Graduation caps embellish 2014 commencement
Students participating in UHCL commencement ceremonies are now allowed to embellish the mortarboard on their graduation caps. There are guidelines in place describing what is and is not allowed for mortarboard decorations. Read below for the formal rules in place for grad-wear.
Here are the formal details:
- You can only wear the usual academic regalia on the cap and gown. Honor cords are an acceptable addition, but other items like ribbons and shawls are not.
- Women wear their academic caps throughout the ceremony. Men remove their caps for the Invocation and Benediction.
- Master’s degree students wear a master’s hood during the ceremony.
- Master’s candidates wear their tassels on the left side of the cap.
- Bachelor’s candidates start out with the tassel on the right side of their caps and move them to the left side after degrees are conferred by the President.
- Any excessive decorations on caps and gowns are distracting and therefore inappropriate. The university reserves the right to require you to remove any embellishment deemed inappropriate by authorized university officials before you are permitted to participate in the ceremony.
Examples of inappropriate embellishment include, but are not limited to:
- Mortarboards with vulgar language, inappropriate verbiage or photos/graphic images
- Mortarboards with lights, balloons and other items that could pose a safety hazard
- Decorations that obstruct the view of people seated behind the graduate
- Designs with vertical structures or décor; elements used in the design must lay as flat to the mortar board as possible
