Wearing Other People's Graduation Regalia

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I have.

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

[Kappamd]

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."

[Drolefille]

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.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by carnation

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!

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

[carnation]

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.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by carnation

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.

[AOII Angel]

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.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

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.

[Kappamd]

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.

[1stSoon2BePhD]

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.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Kappamd

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.

Ha! Love it!

[starang21]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I've never heard of a college or university forbidding stoles.

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.

[KSUViolet06]

Tri Sigma recently made stoles and purple/white cords available via HQ. I was happy to see that this year's seniors had all ordered them.

As far as regalia, I don't believe my university had any limits on the amount of extras. I have seen girls walk with honor cords, honors medalions, sorority cords, sorority stoles, and another honor society medal. I think the cap decorating is frowned upon though. Our ceremonies are so HUGE and the line backstage is so crazy that I don't think snyone would have time to check if we DID have such rules.

About the wearing of others, I don't approve of it, but I don't think it "cheapens" it for others. I was #9 of my grad class in HS and an NHS grad, so I got a stole and some cords to wear. If another kid were to wear the same stuff, it wouldn't make ME any less of a good student. It just makes that kid a loser.

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by carnation

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 ; 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?

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.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I've never heard of a college or university forbidding cords and stoles.

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.

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.