This student crossing the stage exhibits the gold cord that signifies graduation with honors and the tri-colored tassel that signifies he has earned a bachelor’s degree.
MAY 6, 2024 — During a typical UTSA Commencement celebration, everyone is wearing a cap and gown but some look very different than others. UTSA Today has tapped into the history behind the university’s academic regalia to learn what the different colors and styles represent.
The tradition of the academic dress dates back nearly eight centuries. In medieval Europe, all townsmen wore long, flowing robes or gowns. The materials and colors varied greatly, according to the wealth and rank of the individual and were governed by royal decree. Gradually, distinctive gowns were developed for the various professions, trades and guilds. Today, this tradition remains for gowns of religious orders and judiciary and in academic regalia.
Through the years, great diversity in color and style of cap, gown and hood have evolved. In 1895, a commission was established to develop a uniform code for academic dress. Today, the gowns, hoods and mortarboards worn by the graduating students of most institutions, including UTSA, follow this code.
At UTSA, the gowns and mortarboards are navy blue, one of the university’s official colors.
This doctoral graduate celebrates her milestone with the mariachis that are a tradition at UTSA’s Commencement ceremonies. Notice the flowing sleeves and velvet stripes on the gown, as well as the gold bullion tassel.
The style of the gowns vary depending on the degree the student receives. The sleeves of the gowns worn by master’s degree recipients are square at the end.
The gowns of doctoral degree recipients have flowing sleeves with three bars of velvet and velvet facing down the front with the UTSA seal. The velvet trim is five inches wide for the doctoral degree. The color of the velvet border indicates the degree and aligns with the graduates’ tassel colors.
The biggest difference in regalia can be found in the hood, which identifies the graduate degree and institution from which it was awarded. For master’s students, the hood is short. For those receiving a doctoral degree, the hood is longer and lined with silk in the official colors of the student’s institution. The UTSA hoods are blue and lined in orange with one white chevron.
The academic caps also have their own special meanings. Developed in the 15th century, some caps were stiff, some soft, some square and some round with a tuft in the center.
The tassel used today is an elaboration of the tuft. While some institutions still use the round caps, most institutions, including UTSA, have adopted the mortarboard style that comes from Oxford University. Students earning terminal degrees wear a tam instead of a mortarboard.
For a bachelor’s degree, the tassel's colors represent the university in a tricolor of orange, blue and white. The tassel color worn by master’s degree recipients indicates the discipline in which the degree has been earned. Those graduating with a doctoral degree wear a gold bullion tassel.
The gold cord, worn by some undergraduate students, indicates graduation with honors: summa cum laude, which include graduates with a GPA of 3.90 to 4.00; magna cum laude, which is awarded to those with a GPA of 3.75 to 3.89 or cum laude, which includes graduates with a GPA of 3.50 to 3.74.
Graduates also wear one or more stoles, indicating individual achievements such as being a student in Honors College, a veteran or a first-generation college student.
UTSA leadership and faculty wear robes representing the university where they earned their highest degree. President Taylor Eighmy’s regalia, for example, is from the University of New Hampshire, where he earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Eighmy’s orange hood likewise signifies his engineering degree.
Eighmy also wears the UTSA Presidential Medallion, which symbolizes the authority and responsibility vested in the UTSA President. The brass medallion has the university’s seal on one side and the words “Presented by the UTSA Development Board in honor of the University’s 25th anniversary—1994” on the other side.
President Eighmy's regalia represents where he earned his Ph.D. in environmental engineering. He also wears the UTSA Presidential Medallion.
Blue Violet: architecture, urban and regional planning
Brown: art, interior design
Citron: American studies, anthropology, bicultural and bilingual studies, geography, Mexican American Studies, social work
Copper: economics
Crimson: communication
Dark Blue: justice policy, philosophy, political science
Drab: business, data analytics
Gold: criminal justice, psychology
Golden Yellow: sciences, mathematics
Light Blue: education
Pink: music
Orange: engineering
Peacock Blue: public administration
Sage: health, kinesiology, public health
White: classical studies, history, humanities, multidisciplinary studies, sociology, languages, women's studies
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