Wearing Other People's Graduation Regalia
 

:confused:Today, our 8th child graduated from high school. We noticed that one girl--who's maybe the biggest B at the school--was wearing honors regalia and a teacher stared at her and said, "That must be her older sister's; believe me, she didn't graduate with any honors." (We've known the kid for years and we figured that out early on. Evil jerk.)

I asked my son about it and he said that a lot of people walked with friends' or siblings' past regalia. I was :eek:; as a former college professor, I can't believe that someone would do that. This son didn't graduate with honors--he was 0.2 of a point short--and we wouldn't have dreamed of heaping his older siblings' regalia on him.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Wow. That is really weird. Why would someone do that? That is the same to me as wearing someone else's Greek letters when you never joined that org. or ever went Greek. Carnation, where do you teach as a Professor? My boyfriend has been looking at some great colleges for a Masters/Ph.D. program or Medical School. Any suggestions?

Well, I think that is weird someone would wear someone else's honors cords and whatnot. Did anyone ask the girl about it? I'm just as :eek: as you are about that. Is that the new thing these days? You know, wearing other people's items that you did not receive or earn yourself?

I can't believe the school officials would let someone wear honors regalia that they did not earn. That is totally unfair to the people that did earn it, regardless of who it belonged to originally.

No, but kids do the darndest and dumbest things.

This wouldn't go over at the college level. The most they get to do is put silly stuff on their cap and smuggle beach balls in.

I agree with that. Why would the school not make them take it off? If it was a major university where you don't exactly know who is in what-then, I can see it not making a big stir. In a highschool where everyone probably knows everyone's business, it is a big deal. What did the Advisor of that honors group say to the girl? If anyone should have said anything-it should have been the Advisor.

I'm sure he's more than capable of researching that himself. ;)

I don't see why I can't ask about that. Maybe you have some advice about it. Anyone who wants to give advice about Masters/Ph.D. programs is more than welcome to do it. He is open to any state. The only reason I care about it is because I'm really hoping to move to a state where I would enjoy living and not a state that I would probably hate. Where did you get your Ph.D., if you don't mind me asking? I have my Masters but, not in something he is looking for.

He has been looking at schools in Georgia, where carnation is from. Maybe she has some good advice about it.

As far as large universities catching things like that, I know that for some reason my school was really stupid about that. I remember they told us we couldn't wear any cords or stoles. It was so stupid. I wanted to have one made up with my letters on it but, I was too afraid to upset the administration. One of my friends, an SGRho, was smart enough to not care. She had the nicest stole with her letters on it. After that, I was so annoyed I didn't do the same.

I do know that robes and tassels are handed down and sold (those things can get expensive!) at the college level, but that's really tacky to wear honors cords you did not earn.

Because it's his gig. ;) Let him have it. If he was your underage son, that would be different. :)

I've never heard of a college or university forbidding cords and stoles. The graduation coordinators probably didn't care for the school's restriction and didn't mind your friend's stole. If it had been something more ridiculous, like someone else's honors regalia, they probably would've caught it (a lot of schools of various sizes highlight the honors students during the program along with a corresponding name and number for each graduate).

[QUOTE=DrPhil;1932820]Because it's his gig. ;) Let him have it. If he was your underage son, that would be different. :)

I've never heard of a college or university forbidding cords and stoles. The graduation coordinators probably didn't care for the school's restriction and didn't mind your friend's stole. If it had been something more ridiculous, like someone else's honors regalia, they probably would've caught it (a lot of schools of various sizes highlight the honors students during the program along with a corresponding name and number for each graduate).[/QUOTE]

That's just it, though...I will be moving with him. We are planning on getting engaged/ married and I don't want to move to some place that is so far away or that I hate. In fact, he told me that until I started working again, this summer, I should check out other schools with great programs in what he wants. He works stupid/crazy hours at the hospital and he is currently studying up for the GRE. There isn't anything wrong with asking for my help. In fact, I enjoy doing it. I respect a lot of the people on here and I'm sure they would have some great advice to give regarding grad schools. if you have any advice-please share.


Nope, they were jerks about it. That really surprised me. I wish I would have just not listened and worn my gear. Maybe it has since changed. I hope it has for the sake of the newer classes graduating.

All I can figure out is that they must not check the kids before they march in or that whoever checks them has no clue who's supposed to wear what. Come to think of it, I believe that someone said that the coaches were in there with the graduates. (Mystery solved.)

I still think that the honor society and honor grad faculty should check them before they march. Last year, the NHS advisor refused to let the members who had done dual college/high school enrollment wear their stoles because they hadn't come to any meetings--they were taking their college classes. Punishing them for excelling!:mad: There was a huge uproar and the national office of the NHS said there was nothing they could do. One of Tall Son's sisters found her old NHS stole and told him to wear it anyway but he said it really didn't matter to him anymore and we didn't want him getting jerked out of line. Now I realize he probably wouldn't have but the difference was that he had earned his stole. These kids earned nothing.

