ACADEMIC HERALDRY

The academic costume you will be wearing at the Commencement – the colors, caps, gowns, hoods and regalia of the academic procession – connect Polytechnic with centuries of international academic tradition.

Gowns and hoods date to clerical garb of the Middle Ages. In the United States, universities agreed at the end of the 19 th century to standardize regalia and colors to mark academic processions.

The doctoral robe is black or the color of the degree granting institution with three velvet bands around the upper sleeve and velvet panels down the front. The master’s gown is distinguished by a crescent shaped hanging sleeve open at the elbow with the longest point falling from the arm. The bachelor’s gown is similar, except for a pointed straight sleeve.

Originally functional as head coverings, hoods today denote the degree held by the wearer. The doctoral version, banded in the color of the discipline or profession, lies open down the back of the gown. The master’s and bachelor’s hoods end in a long point much like the sleeve treatment of the master’s gown. The interiors are lined or banded with the school colors – blue and gray for Polytechnic. Outer edges of academic hoods designate the discipline in which the degree is granted with a band or facing of color, traditionally white for arts and letters, yellow for science, orange for engineering and dark blue for philosophy.

Most graduates wear the black mortarboard with a tassel held by a button in the center. The tassel and button are gold for doctoral degree holders, black for others. Because different universities have distinctive hat or cap styles, the academic procession often contains both hard and soft caps, many trimmed with lace, fur or velvet.

The Academic Procession is led and directed by marshals. The graduates proceed by degree, one line for undergraduate students and one line for graduate students (doctoral and master’s degrees). Next come the faculty, and finally the platform party of administrators of the institution, Golden Jubilee Class members, corporation members, honorary degree recipients and honored guests. The president, who bestows degrees through the Polytechnic Corporation, wears the head gear of his alma mater and a gilded medal bearing the names of each of its wearers, which is the insignia of the Polytechnic chief executive and which represents the community and legacy of Polytechnic leadership.