RECTOR’S REGALIA
Ordering your academic regalia should feel like the rewarding final step in your academic journey. Correct regalia honors academic tradition, communicates your degree and discipline, and shows respect for the ceremony and Alcorn State University. Academic regalia remains symbolic of scholastic achievement.
Academic regalia is the formal ceremonial attire worn by students and faculty during commencement, representing the graduate’s degree level, academic discipline, and institutional affiliation. It is governed by the Intercollegiate Code, which standardizes gown, cap, and hood styles so that graduates are instantly recognizable across institutions.
How to Wear Your Regalia
Gown: Make sure your try your gown on before commencement day to ensure it fits. The perfect length allows the bottom of your pants or dress and your shoes to show.
Master‘s: Oblong sleeves open at the wrist; may have a base hanging down.
Doctoral: Bell-shaped sleeves; often with velvet panels in discipline colors
Hood: Draped over the shoulders, displaying colors down the back. Place the hood over your head so it drapes down your back, with the velvet side up. Feel for a small loop or cord at the front which is designed to fasten to a button on the inside of your gown. If you are wearing a shirt or blouse, you can fasten the loop to a button which keeps the hood from sliding backward and choking you during the ceremony. If you aren’t wearing a buttoned shirt and the button is missing on the inside of your gown, a small safety pin attached to your gown will do the trick just as well.
Cap: Worn flat on the head, parallel to the ground.
Tassel: Color indicates discipline or school; remains on the left to signify you are not new graduate.
Stole: An Alcorn State University stole is issued to each graduate the morning of the ceremony to denote recognition of their attainment. The stole is draped around the neck, lying flat on the chest. It is worn under the hood.
Honor Cord: Looped over the neck, hanging down the front. Drape the cord over the back of your neck so the tassels hang evenly down the front. They are also draped under the hood.