With commencement ceremonies right around the corner, one might assume that the class of 2025 is only thinking about one thing: celebrating to the fullest. But between planning parties and dreading final projects, this year’s graduates still have much to do in these last two weeks — or at least, much to figure out.
Nestled among these hallmark moments of academic accomplishment has been a rather controversial issue surrounding the change in color to the university’s graduation caps and gowns. As a result, students have aired their frustrations with the new look and even considered other gown options on the school’s Reddit page. Beyond that, a Change.org petition, which has garnered 1,232 signatures, was created in the hope of reversing the decision.
On the petition’s website, many of the comments paint an especially distressing reality for those who cherish the former gowns. In addition to acknowledging their disdain over the change, these students have made it known that black graduation gowns are much more than just run-of-the-mill Commencement wear.
Deondra Cisneros, a fourth-year English major, insists that “there is a … pride that comes from having the black gown and being united with the other UCs that also have [them]” for their ceremonies. In particular, student stores at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and UC San Diego all offered black gowns for their undergraduate students this year.
Cisneros’ feelings about the situation have also been echoed by Rebecca Sun, another fourth-year majoring in both English and Education. Sun adds to the argument by stating that she “prefers … the traditional black colors because that’s usually what one wears for college graduations.” By emphasizing their long history within academia, the petition similarly asserts how the black gowns could be seen as more academically prestigious than the blue ones.
In light of the change, these appeals to academic tradition and modeling the other UCs showcase what is really at stake when it comes to graduation attire in higher education. In general, obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher is a major moment in one’s life and a testament to everything one has done to get there.
Changing the gown color, then, may resemble a threat to the validity of that achievement — especially given the long-standing “UC Rejects” rhetoric that judges students primarily by undermining their self-worth. Switching to blue gowns, as a representation of one’s academic endeavours, thus inevitably feels like disassociating with the cultural and institutional traditions that may provide needed legitimacy to these efforts.
Fortunately, no traditional color or institutional trend can ever truly subtract from the definitive joy of one’s collegiate accomplishments, and those outside of the “pro-black gown” argument demonstrate exactly why.
Carolyn Starr, a fourth-year English major, noted that “it’s important for the gown to reflect the school’s colors, even if it’s a common palette” in itself. She even claimed, “that we lost our sense of self with the black gowns, [and that we looked] like we could have been any other school” instead. Although rejecting opposition to the blue gowns, Starr’s own argument reflects many of the same concerns about identity and validation that Cisneros and Sun touched upon.
Chief among those is that students ultimately want to define their graduation in a way that honors their perspectives and experiences. This could mean either “stick[ing] to tradition,” as Sun theorizes, or embracing something, according to Starr, “that … makes the graduation ceremony look more alive” than before. Whatever the situation may be, it seems that having the ability to decide for oneself is more important than anything else.
These parallels also exemplify the central problem surrounding the gown change: the ability to choose the gown one wants for Commencement is fundamentally up in the air. It makes sense, then, that Cisneros clarified that “[her] dislike [of the blue gowns] comes from the lack of communication between the students and the university” about the decision overall. Tiffany Trieu, a fourth-year political science major, also asserts that “it [would] just be better if they, like, at least heard some students out on their own preferences” beforehand.
With any debate like this, one can occasionally argue into a corner. Trieu later noted that her initial vision of graduation is “where [she] contradicts [herself],” since “going into UCR, [she] imagined [herself] wearing the blue and gold” to her ceremony.
Similarly, Starr contradicted herself after saying “something about the [black] color … demands attention and respect,” only to rebut by asserting that “[she doesn’t] really care about stuff like that” anyways. In both cases, these moments of mild hypocrisy reveal that different opinions about the matter exist on a spectrum of personal truths and takeaways rather than cut-and-dry outlooks.
As of this year, it should also be noted that other UCs, including UC Davis, UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz, all offer some variation of a blue graduation gown. Whether it’s light navy (Davis) or much closer to our own “royal blue” (Santa Cruz), these gowns help to verify the existence of — and UCR’s transition into — a unified minority within the larger UC system. Here, placed beside a smaller but more proportional set of sister-institutions, UCR’s current graduation gowns might gradually be accepted as part of this special “norm” in time. Before then, however, students and administrators must come together to ensure that whatever color the next commencement gowns turn out to be, there will always be something for everyone.
