Graduation Mysteries Solved, Like What’s Up With That Hat?

Our educational rite of passage - graduation - is dignified, joyfully anticipated by both students, their families and friends, and often terminally boring. We attend these ceremonies either to celebrate the milestone of someone we care about or because the milestone is our own. Educational achievement deserves to be recognized, but most of us haven’t a clue about the history of graduations and its ceremonial icons, including the diploma, cap, gown, tassel and the hood. If you’ve ever been the least bit curious about graduations but too distracted or otherwise occupied with more intriguing activities to do some research, here’s a quick overview so you’ll know what’s up with that hat - and more.

Graduation
It’s believed the graduation ceremony dates back to the 12th century, probably beginning with scholastic monks and their ceremonies in robes and evolving ever since to fit the society in which it is celebrated. I highly suspect the boredom began at that time, too, and never evolved into something more upbeat.

Diploma
The word diploma comes from the Greek diploma, meaning "folded paper."You’ve heard diplomas referred to as sheepskins, I’m sure. That’s because the first diplomas, ostensibly given to scholastic monks when they completed their training, were made from paper-thin sheepskin, hand-written, rolled and tied with straw, string or whatever the other monks could find to keep the sheepskin diplomas from unrolling. Apparently, at that time, paper was more trouble to produce than skinning some poor, defenseless sheep, then stretching, scraping and drying its skin to create a stiff white, yellowish or translucent, paper-like material called parchment. As paper-making techniques improved, the skins of more sheep were saved.

Cap
The graduation cap, commonly known as the mortar board or Oxford, is one of the most revered, yet ridiculous-looking toppers on the planet. We can thank the English for its development. Authorities disagree on its origin, but the cap is said to have evolved from a combination of the skull cap and the biretta, a square-shaped hat often worn by members of the clergy during the Middle Ages. (I’m already starting to sound like an academic, aren’t I?) The top of the cap was square to resemble either the flat books of scholars or, possibly, the master workman’s mortar board, used for holding the mortar while he (trust me, there weren’t any women back then building castles and school buildings) laid stones and bricks, or perhaps the shape of Oxford’s campus. Whatever, it’s still a goofy-looking hat, and I find it odd that scholars are at odds about this relevant piece of history. Still, diplomas and mortar boards with tassels are the top two things you’ll find in most graduation party favors and decorations.

Tassel
When the church and academia became two distinct, separate entities, the cap began to develop its current shape. The square-shaped top of the biretta became larger and required stiffening with cloth-covered wood or card - and all scholars in England wore them. If you look at the photo of the original biretta, you’ll see a little tuft on the top. The tuft is called a knob, and the knob became a tassel in the18th century. At first, all the tassels were black. Then they started using gold tassels to distinguish the noblemen who were enrolled as scholars at Oxford. Eventually, a color code was created to give individual fields of study (science, art, psychology, humanities, etc.) their own distinct tassel, which enabled people sitting in the auditorium above the graduates to eliminate some of the boredom by guessing which degree each student would receive by his (and eventually, her) tassel. Here in the US, students wear the tassel on one side until the diploma is in hand, at which point the happy campers switch the tassel to the other side.

Gown
We can trace the gowns back to the 12th and 13th centuries in England, when universities first started forming for medieval scholars, primarily clerics who were wearing clerical robes already to keep warm in those unheated buildings. In 1321, gowns were established as the official dress of academics. Like any other fashion item, the robes evolved into the gowns you see today - lighter, less cumbersome and , at times, more colorful. But if you recall, the robes of monks had those huge, tent-like hoods. The hoods didn’t magically disappear at the whim of some Middle Ages Yves St. Laurent. Those hoods were destined for a much higher purpose.

Hood
In fact, a part of the ceremony is called hooding. Originally, the hoods were nothing more than a way for people to keep their head and shoulders warm or to carry things. The hood goes back to the dress of the 12th and 13th centuries, when it was adopted by monks, clergy and university students. By the 15th century in England, the hood was widely accepted as a token of graduation and was given distinct colors and lining. Some were even trimmed or lined with fur. Like tassels, the fabrics and colors of hoods took on meaning, representing the various fields of study, the degree-awarding institution and levels of achievement. When a student receives a masters or doctorate diploma, the appropriate hood is placed around the shoulders, and whenever the student participates in future graduation ceremonies, the hood will always be part of his or her ceremonial attire. These graduates may be hoods (Tony Soprano, are you listening?), but they’re hoods with a great education!

So the next time you attend a graduation, yours or someone else’s, you can keep the people around you entertained, engaged and enlightened by an intelligent play-by-play of the centuries-old ceremony that’s unfolding before them. I hereby award you your virtual sheepskin. You passed.

Graduation Favors
Add a little extra to your Graduation party with these elegant and affordable favors.