AST does. We have two of them: one for any graduate to wear, and one for members of the Order of the Open Book (an academic honor society within the sorority).

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Wow, I really like those. I wonder if we could make this into a graduation cord/ sash thread like the badge thread and post pictures of sashes for our GLOs, as well as, discuss the issue of wearing things that you shouldn't to graduation. If that is acceptable to carnation (since it is her thread), I think that would be really interesting. It is just a thought.

I didn't wear any regalia for any of my graduations. I think maybe an NHS honor cord but even then I'm not so sure. I undergrad I didn't even buy any of the 800 items that I could have worn (I was in 3 honors societies, my sorority, and an honors program grad) or decorate my cap.

I just never really cared for any of it. Of course, I didn't even go to my Master's graduation, so there you go.

That sucks you didn't go to your Master's graduation. That is where you get hooded. That was the only time I actually cared about my graduation because of that. I remember my mom being really excited to see me get hooded. I have to agree with you, though. Sometimes, it is not worth all the decoration of regalia for one day. Some people don't care about that as much.

That depends on the school. My school didn't do hoods for master's degrees, but the school where my husband got his MBA does.

Some schools do them for Bachelor's too. But I want the hood and the long sleeves for my Master's. And I want to be called "magister" since there's no title for having your MA.

I'm still working on the last bit.

We had hoods for undergrad, and then at my Grad school you wore a hood but you did not get "hooded" unless you were getting your PhD.

Since I did my Master's at Pitt, there was a large graduation for everyone (Dan Marino spoke at it the year that I finished my Master's) that I didn't go to, and then a graduate school graduation that was smaller and I didn't go to that one either. Was not feeling it. My dad and I went to Paris to celebrate my graduation instead.

I don't think it sucked at all. I'm not one for ceremonial stuff, and only did my undergrad graduation because my parents were really excited about it. So much happened between when I graduated undergrad and when I finished my Master's that no one in my family really cared about the Master's anyway - they were just happy I finished it.

My cousin finished her Master's the same year and we had a "graduation" party with a cake in my hometown before I moved to Chicago.

I remember reading that AST had the Order of the Open Book and thought that is was such a wonderful tradition!

This was the same for graduation at LSU Health Sciences Center. All of the MDs graduating wore their green hoods on stage, but those receiving PhDs were hooded on stage by their PIs.

;) It was a fun trip.

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.