Since Obama was not awarded a degree at Arizona State, why did he wear

the school colors? Shouldn't these gowns be from the schools where the degree was earned?

At least, I remember my professors wearing their schools' gowns during graduation.

I think that just wearing a suit and a tie would have sent a strong message.

but maybe he wasn't trying to be petty

since there's no smilie for swoon, I'll settle for this:

Having earned a JD, his wearing the gown was not unusual.

The discussion over its colors was yesterday.

Today, we're fighting about the torture photos.

:P

Harvard.

For a Ph.D., the degree velvet is rich royal blue, or PhD blue.

or part of the academic assembly...especially if you're giving a speech. Not if you already have a degree(s) yourself.

Was he REALLY wearing Arizona State's colors? Clarification please?

From http://www.herff-jones.com/college/regalia/index2.cfm?sid=549

And Obama during the ceremony

http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Obama+Gives+Commencement+Address+Arizona+State+PDnXW8M6BTml.jpg

It's not unusual, however, for a school to have a particular kind of gown or hood that all academics and speakers wear for its formal academic events. However, in many cases those gowns or hoods are accompanied by hoods that represent the color or colors of the school from which the individual's degree was earned, as well as the academic field in which it was earned. In Obama's case, he'd have a blue hood anyway because he's a Ph.D.

awarded an honorary PhD in which case I agree with you.

not a Ph.D.?

It's definitely not the same as a doctorate.

There actually is a doctorate in law, but I don't think many schools award them anymore.

I'm not sure how they decide exactly what kind, but that was probably standard issue for major guests (e.g., board of trustees) if they didn't have their own gown.

The three velvet bars is usually for a PhD but is also used for honored guests. The four bars is usually for an administrator at the college.

edit to add Wiki link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dress
"Members of the Board of Trustees or other governing body officers of a college or university, regardless of their degrees, are entitled to wear doctor's gowns, faced only with black velvet and black velvet bars on the sleeves. However, their hoods (see, below) may be only that of a degree actually held by the wearer, or one specially prescribed for them by the institution.<33> The color standardization for the outside shell of the hood as black provides flexibility of use and helps facilitate this practice."

and they need the academic gown to go with it!

rather than his own law degree garb, but then he was being given a doctoral hood.

That's how it usually is. I think we've very rarely seen what happens when a speaker at a commencement ISN'T being given an honorary degree.

One bar represents a Bachelor, two bars represent a Masters, three bars represent a Doctorate. His puffy sleeves also represent the doctorate.

You'll notice that in the photos further upthread, President Obama and the ASU president are also wearing "doctor bars."

At least I've never attended or worked at a school at which bachelors or masters got bars at all. It was three bars for a doctorate and no bars for anything lower.

Bachelors got tassels on their mortarboards in a color representing their degree program.

Masters all got black tassels, but sleeves with long points at the bottom, and hoods that were the school color on one side and a color representing their degree program on the other.

Years after I got my master's, that's what I wore to an academic ceremony celebrating the inauguration of a new president at the university at which I was working at that time. I had to order the proper hood colors for my school and degree program.

from too many years to think about it, to look at my "regalia."

"The practice of wearing academic regalia in what is now the United States dates to the Colonial Colleges period, and was heavily influenced by European practices and styles. Students of most colonial colleges were required to wear the "college habit" at most times - a practice that lasted until the eve of the American Civil War in many institutions of higher learning. In some rare instances the practice has persisted, such as at Sewanee, where students continue to wear the gown to class. After the civil war, academic regalia was generally worn at ceremonies or when representing the institution. There was not, however, any standardization among the meanings behind the various costumes. In 1893, an Intercollegiate Commission made up of representatives from leading institutions was created, to establish an acceptable system of academic dress. The Commission met at Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1895 and adopted a code of academic regalia, which prescribed the cut and style and materials of the gowns, as well as determined the colors which were to represent the different fields of learning."

(from the Wiki link up above)

I thought he made it clear. How irrelevant he though it was. I think no message was stronger than his speech.

So did entertainer Steve Allen. I guess Obama just doesn't measure up to such lofty standards.

Assholes...