THE PENDULUM
COMMENCEMENT ISSUE
SATURDAY, MAY 22. 2010 // PAGE 7
The
I Anna Johnson
I I m ■ Managing Editor
—^ I
C U StO m of graduation at Eloiti
Craft:
The Gown: For the bachelor's degree gown the sleeves
must be pointed, while the gown for the master’s degree has
oblong shaped sleeves meant to be worn open. The gown for
the doctorate degree has bell-shaped sleeves.
The bachelor and master’s degree gowns are untrimmed.
The doctorate's degree gown has three velvet bars across
the front in the color representative of the
graduate's field of study.
The Hood: Black and made of
the same material as the gown. The
length of the hood shows the degree
obtained by the graduate: three
feet long for bachelor's degree, 3
and 1/2 feet long for a master's
degree and 4 feet for a doctorate's
degree. The hood is lined with
velvet in the university colors,
while the edges are the color of
the respective major.
The hood is trimmed in
velvet, 2 inches, 3 inches
and 5 inches wide for
the bachelor's, master's
and doctorate's degrees
respectively. If a person
holds more than one degree
they should only wear one hood.
The Cap: Made of cotton poplin, rayon or silk. But the caps for doctorate's
degrees are made of velvet. The tassel is usually black or the color of the
respective field of study. An exception is the doctorate's
cap, which may be gold.
There are a few exceptions to the rules.
The chief marshal may wear a specially
designed "gown approved by the
institution. Any person who
graduated from a foreign university
may wear its respective gown. Any
religious or military figure may also wear
their respected uniforms instead of their
academic gown.
•\
Cost:
Seniors’ Graduation Fee (incMes cost of
diploma and cap an^gown); $75
*'s
^hool’s cost of and ,gown for bacli^or’s
.degree: $50 A
S%oors cost of di)loma for baqti^lor’s
de^ee: $70
^ost> o'f^iplo^ forfnaster’s degree; $110
Cost of diploma frameJ $150
C^t^er
Color:
Agriculture - Maize
Arts, Letters, Humanities - White
Commerce, Accountancy, Business - Drab
Demistry - Lilac
Economics - Copper
Engineering - Orange
Fine Arts, Architecture - Brown
Forestry - Russet
Journalism - Crimson
Law - Purple
Library Science - Lemon
Medicine - Green
Music - Pink
Nursing - Apricot
Oratory - Silver Gray
Pharmacy - Olive Green
Philosophy - Dark Blue
Physical Education - Dark Blue
Public Administration, including Foreign Service - Peacock Blue
Public Health - Salmon Pink
Science - Golden Yellow
Social Work - Citron
Theology - Scarlet
Veterinary Science - Gray
Select color history:
Green was chosen for medicine because of healing herbs and the close
color association made olive green an evident choice for pharmacy.
Red was a traditional color for the church thus red was assigned
to theology. And golden yellow represented the wealth science has
brought and was therefore assigned to the sciences.
Custom:
The first academic gowns can be traced to the 12th and 13th
centuries. The typical dress of a scholar was similar to the religious
figures of the day and many gowns and hoods were long to keep
professors warm in the unheated universities. The first universities to
designate dress codes were Oxford and Cambridge but standardization
in America would not come until much later.
In 1887, Gardner Cotrell Leonard designed gowns for Williams
College and became fixated on the subject of academic dress code. He
was asked to lead a commission to determine a set system of academic
dress. The system determined the cut, color and material of the
gowns.
A formalized committee authorized by the American Council on
Education was issued in 1932 and redrafted in 1959 when several
changes were made to the gowns. The last change was in 1986 when the
committee clarified the use of dark blue for the Doctorate of Philosophy
degree.
Elon University has two special academic dress customs. One is
the Elon Medallion worn by President Leo Lambert. The medallion
was a present, given in 1969. The 1969 senior class raised $700 to buy
the medallion that is made of gold and surrounded by rubies. The
medallion's chain is a sequence of maroon and gold squares with the
letters “E" and “C inscribed on each square. The “E" and “C” stands
for Elon College.
The other Elon tradition is the Mace. E.M. Martin gave the Mace as
a gift in 1989. The seal is perched atop a silver replica of the brick
colonnades located outside of Alamance. The seal has Elon's motto
“Numen Lumen” written across it. The mace is carried by a different
senior staff member chosen based on years of service at the university
and is usually carried three times a year.