Academical Dress in the United States of America
Academical Dress in New Zealand
Since the provision of academical dress was important to emphasise higher education, early graduates, and undergraduates, were provided with prescribed costumes. In New Zealand academical dress is today seldom worn otherwise than at graduation, although most universities enjoin its wear on official occasions.(1) At Auckland, full-time women students, and some men, wore gowns until about 1940.(2) Members of the academic staff wore gowns when giving lectures into the 1970s.(3) The academical dress which is now worn, though rarely seen except at graduation ceremonies, has in general retained the influence of the University of New Zealand, though certain distinguishing features can now be seen.
The degree is identifiable from the shape of the gown and hood. Bachelors wear the Cambridge BA pattern gown and the Cambridge MA pattern hood (except at Canterbury and Lincoln), with white fur except for Waikato. Canterbury and Lincoln use a similar pattern hood, which was somewhat reduced in size in 1981,(4) and also omit the fur. At Canterbury, the MA hood is distinguished from the BA by being edged with 75mm(5) coloured material. The neckband is faced with the same material. The BA is without an edge, unless it is awarded with honours, in which case it will have a 25mm edge.(6) The Lincoln MA hood is distinguished from the BA in that the MA hood is edged with 75mm coloured material and the BA is without an edge. If it is awarded with honours, it will have a 25mm edge. The Waikato MA hood is distinguished from the BA by being of gold, while that of the BA is the usual black.
Although all hoods are generally now made from artificial material, at least into the 1970s university regulations specified that they be silk in the proper colours. Economic considerations, and the difficulty of obtaining silk in the correct colours, compelled the makers of academic dress to substitute synthetic materials. Regretfully, at the same time the hoods came to be made with a cloth shell, rather than silk as formerly.
The university is less readily identifiable, mainly as a consequence of the existence of the former University of New Zealand. However, among the bachelors, the hood colour acts as a guide to the awarding university. Those of Auckland, Victoria and Otago are black, while Waikato are gold, and Lincoln and Canterbury are slate grey. Massey uses a midnight blue. There is however no way of distinguishing between the three which use black Cambridge hoods; the Auckland University of Technology uses black Oxford-pattern hoods.
The masters' hoods also can serve as an indication of the awarding institution. Auckland, Victoria and Otago hoods are black, Waikato are gold, Massey blue, Lincoln and Canterbury are slate grey. Those of the Auckland University of Technology are black.
Bachelors with honours are generally identifiable by trimming on the hood, although the rules vary much amongst the various universities, and a consistent pattern is absent. At Auckland there is a coloured edge to the hood. At Waikato there is a gold edge. At Victoria, as at Auckland, the lining is extended on to the outside of the hood. At Canterbury and Lincoln likewise the lining is extended 25mm on to the outside. At Otago grosgrain replaces the fur. At Massey silk replaces the usual fur.
Masters wear the Cambridge MA pattern gown and the Cambridge MA pattern hood, but without with fur, although some Otago masters do have grosgrain edging. Auckland University of Technology masters use modified simple Oxford shape hoods as adopted in American universities in the late nineteenth century.
The hoods of the various doctors vary depending upon the university. Those of Auckland are scarlet for PhDs and faculty colour for higher doctors (with both the LLD and the now defunct DJur sharing light blue), Waikato crimson (gold for honorary doctors), Massey red with blue lining for the PhD and faculty colours for higher doctors, and so on. Canterbury's are red and lined with slate grey for PhD's and slate grey for other doctors, Lincoln ultramarine lined with Indian yellow for the PhD and higher doctors of faculty colour, and Otago red for the PhD and coloured as usual for higher doctors. Victoria University of Wellington PhDs used red hoods, though these are no longer worn by PhDs, who instead wear a stole. Other doctors wear hoods of the faculty colour.
