The colorful traditions surrounding academic regalia – gowns, caps, hoods, tassels, and cords – date back to the first European universities. What began in the Middle Ages as clothing worn by clerics to provide warmth in damp, unheated buildings progressed, by the time of Henry VIII of England, to detailed codes of dress prescribed by Oxford University and Cambridge University.

In the late 1800s, universities in the U.S. began to assign specific colors to signify the different academic disciplines, and those colors now appear in the trim of graduates’ gowns, the edging of hoods, and sometimes on the tassels of caps. The color white for example, which at Oxford and Cambridge is the white fur trim of baccalaureate hoods, in America was assigned to arts, letters and humanities graduates.

UC Irvine follows the Academic Costume Code and Ceremony Guide of the American Council on Education.

Baccalaureate gowns, usually black, have wide pointed sleeves and are worn closed. Master’s gowns have oblong slit sleeves that open at the wrist and are worn open or closed. Doctoral gowns have bell-shaped sleeves and are worn closed. Holders of the Doctoral degree may wear a velvet facing on the front of the gown and three velvet bars across the sleeve. The velvet may be black or it may be the color appropriate to the subject in which the wearer holds the degree. The traditional color for the tassel on the cap is gold.

Baccalaureate regalia includes a cap with a colored tassel which identifies the wearer's academic major. Those who have not yet earned their degree wear the tassel on the right side of the mortarboard. When the degree is conferred, the scholar moves the tassel to the left, joining a select company.

At UCI, baccalaureate tassels are color coded to identify the school or department that offers the wearer’s academic major:

The color of the velvet band on the Master's and Doctoral hood indicates the title of the degree, not the subject studied. For example, the band on Master of Education hoods is light blue, but the band indicating Master of Arts with a major in Education is white. A Doctorate recipient, regardless of whether the field of study is history, music, physics or management, wears dark blue because the title of the degree is Doctor of Philosophy. Master's and Doctoral hood band colors are:

Master’s degree graduates wear black tassels. Doctoral graduates wear gold tassels. Cap styles vary from the traditional close-fitting, black, square mortarboards to more distinctive designs executed in velvet and satin.

UCI baccalaureate graduates, who have received campuswide Latin honors (magna cum laude, summa cum laude, cum laude), wear gold cords. Those who have received academic unit awards and prizes, or who have been elected to honor societies, wear blue cords.

From its origins in the Middle Ages, the club shaped staff known as a mace has gradually taken on ceremonial character as a symbol of authority. In an American tradition begun in 1789 by the first Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives’ mace is one of the oldest symbols of our nation’s government, and is used both to open all sessions of the House and in the inaugural ceremonies for all Presidents of the United States.

The UCI Alumni Association, with the assistance of Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs Emeritus Chuck Pieper and Scenic Shop Supervisor Keith Bangs of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, presented the UCI Mace to the campus on May 12, 2000.

While the silver orb at the top of the staff might be the first thing to catch the eye, the staff itself is memorable and unique. Carved from California oak, it is fashioned to resemble the nose of an anteater, the school mascot.

The UCI Mace was first carried at the 2000 Commencement ceremonies by the president of the UCI Alumni Association, Deborah Daniel. The Mace is always carried by a member of the UCI Alumni Association Board of Directors and leads the Commencement processional.

Deans are responsible for certifying that students have met GPA, unit, residence, breadth, university, minor, school and major requirements.

Awarding a degree signifies completion of coursework on or by the degree certification deadline. Transcripts of work taken at other institutions must be received by the university and posted to the academic record by the deadline. Any necessary last minute grade changes and/or post quarter add/drop/changes must be processed by the deadline or accompany the degree certification list.

When UCI course work is completed after the deadline or credit is given for course work completed elsewhere after the degree certification deadline, the degree should be awarded for the following quarter.¹

¹Policies and Procedures for Degrees and Diplomas, from UCI Office of the Registrar