Mother Teresa at Harvard

A few years ago Harvard switched the color of its doctoral gowns from undertaker’s black to crimson. Then to round out its doctors the university replaced the law-school bachelor’s degree with that of doctor of jurisprudence. (Old LLBs can promote themselves by sending in $25 for a JD diploma.) Harvard’s color innovation seems to be spreading, though in a sense it is more an imitation of overseas practices. Trinity College Dublin, for example, has always had a scarlet doctoral gown, and since the college has five commencements a year the head porter makes a good thing out of renting gowns to honored recipients. At one Scottish university—Glasgow, I think —undergraduates wear red gowns. Harvard now gowns its class marshals in crimson, though the rest of the seniors still wear black.

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Francis Russell

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A few years ago Harvard switched the color of its doctoral gowns from undertaker’s black to crimson. Then to round out its doctors the university replaced the law-school bachelor’s degree with that of doctor of jurisprudence. (Old LLBs can promote themselves by sending in $25 for a JD diploma.) Harvard’s color innovation seems to be spreading, though in a sense it is more an imitation of overseas practices. Trinity College Dublin, for example, has always had a scarlet doctoral gown, and since the college has five commencements a year the head porter makes a good thing out of renting gowns to honored recipients. At one Scottish university—Glasgow, I think —undergraduates wear red gowns. Harvard now gowns its class marshals in crimson, though the rest of the seniors still wear black.

Place of Honor