Faculties may be identified by the colour of the hood lining, in the same way as Cambridge bachelor degrees are identified. The faculty colours(7) were for the University of New Zealand as follows: arts- pink(8) (1879),(9) law- light blue (10) (1879),(11) medicine- mauve (1889),(12) crimson, heliotrope(13) or lilac, dentistry- purple (1906)(14) or spectrum violet, music- white (1891),(15) science- dark blue(16) (1889),(17) engineering- violet(18) (1906),(19) commerce- orange(20) (1906)(21) or yellow, architecture- lemon (1925)(22) or nasturtium, veterinary science- crimson (1906)(23) or imperial purple,(24) fine arts- gold, pharmacy- emerald green, agriculture- light green (1906),(25) forestry- dark green (1925).(26) The Doctor of Philosophy acquired scarlet in 1925.(27)
Education is usually green, though it is brown at Canterbury. Theology is blue at Otago (with violet grey for divinity), and forest green at Auckland. The University of New Zealand prototype was dove grey.(28) Technology was originally claret.(29) At Waikato however, all linings are in gold (except for the MPhil, which has crimson). Undergraduate gowns however have sleeves edged with the school colour.
Whereas the university or discipline of a master or bachelor cannot be determined by looking at the gown alone, this is often possible with doctors. Doctors wear the Cambridge MA pattern gown, usually with coloured facing,(30) and the Cambridge MA pattern hood, variously coloured depending on which university has awarded the degree, and which doctorate it is. The gowns worn by doctors at Massey in undress are plain black, as are those worn by Canterbury PhD's in undress. Many doctors have black gowns faced with red (as for the Canterbury PhD full dress), or, in the case of Auckland, the appropriate faculty colour. At Auckland, the black PhD gown is embellished with 100mm wide satin facings of scarlet (75mm) edged with gold (25mm), an aesthetically unsatisfactory arrangement. Moreover, the gown is stuff rather than silk. It is however an improvement on the plain MA gown required by the University of New Zealand and carried over for some years by the newly independent universities.
The use of coloured master's robes for doctors is unsatisfactory in appearance.(31) Two universities allow doctors to wear scarlet robes on special occasions,(32) leaving the pattern, and the question of facing colours, if any, uncertain.(33) In these cases, the appropriate choice would appear to be scarlet cloth Cambridge doctor's full dress pattern, faced with faculty silk.
The undergraduate gown, where it is worn, follows the basic Cambridge pattern with short sleeves and the back gathered into a yoke.
While all lower degrees wear the college cap, the trencher or mortar-board, doctors tend to wear the so-called Tudor bonnet, which is defined as being of the full dress Cambridge PhD type. This however is a comparatively new practice. Prior to 1992 four of the seven universities prescribed the trencher for their doctors, now only two do so (Massey and Victoria), most of the rest requiring the Tudor bonnet (Auckland, Auckland Technology, Lincoln, Waikato). In the case of Massey, all doctors except the PhD wear the black velvet bonnet of the Oxford DCL, which differs from that of Cambridge in that a twisted silk ribbon replaces the gold cord. In Otago and Canterbury, the black velvet cap, the Bishop Andrewes, worn by doctors of Scottish universities is required for all doctors. Doctors of Philosophy of Waikato or Otago graduating before 1992 may choose to retain the trencher if they so wish.
Since the basis of academical dress in New Zealand is the dress of the University of New Zealand, it might be thought that a consistent national system might have been preserved. This is regretfully not so.
Recent decades have seen a great increase in the number of institutions which award degree. The conversion of the polytechnics in England and Wales into fully-fledged universities has not been marked by a comprehensive revision of academical dress. As in New Zealand, the result must inevitably be confusion. In order for academical dress to retain a useful function it must be meaningful. The need for a careful approach, based on careful scholarship, cannot be too strongly stressed.
There have unfortunately been inadequate efforts made to preserve a proper colour system, and green in particular presents problems for the casual observer. Emerald green is used at Massey for Agricultural Science, and at Lincoln for Agriculture and Agricultural Science, and for the facings of the gowns of undergraduate diplomates. Emerald green is however also the term used to describe the colour of Education at Auckland, although the actual reference is BCC 21 green. At Massey, Agricultural Economics is represented by the colour verdigris (BCC 12), which at Victoria University of Wellington is for Nursing, though defined as the colour BCC 202. BCC 26 green is used for Theology at Auckland (where it is called forest green), and for Horticulture at Massey. Otago alone uses spectrum green(34) for Pharmacy. Massey uses grass green(35) for Horticulture.
