Commencement Colors

Recently, seniors got measured for commencement robes and given the option to choose what color they want their robe to be. However, the freedom to choose their robe color has not always been given to students. Until very recently, boys wore red and girls wore white. While many girls still choose to wear white and boys to wear red, the gender divide was certainly unique to this school. Many schools have one graduation robe color that all students must wear and some simply do not have graduation robes at all.

The gender divide for robes definitely seems justifiable when you consider that half the seniors would be in white and half would be in red, allowing for a more equal aesthetic. It also makes the process easier for the seniors and the company that we order from. Although nowadays with gender neutrality being more common, requiring a student to choose a color that corresponds to their gender could get the school into serious trouble. This was definitely a major factor in the switch that came around 2014.

The only real downside to seniors being able to choose their robe colors is that it makes the process a little more complicated. Several of my female friends spent days debating whether or not to choose red or white since red is still associated with males and white with females. However, I applaud the girls who wear red and the boys who wear white for doing what they want to do despite tradition or fear of judgement. I am glad that Govs lets us have a choice in this and changed the rule to be more inclusive.

Before the switch, female students were required to wear white robes and males required to wear red, as shown in these pictures from 1990 (below) and sometime between the 70s and 80s (above).

Since the change, students can now wear whatever color robe they want no matter their gender.