Faculty members are requested to register to confirm their participation in Fall Convocation.
Academic regalia is required for anyone marching in the academic procession. The deadline to secure academic regalia for Fall Convocation is Monday, August 18, 2023.
The Procession
Every year, fall convocation begins with a procession of Case Western Reserve University faculty, emeriti, and delegates from campus into Maltz Performing Arts Center.
Members of the convocation procession don academic regalia, including gowns and hoods, which celebrate the style of their medieval origin and indicate, by color and design, an individual’s degree and the institution by which the degree was conferred.
All faculty planning to march in the procession must register for the procession and obtain their own regalia. Please review the procession instructions and plan to assemble in the PNC Lobby of the Maltz Performing Arts Center on the day of convocation.
Regalia + Registration
Academic regalia is required for those marching in the academic procession, including official delegates, faculty, administrators, trustees, and platform party guests. All delegates are requested to provide their own academic regalia. All Case Western Reserve University faculty planning to march in the convocation procession will need to obtain their own regalia from the University Bookstore.
The deadline for placing regalia orders is Friday, August 18, 2023.
Registration: All faculty are also asked to complete the procession registration form by Monday, September 4, 2023.
Emeriti, faculty and the platform party for fall convocation will meet in Maltz Performing Arts Center before the ceremony begins. Please find your group and familiarize yourself with the processional instructions before the day of the event.
History of academic dress
The various gowns and hoods preserve the style of their medieval origin and indicate by color and design the degree and institution from which the degree was conferred. Black is the basic color for gowns in the United States. The bachelor's gown is distinguished by its long, open sleeves; the master's by its closed, slitted sleeves; the doctor's by its full sleeves trimmed with bands of velvet. The velvet on a doctor's gown may be black or a color denoting the field in which the degree was earned.
The academic hoods vary in length according to the degree and are lined with the colors of the institution by which the degree was conferred. Hoods of Case Western Reserve University are lined with blue and gray.
The colors on the inside of the hood (blue and gray) indicate that the graduate wearing the hood earned his or her degree from Case Western Reserve University. The colored velvet on the outside of the hood indicates in what discipline the degree was earned. Some examples of colors representing graduate degrees are as follows:
- Arts and Letters, White
- Architecture, Brown
- Business, Drab
- Dentistry, Lilac
- Education, Light Blue
- Engineering, Orange
- Fine Arts, Brown
- Law, Purple
- Medicine, Green
- Music, Pink
- Nursing, Apricot
- Philosophy, Blue
- Science, Gold-Yellow
- Social Services, Citron