Academic dress in the United States

Academic dress has a history in the United States going back to the colonial colleges era.

There is an Inter-Collegiate Code that sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia that is voluntarily followed by many, though not all institutions entirely adhere to it.

The Code calls for the gown trim to be either black or the color designated for the field of study in which the doctorate is earned, with the proviso that the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree uses the dark blue velvet of philosophy regardless of the field studied.

[3] The color standardization for the outside shell of the hood as black provides flexibility of use and helps facilitate this practice.

The hood's coloring and size represents the type and subject of degree earned, as well as the institution from which it was awarded.

[11] Additionally, the Code allows for the wearing of the hood into the commencement ceremony as part of the academic procession, but only if neither of the two procedures above are being employed.

"[2] Many institutions, particularly larger ones, have therefore dispensed with the bachelor's hood at commencement ceremonies altogether, though a graduate is still entitled to wear one once the degree is conferred.

[2] Both honorary and earned doctoral degrees are very often conferred by the highest academic officer of an institution bestowing the appropriate hood at the podium, regardless of the procedure being followed for other candidates at the ceremony.

There is at some colleges and universities a practice of moving the tassel from one side to the other on graduating, but this is a modern innovation that can be impractical out of doors due to the vagaries of the wind.

However, this mark of transition to graduate status has the benefit of taking less time than more traditional indicators such as the individual conferring of the hood or a complete change of dress part-way through the ceremony (as at Oxford in the United Kingdom).

A number of other items such as cords, stoles or aiguillettes representing various academic achievements or other honors are also worn at the discretion of some degree-granting institutions.

"[12]Apparel and tokens representing awards and honors are not considered a component of academic dress, not only because the Code suggests avoiding them, but also because (a) they are often worn without the defining cap and gown, and (b) they are usually not worn by a graduate with academic robes after the commencement year in which the honor was awarded.

[6] The color assigned to a given hood trim and/or tassels and—where appropriate—gown facings, should be as closely related as possible to the field studied.

This is often addressed by an academic institution allowing the degree earned to influence - but not determine - color assignment.

This then can create confusion in the first instance by appearing to display colors based on the degree earned rather than, as stipulated in the Code, the academic field studied.

In 1986, the American Council on Education updated the Code and added the following sentence clarifying the use of the color dark blue for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, which is awarded in any number of fields:"In the case of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree, the dark blue color is used to represent the mastery of the discipline of learning and scholarship in any field that is attested to by the awarding of the degree, and it is not intended to represent the field of philosophy.

[19] Shortly after the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, academic dress was rarely worn on a daily basis, according to contemporary sources.

[20] After the American Civil War, academic dress was generally only worn at ceremonies or when representing the institution,[21] although in some instances the practice has persisted, such as at Sewanee, where members of one student society continue to wear the gown to class.

[22] Although universities that adopted academic dress assigned specific meanings to them, there was no consistency among the various sets of rules.

[26] Earlier, three stripes adorned the sleeve of a gown depicted in an invitation to Class Day ceremonies at Columbia in 1865.

However, since the university at the time conferred only honorary master’s and doctoral degrees, it's unknown if anyone ever wore the Oxford-style gowns.

[32] In June 1893, the trustees of Princeton appointed one of their members, John J. McCook, to look into creating an academic costume that showed the wearer’s degree, faculty, and alma mater, and to discuss the concept with Columbia, Yale, Harvard and other universities with the goal being “the adoption of a uniform academic costume.”[33] Columbia hosted the meeting with delegates from Princeton (McCook), Yale and New York University attending, and as a “technical adviser” Gardner Cotrell Leonard, whose Albany, N.Y., firm manufactured academic dress.

(Harvard waited until 1902 to adopt its academic dress statute, which is recognizable for its inclusion of the university’s nineteenth-century crows’ feet and the use of the Edinburgh simple shape hood [s4]).

[35] The Code was based on Columbia’s existing statute,[36] and prescribed the cut and style and materials of the gowns, as well as eight colors representing fields of learning.

[41] As part of the socio-political upheaval of the 1960s in many Western cultures, eschewing academic regalia became a popular means of demonstrating anti-establishment views, particularly in response to the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

[citation needed] After the war, academic regalia continued to be shunned by some who considered it a symbol of elitism.

That suggestion remained in the 11th edition, but in another paragraph was the opposite direction: “For the hood, the border [i.e. the edging of the cowl] should be white if the degree is awarded in arts (B.A.

The tradition should be departed from as little as possible … ”[2] In addition, the Committee wrote a memo in 1967 that makes the point directly, pointing out that “the general guidelines are as stated and should not be interpreted as supported by highly detailed and hard-and-fast regulations on file in some central place.”[42] Today in the U.S. academic dress is rarely worn outside commencement ceremonies or other academic rituals such as encaenia and baccalaureate services, and sometimes matriculation and convocation.