Adelphi University
New York
1896
Adelphi University was a client of academic costume manufacturer Cotrell & Leonard in 1902, according to Concerning Caps, Gowns and Hoods: Bulletin 17 (1902). As Cotrell & Leonard was also the depository of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC), the IBAC had no doubt assigned a hood lining pattern to Adelphi by 1902 at the latest. But no description of Adelphi’s hood was given in that catalogue. The first definitive and complete IBAC description of the university’s hood lining was in an IBAC list from 1927 where it was stated to be gold with a brown chevron. This description was not changed in subsequent IBAC lists.
Brown and gold were designated the official colors of Adelphi University when it was founded in 1896. The official flower of the university is the brown-eyed Susan, which has the same colors. As with the brown-eyed Susan, the brown of Adelphi is a chocolate brown shade.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): brown/gold (1897-1935)
The administration of Adelphi University later (in the early 2000s?) approved an optional doctoral gown tailored from fabric in the university’s colors that may be worn instead of the traditional black gown. This “custom” or “special” regalia is brown with dark brown velvet sleeve bars and facings that are edged with gold piping. The university’s seal is embroidered in gold thread on each of the facings of the gown at chest height.
To the left is a photograph from the Oak Hall company illustrating this gown along with a closeup of the embroidered school seal used on the velvet facings on the gown.