Commencement is a day of celebration. Four years have passed (maybe more), marked by hard work in the classroom and lab, personal growth, building a network, forming friendships, leaning on family support, expanding horizons, and pushing limits. All that dedication has paid off as students imagine the culminating ceremony and conferring of degrees.
But for some students, celebration is mixed with stress. Those who are under-resourced at the end of the school year may not have budgeted for the cost of regalia. The required cap, gown, and tassel, with its customized color and insignia, can cost upwards of $100 to rent for the big ceremony.
In some cases, that expense can prevent students from walking.
Each year, more than 100 students at Lehigh seek assistance for regalia rentals. Luckily, the Graduation Regalia Support Fund helps cover some of those costs.
The person who established the fund knows too well what it means to be under-resourced.
Scott Willoughby ’89 wasn’t supposed to go to college, let alone Lehigh. He grew up in a blue-collar family. His mother sometimes leaned on public assistance. Most folks in his early life thought he’d become a bartender.
He shared this story in his 2024 Lehigh Commencement address.
“I came to Lehigh with my clothes in brown shopping bags,” he says. “My father gave me a $20 bill and said goodbye.”
Smarts and elbow grease altered his fortunes. Today, he is vice president of program excellence at Northrop Grumman and former program manager for NASA’s James Webb telescope.
Still, he remembers wondering how he’d eat when the campus cafeteria closed on Sundays.
Back then, his circumstances were seen as an individual struggle. Today, campus initiatives and programs help mitigate similar challenges, supporting students facing food insecurity, unpaid internships, and housing issues. Consider the increase in food pantries on American college campuses: According to Trellis Strategies, the number jumped from 88 in 2012 to more than 800 in 2022.
When Willoughby learned that students needed help with regalia rental fees, it resonated deeply.
“These students have worked hard to walk down the aisle, and it should be a happy and stress-free moment for them — a highlight of their collegiate experience,” he says. “They don’t deserve to go into debt to afford something like a cap and gown.”
So he made a gift. The next year when he spoke at Commencement, he donated the honorarium to the same cause. He plans to continue doing so every year.
But Willoughby’s gift doesn’t cover the cost for all the seniors in need. To make it go further, Lehigh uses it as a challenge to inspire additional gifts during Giving Day + March Mania.
While some donors step forward during the two-day campaign, unmet needs remain.
As Willoughby says, “You don’t need to give the world’s largest gift to make a sizable impact in these students’ lives.”
