Oxford stands on ceremony with graduation garb
OXFORD University proctors have reminded students of the dress code for their graduations, after women flouting a “sock and heels” rule caused delays in this summer’s ceremonies.
In a message to students, officials warned that failure to wear the correct “sub fusc” cap, gown and dark clothes could cause “serious inconvenience”.
“It has come to our attention that a number of students at recent degree ceremonies were not dressed appropriately,” the email said.
“Infractions which were reported to us include the following: graduands with bare legs or no black socks/tights, non-dark footwear, coloured clothes.”
A number of women have been refused entry to graduations this year for wearing high-heeled shoes without socks. Eleanor Broome, 24, was turned away in July and said she had to “sprint, in black trousers and full gown in the blistering summer heat”, to buy tights to wear under her trousers. Her ceremony was delayed by 15 minutes.
“It was a boiling hot July, I didn’t want to wear covered lace-up shoes and black socks,” she said. “I did really love my degree and I loved my time at Oxford, but what should have been the happiest day of my life turned into the angriest day of my life.”
Rebecca Morton was told by officials that she would not be allowed to graduate because she was “showing flesh”.
She was eventually allowed into the ceremony after a friend gave her a pair of socks to wear. “It is one of the many ways in which the university continues to adhere to a set of archaic regulations that are coded for men,” she said.
A spokesman for Oxford University said: “The note went out to College Deans of Degrees at the start of summer as a reminder of the dress code for degree ceremonies. The note was intended to avoid delays to ceremonies, as a courtesy to everyone attending. We are not aware of any significant delays as a result this year.”