2024 Undergraduate Commencement Program

Professor Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong 黃超賢 earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Second Language Education from Texas Tech University. After graduation, she joined the faculty of Monmouth University as an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum in 2011 and was promoted to associate professor in 2017. Originally from Hong Kong, she is a multilingual speaker of Cantonese, English, and Mandarin.

Her extensive teaching experiences in Hong Kong, South Korea, Hawaii, and Texas not only enable her to enrich her classes with authentic stories but also integrate a wide range of cultural perspectives into her teaching, helping her students connect theoretical knowledge with real-world applications.

Professor Wong’s aspiration to become a teacher began at the age of four. This early passion for teaching evolved into a commitment to make a significant impact on education. By focusing on training future teachers, she aims to amplify her influence, knowing that each teacher she educates can positively affect many more students.

Professor Wong has a true passion for teaching and is committed to creating a co-learning environment where the lived experiences of all students are valued. Her students often praise her as a talented instructor whose courses are well-organized and rich with content and learning opportunities.

Currently, Professor Wong’s research focuses on pedagogical translanguaging in ESL and Chinese immersion settings. She was recently honored with the Research Output Award from the University of Hong Kong for her pioneering study titled “Empowering Students Through the Construction of a Translanguaging Space in an English as a First Language Classroom.” Professor Wong is dedicated to normalizing multilingualism in education, a goal she diligently pursues through collaborations with fellow scholars and educators. Her scholarly articles have been featured in top-tier journals such as Applied Linguistics, ELT Journal, System, Language and Education, and the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.

Professor Wong resides in Monroe Township with her husband David Tsang, and is the proud mother of two children, Cynthia (6th grade) and Derek (3rd grade).

The history of academic dress reaches far back into the earliest days of the oldest universities. A statute of 1321 required that all “Doctors, Licentiates, and Bachelors” of the University of Coimbra wear gowns. In England, in the second half of the 14th century, the statutes of certain colleges prescribed the wearing of a long gown. In the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, the wearing of a robe often signified a degree candidate’s political or religious affiliation; in the northern universities and those of the British Isles, the robes signified that tuition and boarding fees of the wearer had been paid and also entitled them to special immunities in civil law, as well as providing them warmth at lectures and chapel.

When American colleges and universities desired to adopt some suitable system of academic apparel, a conference held at Columbia University in 1895, made up of representatives from various institutions, drew up a “By-Law, Regulation, or Statute” for the establishment of a suitable code of academic dress for colleges and universities in the United States. This code, with modifications made in 1959 by the Committee on Academic Costumes and Ceremonies of the American Council on Education, is still in force; the costumes and colors, trimmings, and patterns you will see are traditional, and interpret both the degree and field of learning. The bachelor’s gown, designed to be worn closed, has pointed sleeves; the master’s gown, which may be worn open or closed, has an oblong sleeve open at the wrist that hangs down in the traditional manner. The rear part of its oblong shape is square cut, and the front part has the arc cut away. The doctoral gown has bell-shaped sleeves. It may be worn open or closed.

Black is the recommended color for all academic gowns. Bachelor’s and master’s gowns are untrimmed. Doctoral gowns are faced with black velvet, with three bars across the sleeves; the color of the velvet may also be that which is distinctive to the degree, agreeing with that of the edging of the hood. In the 1960s, many American land-grant universities adopted the British and the Scottish tradition of using the official school color(s) for the robes of their doctoral recipients—for instance, Yale: sky blue; Harvard: crimson; University of Pennsylvania: scarlet and blue; Columbia: slate gray; Rutgers: scarlet and black.

The hoods, differing in length for the three degrees—bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral—are lined with the official colors of the university or college conferring the degree, usually with one color forming a chevron pattern over the other. Hoods are edged and bound with velvet or the color appropriate for the degree. You will see in our procession many hoods edged with dark blue, representing doctor of philosophy.

Mortarboards are the approved headgear. The tassel, worn on the left side of the cap, maybe gold if the holder has a doctoral degree.