Peacock green(36) is used at Otago for Physiotherapy and at Victoria University of Wellington for Education and Educational Studies. While Auckland is alone in using what it calls light green,(37) for Planning, the very similar pea green(38) is used for Agriculture at Massey and Horticulture at Lincoln. Agriculture, Horticulture, Education, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Planning, and Theology are all represented by various shades of green. It is impossible to distinguish the green used for Theology at Auckland and for Horticulture at Massey, especially as the hoods for bachelors both have black shells. Fortunately, this particular problem is confined to bachelors degrees, since at Massey alone holders of masters degrees wear a blue hood, and bachelors with honours have white silk rather than fur. A similar problem is presented by the chartreuse green(39) used at Auckland for Planning, which is very similar to the pea green(40) of Agriculture at Massey.
The most recent series of additions to the spectrum of colours for Auckland hoods have included taupe,(41) brown, light brown, dark brown, tan and dark violet. Hoods for bachelors degrees which have another bachelors degree from the same faculty as a prerequisite have a second band of edging, separated 25mm from the first.(42) A second masters degree in the one faculty has a 25mm dark brown edging. Subsequent masters degrees have edging of other colours not used by any other degree, nor taupe. This is reserved for the edging of inter-faculty bachelors and masters degrees, where there are more than two faculties involved. The primary faculty concerned is represented by the colour of the lining.
While not advocating the type of code which was adopted by the American universities, it would be advisable if a little more care was exercised in selecting colours, or colour combinations, to represent new faculties and subjects. Otago used kingfisher blue(43) for theology and violet grey(44) for divinity, but Auckland recently adopted forest green(45) for theology because Property already used what they called silver grey.(46) It would have been better if Auckland had adopted kingfisher blue,(47) as there was no particular reason to adopt green, and at least one good reason for avoiding it.
Be that as it may, there is no generally accepted match of faculty to colour. In the American intercollegiate code arts is white, theology scarlet, laws purple, philosophy blue, science golden yellow, medicine green, dentistry lilac, music pink, and engineering orange and so on. All that can be hoped for in New Zealand is that excessive confusion is avoided where possible.
One recent innovation, found at several polytechnics, is the stole, worn in place of a hood. At Manawatu Polytechnic, diplomates wear a long scarf about 120mm wide, of deep gold, with dark green and gold braid in the centre lengthwise. At the Edmund Hillary Institute of Technology, they wear a long scarf, of The Waikato Polytechnic blue, with a symbol "reflecting local traditions" embroidered on to a silver background. At the Auckland Institute of Studies, the stole takes the form of a long narrow scarf, of red satin, with three gold v-shaped stripes near the hem. A scarf has now been introduced for diplomates at the University of Auckland. Victoria University of Wellington has now introduced scarves to replace hoods for some masters, and also for doctors of philosophy. This is, perhaps, to be regretted, as the stole seems to represent undergraduate status.
Academical dress in New Zealand generally follows the traditional Cambridge pattern. Apart from the advent of the scarf or stole, and the encouragement given to Maori graduands to wear a korowai or feather cloak, tertiary institutions have not been inclined to radical sartorial innovation. Largely as a result of the infrequency of use of academic dress, its design has fallen largely into the hands of the robemakers. With the advent of new institutions, and a growing number of qualifications, it is to be regretted that attempts have not been made to maintain the uniformity which formerly reigned.
(1)Auckland- to be worn at any public ceremonial occasion of the university (from 1992 the requirement that robes "must be worn at university ceremonies" was relaxed); Waikato- in general only worn in graduation ceremony, although a stock of undergraduate robes is held for ceremonial use; Massey- shall appear at all public ceremonies; Victoria- shall appear at all public ceremonies of the university in proper dress; Canterbury; Lincoln- to wear at public ceremonies for which academic dress is prescribed; Otago- must appear at all public ceremonies of the university in the prescribed dress.
(2)Sinclair, Sir Keith, A History of the University of Auckland 1883-1983 (Auckland University Press, Auckland, 1983) 34.
