Regalia Reflections

Many of my colleagues routinely skip graduation, not only because it is boring (sorry folks--40,000+ students mean you don't know most of them, and our commencement speakers tend to be county commissioners and the like, fine people but not a big draw) but also because they don't have their own regalia.  Sure, they can rent, but that's a pain.  Many of them show up in the cheap paper regalia worn by high school students or regalia borrowed from colleagues who managed to find an acceptable reason to miss the event.

I have my own regalia, a gift from a friend who bought a new set and gave me her old one.  She spent $1800 on her new regalia, and I am suitably grateful for the hand-me-downs.  She wears her regalia several times a year, since her liberal arts college requires faculty to attend matriculation and commencement ceremonies.

Sometimes I daydream about wearing regalia all the time.  No need to have a big work wardrobe.  Just throw on the regalia and the comfortable shoes.  Regalia can be hot, but surely we could get some in space age cooler fabrics.  Gain weight with impunity--who could tell?

If we taught in our regalia, would students respect us more, or would they think we were that much more ridiculous?  I'll bet we'd have more anonymity when we ran into them at the grocery store. 

Of course the "work wardrobe" isn't really a big deal when you're a faculty member.  We are probably the crummiest dressed people on campus.

Comments

[Dr.H]

I would like to work in my pajamas, but if I taught in them, I guess my students would respect me less. :)

I do think students forget the professional status of their professors sometimes. Little reminders of that can be helpful.

[jo(e)]

Where I work, we don't wear regalia to commencement.

But my reason for not going is because I hate to say goodbye.

[sA]

I had an undergraduate theology prof. who earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Canadian University (I can't recall which exactly). His regalia included the funniest "floppy hat" you have ever seen - and see it we did every year at graduation. If he taught in that his students would learn nothing through their uncontrollable laughter ... and finger pointing.

[Mike Stiber]

My memory may be failing me, but I seem to recall Feynman writing about the benefits of faculty (or maybe it was just students?) wearing academic garb all the time. I think he mentioned how one could tell what year a student was by how ratty the clothing was (never washed or repaired).

[Beth]

Mike--Feynman? Cool! I'll have to try to track that down.