Distinctive Honors

The following descriptions are on record as approved distinctive honor items for Commencement. These items are distributed through the organization or group of whichever honor they qualify. 

Alpha Chi Sigma
Professional chemistry medallions are gold with a blue border and feature a hexagon shape.

Alpha Kappa Delta––Sociology Honor Society
Honor cord is a teal, double-twined cord that is 58 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter.

Alpha Kappa Psi–– Professional Business Fraternity
Cords are navy blue and gold knotted together with tassels at each end.

Alpha Phi Sigma––Criminal Justice Honor Society
Royal blue and gold double intertwined cords

Alpha Psi Omega––Theatre and Dance Honor Society
Honor cords, 4 feet in length, light blue with a thin amber thread running through, at each end is an amber tassel, the cords are hung around the neck and knotted at the left side, on the knot are three amber buttons with the Greek letters Alpha, Psi, and Omega in blue.

Beta Gamma Sigma––Business Honor Society
Two gold and blue cords tied together midway with tassels at the end.

Bonner Scholars––Community Service
A handmade pewter medallion featuring the Bonner Scholars Program service logo of a graduation cap (or mortarboard) with a heart in the middle, worn around the neck with a grosgrain ribbon.

Delta Phi Alpha––German Honor Society
Black, red and gold and consist of two cords knotted together.

Delta Epsilon Mu––Pre-Health Co-Ed Fraternity 
Cords are a black cord and a red cord knotted together with tassels at each end. Each cord is fifty-eight inches long and one-third-inch in diameter.

Delta Sigma Pi--Business Fraternity
Cords are purple intertwined with gold.

Eta Sigma Gamma––National Health Education Honor Society
Green and gold honor cords single twined, 30 inches in length, are tied together with one knot, and is worn over the gown around the neck.

Eta Sigma Phi––Classics Honor Society
Purple and gold honor cords knotted together as a pair representing the society's two colors.

Gamma Sigma Epsilon––Chemistry Honor Society
Two-stranded honor cords––one blue and the other white.

Gary McDowell Institute--Student Fellows
Pins with the letters GMI on them.

Gamma Theta Upsilon––Geography Honor Society
Blue, gold and brown cords, the three Gamma Theta Upsilon colors.

Golden Key National Honor Society
Ribbon attached to corner of mortar boards, 3 1/2 inches long and is royal blue on top of golden yellow, a gold and blue cord, and a gold and blue ribbon with an attached gold medallion pendant to be worn around the neck. Honor Stole: Gold satin sash with blue embroidered Golden Key logo. The Society member with the highest GPA Honor Society in each of the four undergraduate divisions will wear the Gold Key National Honor Society medallion on a royal blue and gold ribbon.

Honor Councils
Honor Councils cords are navy blue and crimson cords knotted together.

International Club––International Education Program
Members of the International Club may wear the study-abroad sash that displays the national colors of their country's flag. Sashes may be purchased from http://www.visionwear.com. Alternatively, they may choose to wear a small flag (not to exceed the dimensions of 3-by-5 inches) representing each student's respective country. This small flag, which can be purchased at http://www.flagline.com, is to be worn on the left shoulder of the gown.

Jepson Student Government Association
Honor cords are lavender and silver.

Kappa Delta Pi––Education Honor Society
Purple and green interwoven honor cord with tassel at each end.

Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society for Anthropology
Double twined copper cords that are approximately four and a half feet long with four inch tassels.

Lambda Pi Eta––Rhetoric and Communication Studies Honor Society
Gold honor cords. Majors graduating with departmental honors are approved to also wear a silver honor cord.

Leadership Studies Honor Society––Jepson School of Leadership Studies
Red and gold honor cords.

Oliver Hill Scholars––Academic Achievement, Service, and Emphasis on African-American history and culture.
Kinte cloths worn over the gown, a white stole with the symbol of the wisdom knot, which represents wisdom, ingenuity, and intelligence.

Omicron Delta Epsilon––the International Honor Society in Economics
The society was founded jointly at Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin in 1919. The University of Richmond chapter began in 1973. Members are identified by a braided cord of gold, white, and blue.

Omicron Delta Kappa––National Leadership Honor Society
Three twisted cords. Colors: white, black, and blue.

Panhellenic Council
Cords are green and white woven together with tassels at each end. 

Phi Alpha Theta––History Honor Society
Madonna red and blue honor cord with multi-colored matching tassel at each end.

