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UNION SPRINGS - As the students sat in their simple purple or white robes, Union Springs Central School Principal Kimberle Ward addressed the class of 2008 on the symbolism of the cap and gown.

Legend had it that the cap and gown went as far back as ancient Greece, when education was limited to the wealthy, Ward said. When one professor was asked to dress his students up for graduation in clothing fit for royalty, he said he would find the appropriate apparel.

On the day of the ceremony the teacher paraded his pupils out with the simple mortarboards and robes worn by commoners, causing an uproar among the upper-class spectators.