A Revision of the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume

The 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume provided a basic outline for a uniform system of academic costume in the United States, but left some details of the system to be fleshed out in practice. These details had been largely standardized by 1910, and were incorporated into an update of the 1895 Code by the American Council on Education that began in 1932 and was published in 1935 as the Academic Costume Code. Extensive revisions of the 1935 Academic Costume Code in 1960, 1973, and 1987 were less successful. The current version of the Academic Costume Code can be seen here, and a comprehensive introduction to the history of the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume and the Academic Costume Code by Stephen Wolgast can be read here.

Wolgast’s article discusses some of the problems with the current Academic Costume Code; weaknesses of the Code’s “subject color” approach are outlined on this website, here.

Proposals to reform the Academic Costume Code have been made by Kevin Sheard in 1962, George Schweitzer in 1965, Mark Strickland and John Fluitt in 1984, David Boven in 2009, and Stephen Wolgast in 2011. Most of these suggestions have been directed toward the subject color system the Academic Costume Code inaugurated in 1960. Unfortunately, none of these reform attempts have borne fruit.

What follows is a proposed revision of the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume by the Intercollegiate Registry of Academic Costume, inspired by these earlier reform efforts.

THE INTERCOLLEGIATE CODE OF ACADEMIC COSTUME

Originally written by the Intercollegiate Commission on Academic Costume 1893 – 1895;  revised by the American Council on Education 1932 – 1935;  revised by the Intercollegiate Registry of Academic Costume 2018 – 2019

The Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume was authorized on 16 May 1895 by a committee chaired by Columbia University President Seth Low. The purpose of the Intercollegiate Code, Low said, would be

to secure a uniform practice among the American colleges and universities, whereby the cap and gown and hood shall indicate not only the degree of the wearer and the faculty under which it was obtained, but also the institution by which the degree was conferred.

To achieve these purposes, the following academic costume is permitted to be worn on all appropriate occasions to indicate the wearer’s degree and alma mater.

GOWNS:

  1. Pattern – American gowns are modified versions of the Oxford Bachelor of Arts gown [Groves Classification b1], Oxford Master of Arts gown [m1], and Oxford Doctor’s gown [d2] of the 1890s, with pointed sleeves for the bachelor’s gown, long closed sleeves for the master’s gown, and round, bell-shaped sleeves for the doctor’s gown. The sleeve opening for the master’s gown was traditionally at the elbow; since 1960 it has been at the wrist. In both cases there is a crescent-shaped cutout at the lower part of the sleeve; traditionally at the rear but at the front of the sleeve since 1960 at the latest. The bachelor’s gown is always worn closed, but the master’s and doctor’s gowns may be worn open or closed.
  2. Material – Traditionally, bachelor’s gowns have been tailored from worsted stuff, serge, or Russell cord; master’s gowns from worsted stuff, serge, Russell cord, or silk; and doctor’s gowns from silk. Today a variety of fabrics are used.
  3. Color – Typically black, but some colleges and universities have authorized optional gowns tailored from fabric in the colors of the institution.
  4. Trimmings – Bachelor’s and master’s gowns are untrimmed. The doctor’s gown is faced down the front with black velvet, with three bars of the same across the sleeves. Alternatively, the facings and crossbars may be of velvet of the “Faculty color” indicated by the wording of the diploma, thus agreeing in color with the velvet edging of the hood appropriate to the particular doctor’s degree in every instance. If the facings and sleeve bars are black velvet, they may be outlined with piping in the Faculty color that matches the velvet edging on the hood. The velvet facings of the doctor’s gown are between three and five inches in width. The sleeve bars are between one and two inches in width and between fourteen and eighteen inches in length.
  5. Faculty colors – American degree titles use a nomenclature that indicate the level of the degree and the “Faculty” of the degree, such as: “Bachelor of Music”, “Master of Arts”, or “Doctor of Philosophy”. Most degree titles do not indicate the subject of the degree or major course of study, but some degrees are tagged with the subject or major course of study, such as: “Master of Science in Nursing”. For all academic purposes, including the velvet edging of the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s hoods and the velvet facings and sleeve bars of the doctor’s gown if black is not used, colors are used to signify the “Faculty” of the degree as it appears on the diploma. These colors have been assigned to what were traditionally called “Faculties”, that is, collegia of professors today most equivalent to “Schools” and “Colleges” within a university. To distinguish between research and professional degrees, it is important to note that the reading of the Faculty of the degree title as it appears on the diploma, not the subject or major course of study, governs the proper Faculty color. Thus, the degree conferred as “Master of Science” with a major in physical therapy and the degree conferred as “Master of Science in Physical Therapy” both require the golden yellow of Science, whereas the “Master of Physical Therapy” degree requires the slate blue of the Faculty of Allied Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, as would a degree conferred as “Master of Occupational Therapy” or “Doctor of Audiology”. Similarly, a “Doctor of Philosophy” degree in design uses the dark blue Faculty color for Philosophy, but a “Doctor of Design” uses blue-violet for the Faculty of Architecture and Design. A more detailed explanation of these Faculty colors can be found here, along with a list of common doctoral degree titles and the Faculty colors assigned to them.

