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CommencementAttire2023_ComeAsYourAuthenticSelf_3

Commencement Attire

Last updated on Apr 05, 2024

Celebrating the unique identities of our CCA community, we encourage participating students to wear whatever feels celebratory and authentic to you for the commencement ceremony. (Please note: Purchasing and/or wearing traditional academic regalia is not required or expected.)

As you plan ahead, please consider the following options:

Option 1: Celebrate as your Authentic Self

Color photo of a student on stage at commencement with a brightly colored, one-piece outfit covered in images and text. They are smiling, and their arms are outstretched to their sides. The stage party sits behind them in traditional academic regalia.

As an artistic community, we encourage you to embrace unconventional ceremony attire: choose to wear something that feels celebratory, expresses your identity, and shows off your creativity.

Find, make, or borrow something.

Need a little inspiration? Watch CCA's Commencement 2023 Alumni Video, see how students re-imagined their looks during the 2023 ceremony, or see Class of 2016 undergraduate student speaker Grace Chen (BFA Painting and Drawing 2016) (left)!

Option 2: Purchase a Herff Jones College Package

Color photo of four smiling students wearing traditional academic regalia.

Looking for something more traditional? In partnership with Herff Jones, a company that specializes in academic regalia, we are offering an opportunity to purchase a gown and tam through one of these options:

  • Bachelor's Degree Candidates (BA, BArch, and BFA)
    • Graduation Regalia (includes tam, gown, and tassel) for $58.90
    • Stole Package (includes tam, gown, tassel, and stole of gratitude) for $73.65
    • Diploma Frame Package (includes frame, tam, gown, tassel, and stole of gratitude) for $236.65
  • Master's Degree Candidates (MA, MAAD, MArch, MBA, MDes, and MFA)*
    • Graduation Regalia (includes tam, gown, tassel, and hood) for $93.85.
    • Stole Package (includes tam, gown, tassel, hood, and stole of gratitude) for $108.60
    • Diploma Frame Package (includes frame tam, gown, tassel, hood, and stole of gratitude) for $271.60.

*Pricing for master's regalia reflects the more elaborate traditional master's gowns and the inclusion of master's hoods.

DEADLINE: The last day to order is MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2024 at 8:59 p.m. (Pacific) [Time Zone Convertor].

APRIL 5, 2024 UPDATE: Herff Jones is temporarily accepting late orders with an expedited / rush shipping fee of $21.30. If you plan to order from Herff Jones, please do so as soon as possible – although they will accept late orders until Friday, April 19, 2024 at 8:59 p.m. (Pacific), placing your order now will help ensure items arrive before the ceremony. Questions? Please contact Herff Jones' customer service at bayareagrad@herffjones.com.

  • Purchase Herff Jones College Package
    • Place orders online, and request packages be delivered to your preferred home address (domestic or international) while ordering.
    • BA, BArch, and BFA candidates, select Bachelor's Ceremony. MA, MAAD, MArch, MBA, MDes, and MFA candidates, select Master's Ceremony.

Class Rings

Students can now display their accomplishments with college rings from Herff Jones. There are numerous combinations that allow you to customize your class ring to be reflective of your accomplishments while at CCA.

Option 3: Purchase Academic Regalia through Other Online Stores

Color photo showing the back of someone in traditional academic regalia. They are wearing a tam (a velvety, beret-like cap), and a master's hood that drapes down their back.

You are welcome to purchase traditional academic regalia from other online vendors.

Please note the following considerations:

  • Gowns & Tams:
    • Historically, CCA academic regalia has included a black gown and a tam (a velvety, beret-like cap), rather than a mortarboard.
      • The sleeves of traditional bachelor's and master's gowns are different – master's gowns have extended sleeves.
      • Tams vary in shape – round, hexagonal, octagonal, etc. are all consistent with CCA's cap tradition.
  • Hoods (Master's Candidates Only):
    • Master's hood colors are based on conferred degrees, and the hood is composed of three parts and colors:
      • Lining Color (1st School Color in the large area):
        • CCA – Red
      • Chevron Color (2nd School Color in the center area):
        • CCA – Blue
      • Velvet Color (Degree Color):
        • MA – white
        • MDes – gold/yellow
        • MFA – brown
        • MBA – drab
        • MArch and MAAD – purple

What’s with the Tam?

Black and white photo with four people in long academic robes. The one on the left is wearing a mortarboard, and the three on the right are wearing tams (velvety, beret-like caps).

When wearing traditional academic regalia, CCA has a long tradition of wearing tams (velvety, beret-like caps) instead of traditional mortarboards and tassels.

What’s with the tam? A picture from the CCA Libraries' archive of the college’s founder, Frederick H. Meyer, holds the answer! Handwritten on the back of the 1927 photograph is a caption that includes the line, “Caps and gowns at right designed by Meyer after those of the medieval artisans guilds.”

Today, the tams are a reminder that CCA’s newly minted graduates are joining a network of more than 22,000 alumni — they are now part of a centuries-strong line of artisans and makers committed to their craft.

Questions?

Check out the Commencement page for recent updates. More questions? Contact commencement@cca.edu, and we will be happy to help.

Banner Photo Credit: Nicholas Lea Bruno 2023