NSU Commencement - Graduate 2017

30 The color, indeed the flamboyance, of academic dress undoubtedly adds to the sense of occasion at academic ceremonies. But as its historical roots show, it has a much deeper significance. It is an outward sign of the universality of universities, and of their responsibility for certain timeless values essential to the freedom of inquiry: tolerance of alternative views and courage in maintaining one’s own tirelessness in the pursuit of truth and the free exchange of knowledge. Its wearing marks also the responsibility of the new graduate to maintain and uphold these ideals. These fundamentals of academic freedom have not been threatened in this country for more than 200 years, but the importance attached to the donning of traditional academic dress was underlined in recent years by scholars from Central and Eastern Europe; during the Cold War, their use of academic robes became a symbol of their refusal to be dominated completely by political forces and the state, and symbolized their persistent links to the worldwide community of scholars. Thus, the wearing of academic dress should be seen not simply as a sign of achievement, but as a symbol of the responsibility that falls on all members of universities. H onors C olors of C andidates ’ H oods Students wear cords, pins, sashes, and medallions that reflect institutional and national academic honors as well as campus leadership, service, and engagement. The colors found on the hoods worn in the academic procession represent the candidates’ disciplines of study. Arts, Letters, Humanities .................................. White Accounting, Business .......................................... Drab Dentistry .............................................................. Lilac Economics ......................................................... Copper Education ..................................................... Light Blue Engineering ....................................................... Orange Fine Arts ............................................................ Brown Law ..................................................................... Purple Medicine ..................................................... Kelly Green Music ..................................................................... Pink Nursing ............................................................ Apricot Optometry .......................................... Sea Foam Green Oratory (Speech) ........................................ Silver Gray Pharmacy .................................................. Olive Green Philosophy, Political Science ...................... Dark Blue Podiatry-Chiropody .................................... Nile Green Public Administration, Human Service, and Criminal Justice ................. Peacock Blue Public Health ........................................... Salmon Pink Science . .................................................. Golden Yellow Social Science .................................................... Cream