Q. Why do I have to wear this uncomfortable, smelly, itchy robe with the absurd four-pointed hat?
A. While academic dress was once a standard mode of dress for students and scholars, its use today is a form of hazing. It emphasizes the continuity of generational traditions: "If I had to wear this Mickey-Mouse getup, you have to wear it too!"
Q. You mean people once wore it because they wanted to?
A. Not really, since even in the 16th century the Chancellor of Cambridge University decreed that it was unlawful for students to be seen in public in any dress other than a black robe. Concerning the cap, this same gentleman (Lord Burleigh), ordered, "Also that everie (sic) graduate wearing the above gowne and gaberdine within the Universitie or Towne out of his chamber or lodging doe weare withall in the day tyme a square cap and none other . . . ."
Q. So why is the cap square, anyway?
A. Some overeducated know-it-alls believe that the four points (or four edges) represent the foundational subjects of the Scholastic curriculum: Music, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Theology which are collectively known as the Quadrivium. It is much more likely that it results from attempts to make the ordinary skullcap of a medieval priest (known as a biretta, close kin to the word "beret") more visually interesting. The biretta was originally a sort of squared pillbox hat, and medieval students are thought to have emphasized the square top-most part until the mortarboard resulted.
Q. So all medieval students dressed alike?
A. In the early centuries after the founding of the universities there was a great deal of uniformity of dress. The late medieval period demanded that individuals dress according to their station in life, and laws (known as sumptuary laws) were constantly being promulgated in an attempt to prevent individuals from dressing "above their stations." During the 15th and 16th centuries academic dress in Britain fossilized and remained more or less static to the present time.
Q. Why is a mortarboard cap so called?
A. Duh!
Q. Why does the academic hood have a long tube down the back?
A. It originally served a practical purpose, as the hood itself was derived from the monk’s cowl of the medieval period. The long tubular part of the hood (known as the "liri-pippe" or "liri-pipe") probably served as a scarf. In the 17th century these were very long, often reaching below the knees.
Q. What is the significance of the colors of the hood?
A. The colors of the hoods "lining"—even though this can be plainly seen from the back—are two colors intended to uniquely represent the institution conferring the degree. The color of the "facing," that is, the velvet trim making the "V" shape in the front, represents the academic discipline awarded.
Q. Like which disciplines?
A. Education is represented by light blue; music with pink, veterinary science with gray, law with purple, medicine with green, and theology—of course—with scarlet.
Q. What other weird European academic dress is out there?
A. German Universities did not hold public convocations or degree ceremonies. The French did, but awarded scarves (not hoods) that were worn with plain black gowns. Mortarboard caps are unknown in Europe outside of England.
Q. How did this get so standardized?
A. They never got particularly standardized in England. The University of Cambridge alone has about 35 different styles of robes. Early American universities copied their English counterparts, which was fine when there only a few of them, but the explosion of American universities after the Civil War created a demand for standardization. The result was a system adopted in 1895 by the Intercollegiate Union (probably now defunct—nobody seems to have heard of it).
Q. So what’s the standard of the probably-defunct Intercollegiate Union?
A. The Bachelor’s robes are black, without velvet, and with long, pointed sleeves. Master’s gowns are to be the same except the sleeves are long with square "pockets" at the ends. Doctor’s robes have velvet facing down the front with three velvet bars on each sleeves colored according to academic discipline. See picture on last page.
Q. What about hoods?
A. Bachelor’s and Masters receive small and simple hoods, while the Doctoral hood has wide linings and a longer liri-pipe. They are usually rounded along the bottom.
Q. What does the Inter-Collegiate Code say about caps?
A. They should always be mortarboards with black tassels (bachelors or masters) or gold (doctors). Some schools use colored tassels to indicate academic disciplines, but they should always be worn on the left side. At some schools—such as International—they are worn on the right until the degree is conferred, at which time they are switched to the left.
Q. What’s the proper angle for wearing the mortarboard?
A. It needn’t be absolutely level, but try to avoid the "bus-driver" look that so many women unconsciously strive for when pinning it vertically onto the back of their head.
Q. Why do some people—such as Karen M.—get to wear such a colorful cap and gown?
A. Because they earned their degree from a foreign institution and are entitled to wear whatever was appropriate at their Alma Mater.
Q. Well, how come others—such as Alan S.—get such a fancy robe? He didn’t graduate from a "foreign institution!"
A. While
Claremont is not, by most definitions, a
"foreign institution," their faculty declined to participate in the 1895
Intercollegiate Union and chose to adopt their own version of academic
regalia. Other schools (such as Harvard and Yale) predate the 1895
period and generally flaunt their Colonial-era status.
Q. How come Karen’s cap looks so interestingly different?
A. It is a "Beefeater" style cap that became popular in England during the Elizabethan period and was adopted by Cambridge for holders of the Ph.D. degree.
For more information on Academic dress be sure to visit the Burgon Society web pages