(3)Such as by Forrest Scott, Professor of English Language, who wore his Cambridge MLitt robe at lectures until his retirement in 1985.
(4)Letter of 24 January 1996 from Judy Brookes, Convenor, Hoods and robes, New Zealand Federation of University Women, Canterbury Branch.
(5)Metric measurements are used where regulations specify metric dimensions. Imperial measurements are used where custom or regulation allows.
(6)The terminology used by the various institutions are not consistent, and some are not even consistent with their own earlier ordinances. All have been rendered into consistent terminology, for ease of comparison. All colour references are to the British Colour Council Dictionary of Colour Standards (first published 1934, 2nd ed 1951). For example, BCC 144 is gold. The lining is that material which constitutes the inside of the hood.
The material of which the hood is made, usually black stuff, is the outside.
Fur or silk (or in the case of Otago honours baccalaureates, white grosgrain), is normally used to form a border on the inside edge of the cowl.
Where the border on the inside edge of the cowl is inset slightly, so as to show part of the lining on the outer edge of the interior of the cowl, it is known as the trimming.
A material which is used as a strip on the outside edge of the cowl of a hood (and perhaps also around the cape) is said to be the edging.
A narrow strip overlapping both the inside and the outside of the cowl, so as to form an edge to the cowl, is the binding, in which case the cowl is said to be bound.
Some hoods have a coloured cord or very narrow ribbon at the junction of two other materials. This is the piping.
Some gowns have facings of a colour different from that of the rest of the gown, especially the higher degrees. Where no colour is given it is assumed to be black stuff.
(7)The colours traditional to the long-established faculties were theology- black (at Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge); law blue; medicine green, yellow or sanguine; philosophy blue of various shades, and arts red. Theology was however white at Salamanca, Coimbra, and Perpignon. Canon law was scarlet, the most consistent faculty colour.
(8)BCC 14.
(9)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1879 (New Zealand University, Christchurch, 1879) Regulation- Prescribing Academic Dress, I.
(10)BCC 234.
(11)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1879 (New Zealand University, Christchurch, 1879) Regulation- Prescribing Academic Dress, II.
(12)First prescribed for medicine in The New Zealand University Calendar 1889-1890 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1889) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XI.
(13)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1928 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1928) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXXII.
(14)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1906-1907 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1906) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXI.
(15)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1891-1892 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1891) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, VIII.
(16)BCC 148.
(17)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1889-1890 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1889) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, VIII.
(18)BCC 179.
(19)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1906-1907 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1906) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XIX.
(20)BCC 56.
(21)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1906-1907 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1906) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXIII.
(22)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1925 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1925) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXVIII.
(23)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1906-1907 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1906) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXII.
(24)BCC 109.
(25)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1906-1907 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1906) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XX.
(26)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1925 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1925) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXIX.
(27)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1925 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1925) Statutes- General: Academic Dress, XXX.
(28)First prescribed in The New Zealand University Calendar 1948 (University of New Zealand, Wellington, 1948) Statutes- General: Academic Dress.
(29)BCC 36.
(30)The University of New Zealand denied PhDs even a facing silk, and allowed them only the black MA gown, an extraordinary example of parsimoniousness.
(31)This was determined, no doubt, more by robe-makers convenience than by aesthetic or symbolic considerations. Such a usage is found in the United Kingdom only in the Victoria University of Manchester.
(32)The University of Auckland (Conferment of Academic Qualifications and Academic Dress Statute 1992, rule 8); and Victoria University of Wellington (Academic Dress Statute, rule 1). In the case of Victoria University of Wellington, the normal regulations allow doctors' robes of of black silk or of scarlet silk or cloth.
(33)See the discussion under the University of Auckland.
(34)BCC 100.
(35)BCC 103.
(36)BCC 123.
(37)BCC 171 chartreuse green.
(38)BCC 172.
(39)BCC 171.
(40)BCC 172.
(41)A dull yellowish-grey also known as mole grey.
(42)At present the only examples are BArch and MBChB.
(43)BCC 164.
(44)BCC 41.
(45)BCC 26 green.
(46)BCC 41 violet grey.
(47)BCC 164.