Academic Regalia
Chancellor's Regalia
The Chancellor robe is a doctoral styled robe made with custom WCU purple crepe fabric.
Her robe features purple velvet panels and 4 doctoral bars on each sleeve to represent
the status of Chancellor. The velvet panels are embroidered with the official Western
Carolina University seal in gold thread.
The hood is made with WCU purple crepe fabric with bright gold and purple satin in
the lining and trimmed with purple velvet. Her cap has 6 corners and is made with
purple velvet and has an attached two-button gold silky tassel.
Faculty Regalia
The Cap
Caps are black, made from mortarboard and worn flat on the head with one corner of
the square facing the front. The tassels for the doctoral degree are gold, and those
for other graduate and professional degrees may correspond to the trimmings on the
hoods.
The Gown
The cut of the gown indicates whether the wearer holds a bachelor's, master's or doctoral
degree. The bachelor’s gown is a simple, unornamented robe with long pointed sleeves.
The master’s gown is more elaborate and many styles have slits in the sleeves. The
doctor’s robe is ornamented with three bars on each bell-shaped sleeve and panels
on the front of the robe. The standard color of the robe is black, although some institutions
have adopted other colors.
The white robes and caps worn by the student marshals and student delegates at Western
Carolina University are an indication of their undergraduate status.
The Hood
The institution at which the degree was awarded and the field of study in which the
degree was earned are represented by the hood. The lining of the hood identifies the
institution that awarded the degree. However, because of the large number of degree-granting
institutions, there is much duplication, even though a variety of patterns have been
introduced. For example, more than 30 institutions are represented by purple and gold.
The length of the hood and the width of its border vary in relation to the degree
held.
The Colors
The color of the tassel on the cap and of the border on the hood represents the field
of study in which the degree was earned.
- Arts, letters, humanities - white
- Commerce, accountancy, business - drab
- Construction management - drab
- Economics - copper
- Education - light blue
- Fine arts - brown
- Law - purple
- Library science - lemon
- Music - pink
- Nursing - apricot
- Oratory (speech) - silver gray
- Philosophy - dark blue
- Physical education - sage green
- Public health - salmon pink
- Science - golden yellow
- Social work - citron
- Theology - scarlet
Installation Accouterments
The Medallion
In the installation ceremony, the president of the University of North Carolina system
confers the symbol of office by placing Western Carolina University's medallion around
the chancellor’s neck.
Fashioned of handcrafted sterling silver, Western Carolina University's medallion
is four inches in diameter and bears a seal designed in 1925 by art student Betty
de Berry of Mount Gilead, N.C. The circular design encloses an outline map of North
Carolina and a pine bough that reaches from the Outer Banks to the westernmost portion
of the state, where the location of Cullowhee is marked with a star. The word Cullowhee
and the date of the institution’s founding, 1889, complete the design, which served
for several decades as the official seal of the Chancellor. On the medallion’s reverse
side is engraved a list of the heads of the institution.
The Mace
The Western Carolina University mace, created in 1993, is the symbolic representation
of the university’s authority at official assemblies. Symbolic academic maces descend
from medieval and earlier times, when heads of church and state carried wands or staffs
to represent authority. For generations, colleges and universities have used maces
in their formal ceremonies.
The Western Carolina University mace is a shaft of black walnut capped with a head
of polished bronze. The head is adorned with engraved mountain rhododendron leaves
and bears bas-relief icons of the old Madison Building, the Alumni Tower, the original
Western Carolina University seal and the University of North Carolina seal.
The Seal
The Western Carolina University seal bears the image of the Alumni Tower, the university’s
best known landmark and a symbol of the support and dedication of the institution’s
graduates and friends. Financed through gifts from alumni and other donations, the
tower was erected on the occasion of the university’s centennial in 1989 and dedicated
one year later.
Past Presidents and Chancellors
Robert Lee Madison, President - 1889-1912
Alonzo Carlton Reynolds, President - 1912-1920
Robert Lee Madison, President - 1920-1923
Hiram Tyram Hunter, President - 1923-1947
William Ernest Bird, Acting President - 1947-1949
Paul Apperson Reid, President - 1949-1956
William Ernest Bird, President - 1956-1957
Paul Apperson Reid, President - 1957-1968
Alexander Simpson Pow, President - 1968-1972
Frank Hamilton Brown Jr., Acting President; Acting Chancellor - 1972
Jack Kenneth Carlton, Chancellor - 1972-1973
William Hugh McEniry, Acting Chancellor - 1973
Frank Hamilton Brown Jr., Acting Chancellor - 1974
Harold Frank Robinson, Chancellor - 1974-1984
Myron Lee Coulter, Chancellor - 1984-1994
John Halbert Wakeley, Interim Chancellor - 1994-1995
John William Bardo, Chancellor - 1995-2011
David Orr Belcher - 2011-2018
Alison Morrison-Shetlar, Interim Chancellor - 2018-2019
*Dr. Brown is counted as the institution’s 12th president or Chancellor because historically
interim or acting leaders were not included in the tally, and those who held the position
on more than one occasion were counted only once.
