FROM THE DEAN
MERTON COLLEGE
NOTES FOR NEW GRADUATES ON ATTENDANCE AT THE
MATRICULATION PHOTOGRAPH AND CEREMONY
AND
THE WEARING OF GOWNS
A. THE MATRICULATION PHOTOGRAPH AND CEREMONY
Attendance at the Matriculation Photograph
1.
2.
3.
All graduate freshers are required to attend the Matriculation Photograph
on Saturday of 1st week of Michaelmas Term UNLESS they have previously
been undergraduates or graduate students at Merton and have been
readmitted to residence.
Graduates who came into residence after the start of the previous academic
year, i.e. after that year’s Matriculation Photograph, are also expected to
attend.
Those attending the Matriculation Photograph must be dressed as for the
Matriculation Ceremony, i.e., in sub-fusc (see below) with academic cap and
the appropriate gown, whether or not they are to be matriculated
subsequently.
Attendance at the Matriculation Ceremony
4.
5.
Those who have previously matriculated at Oxford (whether as graduates or
undergraduates and whether through Merton or another College or Hall) are
not required or permitted to attend the Matriculation Ceremony again.
Those who have been admitted to degrees of the University of Cambridge or
the University of Dublin (Trinity College) and who have been admitted to
read for the 2nd BM or with a view to becoming students for the DPhil may
be permitted to incorporate rather than matriculate, and in that case will not
be required to attend the Matriculation Ceremony. If you believe that you
fall within this category you must see Julie Gerhardi and/or Victoria
Lill in the Tutorial Office for confirmation: if you do not do this and your
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7.
name appears on the matriculation list you will be required to attend the
Matriculation Ceremony (whether or not you are also later permitted to
incorporate).
All other graduate freshers are required to attend the Matriculation
Ceremony on Saturday of 1st Week of Michaelmas Term.
Those required to attend the Matriculation Ceremony must wear sub-fusc
(see below) with academic cap and the appropriate gown.
Sub-fusc
8.
Sub-fusc clothing is as follows:
for men: a dark suit, dark socks and black shoes or boots, a plain white shirt
and white collar, and white bow tie;
for women: a white shirt or blouse, black tie, dark skirt or trousers, black
stockings, black shoes or boots and, if desired, a dark coat.
In both cases, the clothes should be appropriate for formal occasions.
Please make sure that you are properly dressed.
N.b. that special rules apply to those serving in H.M. Forces (who are invited
to seek further guidance from the Dean).
B. GOWNS
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15.
Those who have already been admitted to a degree of the University of
Oxford (i.e., have both passed the relevant examination and been through
the degree ceremony, whether in person or in absence) should wear the gown
of their degree.
Those who are entitled to be admitted to a degree of the University of
Oxford (i.e., have passed the relevant examination but have not yet been
through the degree ceremony) should wear a graduate student’s gown until
they have been admitted to the degree in question. Exception: College
custom permits those who were Postmasters or Exhibitioners as Merton
undergraduates to continue to wear their Postmaster’s/Exhibitioner’s gown
until they are admitted to their degree.
A person who has a degree of the University of Cambridge or the University
of Dublin and has incorporated as a member of the University of Oxford
should normally wear the gown of the equivalent Oxford degree into which
he/she has been incorporated.
A graduate student who has no Oxford degree and is reading for a higher
(i.e., postgraduate) degree or diploma other than the Diploma in Legal Studies
may wear either the graduate student’s gown or the gown (and, when
appropriate, hood) of his/her previous university. N.b., however, that at
Encaenia, the Oxford gown must be worn.
Graduate students who have no Oxford degree and are reading for an
undergraduate degree may wear the graduate student’s gown within College
BUT at University Examinations and ceremonies must wear the appropriate
undergraduate (i.e., Commoner’s/Exhibitioner’s/Postmaster’s) gown.
Gowns must be worn in College for Formal Hall, Warden’s Collections (or
the graduate equivalent), disciplinary hearings, and such other occasions as
are laid down. They are also generally worn for services in Chapel.
Gowns must be worn out of College for University Examinations including
oral examinations (with sub-fusc, cap, and – when appropriate – hood), and
for University Sermons and Church Services, special lectures, Encaenia (with
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sub-fusc, cap, and – when appropriate – hood), disciplinary hearings, in the
presence of high officers of the University, and on other occasions laid down
by regulations.
Bachelors, Masters and Doctors of the University of Oxford will find further
guidance in Vice-Chancellor’s Regulations 1 of 2002 (relating to Academic
Dress).
The Dean is always willing to give advice or instructions on appropriate academic
dress.
John Eidinow
Dean
2011