Phi Beta Delta––International Scholars Honor Society
A bronze medallion, 2 inches in diameter, on a red and yellow ribbon 14 inches long and 1 inch wide hung around the neck, displaying the red and yellow colors, but with the medallion positioned inside the robe, not on display.

Phi Beta Kappa––National Scholarship Honor Society for Liberal Arts and Sciences
Phi Beta Kappa Key suspended from blue and pink ribbon.

Phi Eta Sigma––First Year Scholarship and Academic Excellence
Two gold and black cords with tassels at the end, and tied together midway the length (32 inch approximate length).

Phi Kappa Mu––Music Honor Society
Pink honor cords.

Phi Sigma Iota––International Foreign Language Honor Society
Purple honor cords.

Phi Sigma Tau––Philosophy Honor Society
Light blue and dark blue honor cords knotted together as a pair.

Pi Alpha Chapter of Mortarboard National College Senior Honor Society
A gold and black medallion with the Mortarboard emblem and motto worn on a white ribbon. [May wear gold and white honor cords as alternative].

Pi Mu Epsilon––Mathematics Honor Society
Purple and gold honor cords.

Pi Sigma Alpha––Political Science Honor Society
The Pi Sigma Alpha Medallion, a hard-fired cloisonné enamel on brass-finished metal, hung lavaliere-style from a broad red grosgrain ribbon.

Psi Chi––Psychology Honor Society
Platinum and dark blue, intertwined double cords with mixed tassel. 

Richmond College Student Government Association
Honor cords are red and blue.

Richmond Scholars
Cords are multicolored blue and red with mixed tassel.

Richmond's Spider FLI
First-generation and/or limited income students wear silver and rose cords signifying they are among the first in their family to graduate with a bachelor's degree and/or did so as a student facing significant financial challenges.

Scholar Student-Athlete––Senior Student-Athletes Honor Group
Ribbon attached to corner of mortar board, 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. The bottom ribbon is red with a 1-inch wide royal blue ribbon centered on top of the red ribbon.

Science Leadership Scholars Program
Cords are turquoise and white.

Sigma Delta Pi––Hispanic Honor Society
Badge consisting of two five-inch long ribbons, 1/2 inch in width, left ribbon yellow, right ribbon red, joined at the top by wearer's own society pin.

Sigma Iota Rho––Global Studies Honor Society
Yellow honor cords

Sigma Pi Sigma––Physics Honor Society
A gold pin with the Greek initials attached to the graduation cap with a tassel of green and beige cords.

Sigma Tau Delta––English Honor Society
Medallion, 2 inches in diameter inscribed with the words "Sincerity," "Truth," and "Design," encircling the Greek letters and a torch and pen along with the date of founding(1924), hung on a red ribbon.

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Member cords are two-stranded cords that are knotted together with tassels at each end. Both cords will be interwoven with the colors gold and white.

Student Athletes
Cords are two-stranded that are knotted together with tassels at each end. One cord will be intertwined with the colors navy blue and red, while the other cord will be white in color.

Student Conduct Council
Cords are navy blue and crimson knotted together.

Study-Abroad Students
Study-abroad students will wear the study-abroad sash that displays the unique qualities and national colors of the host country's flag. Sashes may be purchased from http://www.visionwear.com. Alternatively, study-abroad students may choose to wear a small flag (not to exceed 3-by-5 inches) representing the country in which the student studied. This small flag is to be worn on the left shoulder of the gown. You may order the patch from http://www.flagline.com.

Theta Alpha Kappa––National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology
A red honor cord.

Tri Beta––Biology Honor Society
Red and green honor cords.

Upsilon Pi Epsilon––Computing and Information Disciplines Honor Society
Maroon and white honor cords.

United World College Scholars  (UWC) scholar cords are single cords knowtted with tassels at each end. The cord is interwoven with the colors teal and white.

Westhampton College Distinguished Leaders Award
A 2-by-2 inch handmade pewter medallion with the Westhampton College distinguished seal hung on a wide ribbon, worn as a necklace over graduation Senior Leader's gown.

Westhampton College Government Association
Cords are red and blue.

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Honor Society
Purple and white honor cords.

Advisors of other honor groups may request approval for their graduating members to wear cords of distinction or other special forms of recognition. All requests must be made in writing to the Registrar, for processing. The request should include a detailed description of the distinctive item and should be submitted by the third week of January prior to Commencement. Once approved, the distinctive items may be worn at all subsequent Commencements. Distinctive items may be purchased through the University's purchasing office or ordered directly from the honor society.