Trinity’s Commencement Traditions: Regalia, Symbols, and Superstition
Commencement at Trinity College is filled with time-honored traditions, from the academic regalia worn by the participants to the ceremonial items that symbolize the ideals of the liberal arts. Graduates become a part of these traditions—formed over the course of more than two centuries—by touching the Book, which has been placed in the hands of every Trinity graduate at Commencement, and by walking across an inscribed stone steeped in superstition.
Read more about the traditions you’ll see at Commencement:
The Academic Regalia
In 1895, a commission of leading American educators established the Intercollegiate Code pertaining to the academic costume. The color of the lining of the hood is that of the college or university conferring the degree. The edging of the hood and the tassel of the cap indicate the subject to which the degree pertains, in accordance with the following official designations for colleges and universities in the United States:
| Agriculture: Maize | Arts, Letters, Humanities: White | Commerce, Accountancy, Business: Drab |
| Dentistry: Lilac | Economics: Copper | Education: Light blue |
| Engineering: Orange | Fine Arts, including Architecture: Brown | Forestry: Russet |
| Home Economics: Maroon | Journalism: Crimson | Law: Purple |
| Library Science: Lemon | Medicine: Green | Music: Pink |
| Nursing: Apricot | Oratory (Speech): Silver gray | Pharmacy: Olive green |
| Philosophy: Dark blue | Physical Education: Sage green | Public Administration, including Foreign Service: Peacock blue |
| Public Health: Salmon pink | Science: Golden yellow | Social Work: Citron |
| Theology: Scarlet | Veterinary Science: Gray |
Trinity College differs from the above list because the colors of Trinity hoods were established prior to the formulation of the code. Following are the colors of the academic hoods symbolizing the honorary degrees conferred by Trinity:
| Doctor of Canon Law: Crimson, lined with black | Doctor of Laws Scarlet, lined with dark blue | Doctor of Divinity: Scarlet, lined with black |
| Doctor of Music: White, lined with pink | Doctor of Fine Arts: White, lined with white and a red chevron | Doctor of Sacred Theology: Scarlet, lined with blue and a gold chevron |
| Doctor of Humane Letters: Scarlet, lined with purple | Doctor of Science: Black, lined with light blue | Doctor of Letters: Scarlet, lined with russet brown |
| Master of Music: Black, lined with pink | Doctor of Humanities: White, lined with dark crimson |
Presidential Symbols
The Owen Morgan Mace
The mace, which precedes the president in academic processions and is a symbol of executive powers, was presented to Trinity in 1950 in memory of Owen Morgan, Class of 1906, who served his alma mater as a member of the Board of Fellows, as a trustee, and as treasurer of the College.
Historically, maces were first used as weapons in warfare and later became a symbol of the sovereign and their power. One of the first known uses of a 
mace by an educational institution was at Cambridge University in the 13th century. Today a number of colleges use the mace as a symbol of authority and of the power invested in the president by the faculty and trustees.
The Morgan Mace is made of ebony, signifying endurance; bronze, meaning power; and gold, symbolizing dignity and glory. It is 44 inches long and weighs 20 pounds. The fluted staff represents the various components of an enduring education. It is bound by a gold ribbon, inscribed with the names of every Trinity president. On the head, or urn, of the mace are six seals of the sources of life and growth of this College: the Great Seal of the United States; the Seal of the State of Connecticut; the Charter Oak; the original seal of the City of Hartford; the Washington Coat of Arms; and the seal of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. Surmounting the Gothic urn is the Trinity College seal crowned by an eagle about to take flight, symbolizing the freedom and power of an educated person.
The Book
The Book, which has been placed in the hands of every Trinity graduate at Commencement, signifies the delegation of responsibility to the president for maintaining the educational activities for which Trinity was founded. By chance, the Book became one of the college’s oldest traditions. As it is now related, at the College’s first commencement, President Thomas Church Brownell had intended to have each student touch the Bible as he received his degree. But when the moment arrived, President Brownell realized that he had brought only the bound volume of the order of exercises. He therefore had each student touch that book, which thereafter has been placed in the hands of every graduate since 1827.
The Key
The Key, which symbolizes the turning over of the physical properties of the College to the president, is made of bronze and is one of the keys that turned the original huge lock in the door of Williams Memorial, the current administration building.
The Presidential Collar
The collar, which is worn on ceremonial occasions, is the visible symbol of the president’s high office and authority. The collar was presented to the College in 1953 by former President G. Keith Funston, Class of 1932, in memory of his grandmother, Maria Briggs Keith. The chain symbolically links modern higher education with the universities of yesteryear. The golden seal of the Trinity president hangs from the collar, which is fashioned of 20 replicas of the Trinity elms and seven silver seals: the six reproduced in the mace and the Trinity College seal superimposed on a triangle representing the religious foundations of the College crowned by a sun signifying enlightenment. In the lower corners of the triangle are the Book and a pair of student’s hands extended to receive it, symbolizing the desire of youth to receive an education.
The Luther-Roosevelt Long Walk Inscription
The inscription on a stone in front of the Fuller Arch at Northam Towers commemorates the visit in June 1918 of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who delivered an address the day before Commencement and received an honorary degree at the ceremony. The superstition holds that 
students who step on the stone may not graduate. As the Commencement procession passes over the stone every year, graduating seniors make a point of deliberately stepping on it for the first time.
Taking the theme of his address from Old Testament scripture, Roosevelt commented on the emptiness of boasting and its prejudicial effect on the conduct of World War I. He cited a passage from 1 Kings 20:11, in which the King of Israel responds to a boasting warrior, “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.” The passage’s Latin translation is inscribed in the stone. Roosevelt indicated that, in his estimation, thoughtless exaggeration of Americans’ might had reinforced the German will to pursue the war. He reminded the approximately 5,000 people in the audience that much work remained to be done and that the country had to gear itself up for the supreme effort. Less than a month later, Roosevelt’s youngest son, Quentin, was shot down in aerial combat in France.
