CommProgram2017. indd

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15 

The Academic Procession

I

n colleges and universities, academic degrees are conferred at commencement 

exercises.  Originally, the term meant the inception of the student graduate as 

a teacher and his recognition as such by his master and other members of the    

profession. Thus, the term once marked an actual beginning.

The processional and recessional of students and faculty dressed in academic 

regalia are traditional parts of these commencement exercises.  The history of aca-

demic dress goes back to the medieval universities. In the 12th and 13th centuries, 

when universities were taking form, they were under the jurisdiction of the church. 

Those studying wore a habit or cloak to which was attached a cowl or hood that 

could be pulled up over the head or thrown back, according to weather conditions. 

Later, the gown served the dual purpose of providing warmth in the unheated halls 

as well as uniformity of dress.

The hood seems to have had three uses:  a covering, a shoulder cape and a bag 

for collecting alms.  It is believed that when large wigs were worn, the cape part of 

the hood was cut open in front and the entire garment, cape and hood proper, were 

allowed to fall back, producing approximately the effect seen today.  After wigs went 

out of fashion, the original shape was not restored.  The master’s hood is longer than 

the bachelor’s, and the doctor’s longer than the master’s.

Gowns commonly worn in the colleges and the universities of this country have 

pointed sleeves for the bachelor’s degree, long, closed sleeves (with a slit for the 

arm) for the master’s degree, and bell-shaped, open sleeves for the doctoral degree.  

The master’s and bachelor’s gowns have no trimming.  The gown for the doctoral 

degree is faced down the front with black velvet and three bars of the same across 

the sleeves; or these facings and cross bars may be of velvet of the color distinctive 

of the faculty or subject to which the degree pertains.

The cap is an essential part of the academic dress and it is to be retained on the 

head throughout all academic exercises except during prayer.  In particular, the cap 

is not to be removed at any point in the conferment of a degree.

All hoods are lined with silk showing the official colors of the institution which 

conferred the degree, and all are trimmed in specific widths with velvet signifying 

the degree as follows:

T

he Brookhaven College mace was designed by faculty member Rick Maxwell. 

Made of mahogany, the wood was turned by Dave Reagan, former director of 

the Brookhaven College Police Department and the carving at the base was 

executed by Marbelia Hernandez. Topped by a stylized windmill with the college seal 

as a focal point, the shaft features a silver-pewter cap with the founding date of the 

college, 1978. This is followed by a series of plates bearing the names and dates of 

all previous Brookhaven presidents. The carved base represents tree roots, which are 

indicative of the many trees that have always grown on the property and symbolic 

of the foundational support an educated public provides for a community’s develop-

ment and success. A fish is also worked into the carving — fish stories having been 

thought to be the means by which the district’s founding chancellor developed a 

friendship with the owner of the land that was eventually purchased for the college. 

The college mace leads the commencement procession and is carried by Brookhaven 

College’s Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Nominee.

Agriculture:  Maize

Arts and Letters:  White

Commerce & Accountancy:  Drab

Dentistry:  Lilac

Economics:  Copper

Education:  Light Blue

Engineering:  Orange

Fine Arts & Architecture:  Brown

Forestry:  Russet

Law:  Purple

Library Science:  Lemon

Medicine:  Green

Music:  Pink

Nursing:  Apricot

Oratory:  Silver Gray

Pharmacy:  Olive Green

Philosophy:  Dark Blue

Physical Education:  Sage Green

Public Health:  Salmon Pink

Science:  Golden Yellow

Social Science:  Citron

Theology:  Scarlet

Veterinary Science:  Gray

The Mace

ASSOCIATE IN SCIENCE 

(continued)   

|

   

ASOCIADO EN CIENCIAS 

(continuación)

Evan Elliott Esnard *

Gonzalo Espinoza * ECHS

Jingxuan  Fan *

Keyse-Laucy Ribeiro Fonseca *

James Bradley Forsyth * +

Troy R. Frazier * +

Richard Dale Froess * +

Emmelynn Nicole Fuentes * + ECHS

Tori Ann Fults *

Jennifer A. Galvez-Montealvo *

Daisy Yesenia Garcia

Jennifer Garcia +

Joseph David Garcia ECHS

Samantha Ashely Garcia

Carlos Adrian Garcia-Hernandez

Joseph A. Garza

Oscar Andre Gerstein-Lynch *

Prakash Ghimire * +

Thomas Gillespie

Guy Dominique E. Goba

Benjamin Sterling Gomez

Erica Nataly Gonzalez

Vanessa Gonzalez

Maria De Los Angeles Gonzalez-Gomez ECHS

Cecilia Gonzalez-Higgins * +

Evelyn Gonzalez-Serratos *

Jessica N. Gottschalk *

Karla Paola Granados ECHS

Angel Ivan Guerrero ECHS

Jesus E. Guerrero

Edwin Ernesto Guevara 

Sheila Gutierrez * ECHS

Delissa D. Harrison

Aziz  Haryani * +

Alexandra S. Headley

Michaelangelo Hermoso

Damaris Valeria Hernandez * + ECHS

Jackie Elizabeth Hernandez

Karen Abigail Hernandez + ECHS

Yessenia Hernandez ECHS

Carolina E. Herrera RS

Jadesy Elizabeth Herrera ECHS

Victor Manuel Herrera Jr.

Jasmine T. Hester * 

Ashley Nicole Hicks 

LaTrese Chanetta Hicks

Sophary Hin

Jordan D. Hobbs

Elizabeth R. Hollingsworth

Hilary Lauren Hooper

Ashleigh Joy Horton BSGA

Edward Y. Huang *

Allison Sue Hubbard

Onpatra Im-Arb

Larry P. Jaimes ECHS

Michael Craig James

Alfredo Jaquez

Johana Jaramillo-Arboleda * +

Leslie Gisselle Jasso-Alvarez ECHS

Myeonghee Jeong

Sohyun Jo * +

Gelana Janay Johnson *

Thomas Z. Johnson *

Joseph David Jones

Christopher Michael Julian

Kwangjae Jung +

Olivier Kanyanduga

Gregory Kareh

Desirae Kristine Kay * +

Michael Joseph Keller

Amanda Erin Kelly

Jonathan Somchay Khanhkham

Sarang Anna Kim *

Timour Kim

Tambrina Lizzette Klein * +

Erika Hannah Koelpin * + BSGA

Mezi E. Koulai

Dawa Doma Lama

Maria Cristina Lara

Nhu Le *

Yeon Jeong Lee

Yiru Lin

Billy James Lindley

Lawrencia Brashay Lockhart

Bryan Lopez ECHS

Luis Fernando Lopez ECHS

Selena Lopez

Veronica E. Lopez

Zahira Lopez

Katrina E. Lowery

Erika I Lozano

Michael James Lubinski *

Christa  Lybarger *

Anna Yesenia Macias

Jose Carlos Maciel ECHS

Kaley D. Marioni

Marie Jacqueline Elvina Maron * +

Juan Manuel Marquez ECHS

Lisa Ann Marquez * +

Andrew Gabriel Martinez ECHS

Laura I. Martinez

Mario A. Martinez

Marvin Martinez

Nakia Melissa Martinez

Mohammad R. Masalmah * +

Rachel Elizabeth Matthews *

Ashley Membreno

Francisco Hunverto Mendez ECHS

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