Undergraduate Convocation & Presidential Welcome

Friday, August 25, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. | Marsh East Lawn

Welcome to the Undergraduate Convocation and Presidential Welcome for the formal opening of the 2023-2024 academic year.

The Significance of Academic Traditions

WEARING ACADEMIC REGALIA is a custom with origins in the medieval European universities, where it was required as daily wear to serve as a reminder of a person’s role in the academic community. Most American colleges and universities have since adopted the cap, gown and hood to wear exclusively at particular ceremonies. Masters and doctors wear a hood lined with colors of the degree-granting institution, or lined with a color of an institution represented by the wearer. The hoods are trimmed in velvet with a color distinctive of the degree. Hoods of gowns at Pacific University are lined in black, with scarlet chevrons.

THE PRESIDENTIAL CHAIN OF OFFICE is worn by the president on official university occasions and is symbolic of the authority vested in the president by the Board of Trustees. The medallion features the official seal on one side and a depiction of Old College Hall — the university’s first building constructed in 1850 — on the other side.

THE GONFALON is a flag that hangs from a crosspiece or frame, originated in the medieval republics of Italy as an ensign of state or office. Gonfalons have been adopted in many universities around the world as college or institutional insignia. The colors of each gonfalon coordinate with the hood color of the discipline. At Pacific, the traditional gonfalon is represented in the college banners that hang behind the stage.

THE ACADEMIC MACE symbolizes the authority vested in the president by the Board of Trustees. The university’s mace was commissioned by President Emeritus Phillip D. Creighton to commemorate his investiture in 2003 and was crafted from white oak from the Forest Grove Campus. It is now a treasured university artifact and is incorporated in the official academic ceremonies of Commencement, Convocation and presidential investitures.

Academic Regalia Colors

Since 1865, colleges and universities in the United States have followed a uniform code which specifies the type and color of regalia for each degree. This code is reflected in the colorful hoods worn by faculty during the procession. 

ORIENTATION

FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Our Mission

A diverse and sustainable community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, Pacific University inspires students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world.