Merely "The End of the Beginning..."

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas | Commencement Address | Christendom College

But where are their hats?

Why is it that graduates only wear the academic hats on their graduation day? The hat is actually a powerful sign of that ended beginning, and the new and exalted responsibility and duty.

Would that the priests and the justice had their birettas/proper hats with the form and colors according to their academic rank and discipline. It would be more elegant than the bald academic heads.

For example, an MA in theology would merit a three horned black roman biretta with red piping and tuft.

A couple of justices don what appears to be the traditional judge's cap at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration.