showdowns with kids who just expected that the rules didn't apply to them.

I think we'd go to no regalia and just notations in the program before we went to more graduation night policing of what the kids are wearing.

Drolefille, it's a pleasure to see you posting frequently again.

Well, I'm just coming at it from the view of the student watching the profs enter opening Mass/graduation ceremony and thinking the tudor bonnet was waaaaaaaay cooler.

ETA: Hi UGAalum *waves*

I'm just coming at it from not wanting to wear it!:eek:

I demand you change your behavior, preferences, and travel through time to satisfy my desires.

:( Mmkay...if I have to. (You have to read this in an Eeyore type voice.)

Co-sign.

I figured there's no reason to wear more than one hood, but I had also never heard of schools restricting regalia. So, I figured I'm just sheltered in my academic world and anything's possible at some schools. LOL.

The all-knowing wikipedia has an extensive page on academic dress for those who care about the general topic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dress

"Only one hood may be worn at any given time.[46] Trim colors may not be combined or displayed together in any way to attempt to indicate more than one academic field.[38] The regalia indicating the highest degree attained is usually worn, though the Code seems to allow for a graduate to revert for some occasion to the entire academic costume (e.g. robe style, trim width, hood length, etc.) of a lesser degree earned. Those who hold multiple degrees of the same level (i.e. more than one master's or doctorate degree) may wear at any given time the regalia, in its entirety, of any one degree earned.[46] The Code does not allow for 'mixing-and-matching.' The regalia prescribed by an academic institution and the degree actually awarded by that institution to the wearer (as indicated by trim color, hood length, robe style, etc.) must be consistent. The one exception is for officers of the academic institution who, while wearing a doctoral gown of the University being served, may display one hood from any degree earned from any institution.(see Academic robes, above).[39]"

Perfect
 

Ahhhh....thank you! This is sort of what I had been looking for! Leave it up to Wikipedia to answer all our questions. I almost hate to admit it but, I love wikipedia. I would just never cite it in a paper (which I have seen people do).

My s/o just received his MBA and made it a point to purchase a hood (it's an ugly brown/buff/tan color). He has plans to pursue a Ph.D.

My chapter of DSP gives stoles to our graduating seniors. I was fortunate to be able to attend graduation this semester and was very proud to see my brothers in their stoles (the purple and gold really stands out against the black, even in a sea of 1,000 students).

There were a couple of sorority members who wore a beautiful light blue and white (silver?) stole. I wish I could have gotten a closer look...

And for the record, I fully intend on wearing my Deltasig stole, honors cord and I'm decorating my hat :D

I wore my badge on my dress under my gown. I had so much crap (regalia) via cords and tassels my parents had no issue finding me. If I had not worn everything I think my parents would have been disappointed, so it was all on there and I was severely tangled in it when I was trying to unrobe later.

What's funny that students never see after graduation: professors trying to untangle ourselves from robes and hoods, especially if we had to safety pin something to keep it in place.

Regarding the original post, I don't think it'd be worth the hassle. Did any of the actual graduates even care? I didn't even care who had what regalia when I graduated from HS; I didn't even get the NHS ribbons since I started blowing off those meetings after I got into college. I wonder if my mother kept my cords...

For college, I think people who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi got special cords. Otherwise, people wore whatever they wanted--BGLO and LGLO folks wore stoles, and I and a ton of other people wore leis. My college gave each student a button at Orientation with our name and "Class of 2003," and that was by far the most popular graduation accessory. No hoods. There is a lot of controversy as far as what color hoods architecture graduates wear--are they considered students of the fine arts, sciences, or engineering? It depends on the school.

I hated graduate school and really really didn't want to go to graduation, but since the parents came to NYC for it I figured I'd get some free dinners out of it; Bachelor's and Master's degree candidates wore the same Columbia blue gown with variations on the sleeves. Those who had doctoral degrees had hoods and tams.

I guess you're supposed to wear the gown of your highest degree if you ever have to do an academic procession; I hated Columbia with every fiber of my being and would wear a Brown gown, even though it's just for my BA.

What do people feel about shoes? I wore dressy-esque flat sandals (that were close enough to a flip flop to keep me happy), but the guy next to me was wearing those black and white checkered Vans slip-ons.

I have seen undergrads wearing 3" stilettos and wondered "wtf?!" Tennis shoes are also the norm for people who want the "just be happy I'm here/just got out of bed" look. I don't condone the tennis shoes (and some schools wouldn't tolerate them), but I understand.

All that matters is that doctoral and faculty wear comfy and nontacky shoes. :p

Dressy flat sandals were the name of the game for me too. It poured like crazy for my college graduation, so I think I might have worn rain boots for part of it.

I've seen ladies wear what can only be described as "stripper shoes." I attend one of the largest schools in Florida and the graduation ceremonies are huge. First, I can't imagine do all that walking (during the ceremony, outside for pics with family and friends, to the car. etc) in 3"+ shoes. Second, graduation is kind of a big deal. Even if you are wearing the hottest and most popular shoe, people take lots of pictures. Whatever you are wearing is going to be captured for posterity for many years to come. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think a semi-formal dress with classic shoes are most appropriate.

I was of the faction that wore 3" stilettos to my undergrad graduation a month ago, but I must confess that they are also my most comfortable shoes. One of my best friends wore tennis shoes with her gown, but her departmental had been the night before and the ground was covered in snow that morning (only in Colorado...)

As for sorority apparel for graduation, Tri Delta just introduce a sash this year: http://www.shopddd.com/GGS.htm

I wore the cords. I can't find them on the shop sight, so I don't know if they have been discontinued, but they're intertwined ropes in our colors.

The majority of girls at my daughter's commencement wore very dressy flat sandals in shades of muted silver and gold. I thought this was very smart as my heels aerated the lawn of the university all too well.

Some NPHC members wore Greek-letter stoles but I didn't see any NPC/IFC members wearing them. No graduates that I could see wore their organization's badge on their gowns.

Thought I'd bump this for graduation season since I saw the B from the original post working at VS. The local technical college was too much for her.

I just read through the entire thread and didn't see this situation:

Seniors who have resigned/been terminated, wearing stoles with the letters of their former GLO.

That is Not Right in my book. In addition, it is, at the very least, disrespectful and dishonest. I know they're perping. They know they're perping. They order the stoles online and get together with their still active sisters, take photos, etc. One had the nerve to call up a few seniors who weren't in the "clique" and ask if she could borrow a stole for the photos. I kid you not.

Wow. Just, wow.

VS? ETA: Ooooh I just figured that out, never mind.

I'd never seen this thread but I was taken aback. That would take a lot of gall. I had so much regalia, I looked like an episode of "Pimp My Graduation Gown"--and I earned every last piece. :D Seeing someone pretending to have honors they didn't earn would have ticked me off--however, I was too excited on graduation day to notice anyone else's deeds. It would have had to be something I heard about ahead of time.

The closest situation to this was at my HS graduation where an old student came even though he didn't go there anymore. He had tested out of HS at the end of sophomore year and had never gotten a graduation ceremony. We still felt like he was "one of us" so someone smuggled him a cap and gown. The two of us gave the closing remarks on the graduation video--we could barely get the words out for laughing at the fact he was in this video and wasn't even supposed to be there. :o

This is also my first time seeing this thread. It wouldn't have gone over in my high school.

1. We bought our caps and gowns, but IIRC, the honors cords were given out when we got ready "behind the scenes" at graduation.

2. We were seated based on class standing and membership in leadership organizations. Valedictorian was first, followed by salutatorian, #3-20, NHS members, Leadership Academy members, and finally, "general population." If someone was wearing honors cords and they weren't in the first part, it would've been suspect and an administrator would have stepped in to say something.