Whoa.

Your son has graduated now so you may not care what happens next year, but do you want to express this concern to the school so they can make changes? It may be more trouble than it's worth.

Dr.Phil may be right about it being more trouble than it is worth. One thing I can say is congratulations to your children for excelling and doing so well in school. Didn't you say your children ended up going Greek? If not, I bet kids with so much intellect would be a great asset to any organization! If they are Greek, their organizations got lucky to have some great members wearing their letters! Doing well in academics is always a great thing! Good job at raising such smart kids, Carnation!

We will have 3 daughters at the high school next year. I plan to talk to the principal but I have to be very professional because my husband teaches there and teachers are being RIFed left and right in Georgia.

Luckily, the NHS sponsor retired at the end of last year or there would have been huge trouble from a lot of us. Even though her daughter is a Pi Phi!

This.

I have.

Was it to achieve uniformity and/or because attention whores have adorned their caps and gowns with crazy things in the past?

My university limited us to 3 "extras." I had my stole from Kappa, my honors medallion, and my medallion from the honors college. They didn't check to make sure we were wearing what we had "earned," but they did check that. They also discouraged decorating our caps, but some did it anyways.

I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind the restrictions, but I would imagine it has something to do with the above-mentioned attention whores. My university holds four ceremonies over the course of a weekend, so I'm sure they are eager to cut down on any potential "drama."

Unlike "perps" while people wearing cords that aren't theirs might be annoying, I don't see them as something worth kicking up a fuss over as another parent. If the administration wants to do something about it, great, but there's little benefit to stepping in and no real harm caused to others by the misrepresentation.

I do not see what A has to do with B.

If she hadn't been leaving, I would have led the fight against her but that made it pointless. I was being facetious about not going after her due to her daughter's being a Pi Phi.

Also, a lot of parents and students feel that it cheapens all the work that the kids did to earn those cords and stoles if another kid fools around for 4 years and then ganks his sibling's regalia. I suppose you could say that it was a form of perping.

You could argue that, but I don't think it's true. Cheapening it would be granting everyone honors status no matter their GPA, some kid being a typical teenager doesn't hurt anything. Perping is different in that you're representing something more than status by those letters. It's annoying but I just don't see that it's worth complaining about, administration has enough to do on graduation day than to play regalia police.

Seeing Kappamd's post made me think...how many GLO's have stoles or other regalia for graduates to use? AOII does not have stoles.

As for all the discussion above, when I was in HS, we did everything we could to get the maximum amount of swag to wear for graduation. It was almost a competition to see who could look the gaudiest walking across stage. As for whether or not kids deserve some of their regalia, many of the things my friends and I wore for graduation were "earned" last minute just so we could add to our look.

We don't have official stoles or anything but you can buy them online either premade or customized. I shared mine for pics after graduation was over.

We do not get our stoles through Kappa. Our chapter orders them through the company that does the Miss America sashes, lol. The only other chapter on our campus that I've seen with stoles is DG, and I *think* they do the same.

I don't like the idea of regalia for personal reasons. I was a very decorated high school graduate. Several people at my graduation (including the keynote speaker) asked me where I was going to college expecting to hear the name of a distinguished institution. They all seemed disappointed to know that I was going to a no-name college on Long Island.

I think that it is a better idea to have symbols beside the names of honor students in the graduation program that is handed out. I prefer uniformity because whether you graduate with a 3.6 or a 3.0 (or a 2.0), you still graduated which is an accomplishment for all.

Ha! Love it!

mine did. we weren't able to wear anything unless the school said it was ok.

i snuck mine on.

but then again, mine didn't even call our names for the undergraduates. they just flashed the names on this screen and it was like a lunch line.

I haven't heard of this at high schools (I've found it to be common at the university level). But it does remind me of a funny story. When I graduated from high school, those of us receiving academic honors were presented with grad stolls at an assembly prior to commencement. When the cheer squad saw this, they decided to run out and buy these funky looking cheer medals with purple cords to wear to graduation. Mind you, several of these girls were benched for having lower than a 2.0 GPA. :rolleyes:

We weren't allowed - only Masters and PhDs were permitted them. But I think it was part of the times, because they allowed them now.

In all of my graduation pictures, I'm easy to find - I was seated next to the Master of Thrift who wouldn't get a cap and gown and wore a suit. :rolleyes:

On a hijack, we had to wear white gloves for a receiving line at DAR recently, and the people who said they were selling new ones ran out. Those of us who were voting (as opposed to spending money!) got together and about 10 went through the line, gave the next ten their gloves, and so on.

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).

http://www.securebookstore.com/Merch..._Stole_300.jpg

http://www.securebookstore.com/Merch...kStole_300.jpg

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.