Macalester College’s commencement is a dignified, community-focused ceremony combining procession, student honors, and faculty recognition. Graduates typically wear traditional academic regalia — a black graduation gown and mortarboard graduation cap — with optional hoods for advanced degrees. The Provost’s Office provides faculty regalia sets and Macalester hoods for checkout, and the Highlander Bookshop handles student cap, gown, and tassel orders and rentals. Caps and gowns are not mandatory but are commonly worn.
Academic regalia follows standard U.S. conventions: bachelor’s and master’s gowns are black, doctoral gowns feature velvet trim, and hood colors indicate fields of study. Macalester’s commencement program and handbooks include a detailed key to departmental tassel, honor cord, stole, and hood colors. Representative examples include golden yellow for science, citron for social work, scarlet for theology, gray for veterinary science, salmon pink for public health, and peacock blue for public administration and related fields. Departments and campus societies may also issue Kente stoles, teal, lilac, orange-and-black, and other cords for specific honors and organizations.
Honor cord distribution sometimes depends on final grades and may follow different timelines for December graduates; the college provides ordering deadlines, pickup locations, and rental or substitution options (any plain black cap and gown is acceptable). Faculty are strongly encouraged to wear faculty regalia and participate in the procession and ceremonial roles listed in the annual commencement program.
This SEO-optimized product-friendly summary is suitable for Amazon or Google Store HTML listings and includes keywords: graduation gown, graduation cap, faculty regalia, academic regalia, cap, gown, tassels sets, honor cords, and stoles. For ordering specifics and the authoritative color key, consult Macalester’s commencement pages and the official commencement program PDF on macalester.edu.
Enhance your commencement with accurate academic regalia — perfect for graduation photos, the procession, and lasting memories.
Note: To confirm the exact colors of the graduation gown, cap, tassel, honor cords, and stoles for your specific program at Macalester College, you can reach out directly to the college's administration or the office responsible for commencement and student services. They can provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding academic regalia.