Allied Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Alternative Medicine

Architecture and Design

Arts and Letters

Behavioral and Social Sciences

Business and Management

Communication and Media

slate blue

cerise

blue-violet

white

cream

copper

silver

Dentistry

Education

Engineering and Applied Science

Fine Arts

Government and Political Sciences

Honorary Degrees

Information Sciences

lilac

light blue

orange

bistre

royal blue

black

bright yellow

Law

Medicine

Music

Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

Nursing

Optometry

Pharmacy

purple

green

pink

golden brown

apricot

seafoam

dark olive green

Philosophy

Podiatry

Public Health

Science

Social Work

Theology

Veterinary Medicine

dark blue

Nile green

salmon pink

golden yellow

rose

scarlet

dark gray

HOODS:

  1. Pattern – American bachelor’s and master’s hoods are modified versions of the simple shape Oxford Bachelor of Arts hood of the 1890s [Groves Classification s5]. The American doctor’s hood [f14] has a cape (or “panels”) with a rounded base and is a modified version of the full shape Oxford doctor’s hood of the 1890s.
  2. Material – The exterior fabric of the hood will be the same as that of the gown; the interior of the hood will be lined with silk or satin.
  3. Exterior color – Typically black, but some colleges and universities have authorized optional hood exteriors tailored from fabric in the colors of the institution.
  4. Length – The length of the hood for the bachelor’s degree is to be three feet, for the master’s degree three and one-half feet, and for the doctor’s degree four feet.
  5. Linings – Hoods will be lined with silk or satin in the official color or colors of the college or university conferring the degree. More than one color is shown by a division of the lining colors in a heraldic pattern, such as a chevron or chevrons; a reversed chevron or chevrons; a bar or bars; or a division per chevron, per reversed chevron, per bar, per pale, or per cross. Each college or university will be assigned a hood lining pattern unique to that institution.
  6. Trimmings – The hood will be edged with velvet or velveteen in the color signifying the Faculty of the degree title on the diploma given in conferment of the degree (see above). The edging will be two inches wide for the bachelor’s degree, three inches wide for the master’s degree, and five inches wide for the doctor’s degree. On the doctor’s hood, the cape or panels should be edged with cording or piping in one of the school colors displayed in the lining of the hood so that the outline of the cape may be seen against the fabric of the gown.

