Students should pick up graduation apparel well in advance so that gowns can be pressed. It is important that all students wear proper attire; for example, men should wear a white shirt and tie under their gown.
The mortarboard cap should be worn squarely on top of the head with the flat surface parallel to the ground and the tassel on the right side.
Academic costume
The use of the academic costume, which seems to have originated in the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has been traditional in university life since medieval times. In England and other European countries academic attire generally is distinctive with each university so that very colorful ensembles of diverse styles are commonly used abroad.
Unlike European academic apparel, the academic costume of American universities follows a regular pattern, the styles and colors having been established by an intercollegiate agreement in 1895. Cap, hood and gown are prescribed in style. Color variations indicate differences in the field of knowledge presented and the conferring institutions. You will see these differences in the academic regalia worn by members of our faculty, seated on either side of the stage, during commencement.
The mortarboard cap is identical for holders of bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For holders of the doctorate, the cap may be made of velvet and the tassel may be gold. Candidates for the bachelor’s degrees wear the tassel on the right of the cap, changing it to the left side after the degree has been conferred.
The bachelor’s gowns are designed with full sleeves. The master’s gown comes with a long, decorative attachment to the sleeves, called a “tail.” The doctor’s gown has bell-shaped sleeves with velvet bars and is faced with velvet around the collar and down the front edges.
Wagner College master’s students also wear hoods signifying their area of study: brown for business (including MBA and accounting), blue for education and yellow for the sciences (including microbiology, nursing and physician assistant).
Graduating students may purchase a Wagner Green gratitude stole, which they may wear over their commencement robe. After the commencement program, the gratitude stole is given to someone who has made a difference in the student’s academic career.
Bachelor’s students who have studied abroad, either for an Expanding Your Horizons course or for a semester or more, may wear a sash signifying the country in which they studied. Up to four countries may be signified on a single sash.
Additionally, students who belong to honor societies or fraternal organizations wear distinctive colored cords and/or stoles:
| ORGANIZATION | CORD | STOLE |
| Alpha Delta Pi | light blue | |
| Alpha Kappa Delta (Sociology) | teal | |
| Alpha Mu Theta (Arts Administration) | black, purple & gold | |
| Alpha Omicron Pi | red & white | red with white lettering |
| Alpha Phi Omega | blue & gold | blue with gold lettering |
| Alpha Sigma Alpha | red | |
| American Society for Microbiology | green with white lettering | |
| Athletic team members | green & white | |
| Beta Beta Beta (Biology) | red & green | |
| Black & Latino Male Initiative | kente cloth | |
| Center for Leadership and Community Engagement | gold & green | |
| Community health nursing | green | |
| Delta Mu Delta (Business Administration) | purple & gold | |
| Gamma Sigma Epsilon (Chemistry) | white & blue | |
| Honors Program | gold | |
| Kappa Delta Pi (Education) | purple & green | light grey |
| Kappa Mu Epsilon (Math) | pink & silver | |
| Kappa Sigma Alpha | purple & white | |
| Lutheran Club | red & blue | |
| Muslim Student Association | white & green | |
| Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics) | blue & gold | blue & gold |
| Omicron Delta Kappa (Leadership) | light blue, black & white | white with blue lettering |
| Order of Omega (Greek leadership) | gold | |
| Phi Alpha Theta (History) | red & blue-gray | |
| Physician Assistant Association | green & white | |
| Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science) | red, white & black | |
| Port Richmond Scholars | green with gold lettering | |
| Pre-Dental Society | light blue & white | |
| Pre-Health Society | maroon | |
| Pre-Law Society | bronze | |
| Psi Chi (Psychology) | silver & dark blue | silver & dark blue |
| Resident Assistants | green & white | |
| Sigma Tau Delta (English) | red & black | red |
| Sigma Theta Tau (Nursing) | purple & white | |
| Student Government Association | gold | gold with white lettering |
| Student Professionals Association | green & gold | green with gold lettering |
| Theatre Advisory Board | royal blue & gold | |
| Tau Kappa Epsilon | cherry red | cherry red with stone-grey trim |
| Tau Kappa Sigma | red | |
| Theta Chi | red & white | red with white lettering |
| Wagner Campus Activities Board | green, black & gold | |
| Women of Color Dialogue Circle | PowerFull scarf | |
| Women’s Professional Network | pink | |
| Writing Intensive Tutors/Peer Tutors | silver |