Wearing Academic Attire

The gown and stole arrive folded and may require steaming (do not iron).

Mortarboards and gowns are blue. The tassel is worn on the right front quadrant of the mortarboard and is moved to the left after the degree has been conferred.

Bronze Tablet recipients wear an orange and blue braided cord on the left shoulder.

For Master’s and Doctoral degree candidates, the color of the velvet on the hood indicates the field of study, and the tassel is black. Candidates will return the gown and hood to Herff Jones. They may keep the mortarboard and the tassel.

The tassel worn by Bachelor’s candidates indicates their field of study. Candidates will return the gown to Herff Jones. They may keep the mortarboard, stole, and tassel.

For all academic purposes, the velvet on Doctoral hoods represent either Aud.D, D.V.M., Ed.D., J.D., J.S.D., M.D., and PhD degrees. For the velvet colors for Master’s hoods, and the tassel color for Bachelor’s caps, the color associated with the different disciplines are as follows:

Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, maize
Applied Health Sciences, sage green
Architecture, blue-violet
Business, drab
Education, light blue
Engineering, orange
Fine and Applied Arts, brown
Information Sciences, lemon
Labor and Employment Relations, drab
Law, purple
Liberal Arts and Sciences, white
Media, crimson
Medicine, hunter green
Music, Master/Doctorate of, pink
Philosophy, dark blue
Public Health, salmon
Social Work, citron
Veterinary Medicine, gray

Women should wear mortarboards at all times; men should remove mortarboards only during the singing of the National Anthem. Jewelry, flowers, or other embellishments worn on the mortarboard or gown are inappropriate.

Cords may be awarded to outstanding students in recognition of academic excellence, membership in a national honor society, or awarding of a national scholarship.