CAPS:

  1. Pattern – Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees are represented by the traditional mortarboard or “trencher” cap [Groves Classification h1], ornamented with a tassel attached by a fabric-covered button to the middle point of the top of the cap. Soft caps, including four-, six-, and eight-sided tams with tassels or the four-sided “Erasmus cap” or “Oxford ladies’ cap” [h5] without a tassel are also appropriate for the doctor’s degree in any subject except Theology.
  2. Material – Traditionally serge, worsted stuff, broadcloth, poplin, cotton, or silk. The cap may be velvet for the doctor’s degree only.
  3. Color – Black.
  4. Tassel – The tassel is typically black to match the color of the cap. However, the bachelor’s mortarboard may use a tassel in the Faculty color of the degree being conferred (see above). The master’s mortarboard tassel is always black. The tassel on the doctor’s mortarboard or tam may be black or of metallic gold thread. The tassel on the master’s and doctor’s caps are fastened to hang over the left front of the cap. The cap is an essential part of the academic dress and is to be retained on the head through all academic exercises except during prayer. In particular, the cap is not to be removed at any point in the conferment of a degree.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ACADEMIC COSTUME:

  1. It is recommended that institutions require graduates to wear shoes and other articles of visible apparel (so-called “sub fusc”) of dark colors that harmonize with the academic costume. Braided cords or stoles that represent academic achievements or honors may be worn on the bachelor’s gown only. Discrete gold or silver pins representing membership in an academic honor society may be worn on the left facing of the master’s or doctor’s gown, over one’s heart. It is never appropriate to wear flowers, decorative jewelry, or stoles that represent fraternal, social, ethnic, or other non-academic affiliations on the academic gown.
  2. Members of religious orders and similar societies may suitably wear their customary habits. Military uniforms, special attire required by a civil office, national costumes, or ethnic garments, however, must be worn underneath the gown appropriate to the degree being conferred, as described above. The gown may be worn open to display the special garments underneath.
  3. Members of the governing body of a college or university – and they only – whatever their degrees may be, are permitted to wear doctor’s gowns with black velvet trim edged with gold piping, but their hoods may be only those of degrees actually held by the wearers. Faculty marshals may wear a specially-designed costume approved by their institution.
  4. Pedagogical institutions that award degrees, diplomas, or certificates below the baccalaureate level must use caps and gowns in colored fabric, not black.
  5. At ceremonies where degrees are conferred, it is counted proper for a candidate to wear the gown in keeping with the degree to be received, but never to assume the hood of any degree until that degree has been actually bestowed.
  6. While the best academic form suggests that the appropriate hood should always be worn as an essential part of the academic costume of the holder of any degree, for reasons of expense it has become customary in most institutions on commencement day for the hood to be dispensed with by those receiving the bachelor’s degree at that time. As the bachelor’s hood is rarely used, some institutions have developed a local substitute of differentiating the bachelor’s graduates by using tassels of varying colors corresponding to the Faculty color that would have appeared on the bachelor’s hood.
  7. The terminal Master of Fine Arts degree may be signified by a traditional master’s gown [Groves Classification m1], tailored to be worn open, with a sleeve opening at the elbow and a crescent-shaped cutout at the rear of the lower part of the sleeve. Three braided cords approximately six inches in length and one inch apart, attached at each end and in the center with three fabric-colored buttons, may be added to the gown above the sleeve opening. This gown should be paired with a traditional doctor’s hood of the basic type described above, edged with bistre-colored velvet to represent the Faculty of Fine Arts in the degree title, four inches in width. The liripipe of this hood should have a crescent-shaped cutout to echo that on the sleeves of the gown. A cap with gold tassel may be worn if desired; otherwise the tassel is black. A more detailed explanation of the special regalia for the Master of Fine Arts degree can be found here.
  8. While the above statements are designed to describe the best usage in academic dress of the great majority of American colleges and universities of today and to further the same, it is not to be forgotten that persons holding foreign degrees which entitle them to gowns, hoods, and caps unlike those characterized above may wear such costumes with full propriety.

POSTSCRIPT:

A 1902 academic costume catalogue warned that

Academic costume is dignified and effective just in proportion as it is correct in type and color. Unless it conforms exactly to the established standards, the use of it degenerates into meaningless display.

If properly followed, the stipulations of the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume above will enable one’s academic apparel to effectively indicate one’s degree, and the institution that conferred that degree, in a uniform and dignified manner.