Beginning in Fall 2026, PIMS’ new graduation regalia reflects far more than a change in color. It symbolizes nearly nine decades of preparing funeral service professionals and the responsibility each graduate carries as they enter the profession.
For centuries, academic regalia has represented far more than a cap and gown. Dating back to the earliest European universities, graduation attire has symbolized scholarship, achievement, and entry into a respected profession. Every institution develops traditions that reflect its history, mission, and values.
At the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, commencement marks more than the completion of an educational program. It represents the moment when students leave as professionals, prepared to carry knowledge, skills, and compassionate service into the communities they will serve. Beginning with Fall 2026 graduates, PIMS will celebrate that journey with distinctive orange academic regalia inspired by the Institute’s crest and enduring mission.
A Tradition Rooted in Purpose
For many years, PIMS graduates crossed the commencement stage wearing traditional black gowns. Later, graduating students wore light gray gowns, followed more recently by sky blue.
As the Institute continued its rebranding efforts in 2025, including the return of its historic crest as the primary institutional logo, faculty and administration saw an opportunity to create commencement regalia that more fully reflected the identity of PIMS.
As an institution accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE), PIMS continually evaluates how every aspect of the student experience reflects the professionalism, purpose, and values of funeral service education.
The first choice was obvious, the distinctive PIMS green. Unfortunately, producing graduation gowns in that unique shade proved impractical.
Rather than selecting another common academic color, the Institute found its inspiration within its own crest.
The Story Told by the PIMS Crest
Since 1939, the official crest of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science has represented the educational journey of every student.
Across the top of the crest appears the Institute’s Latin motto:
Scientia • Sollertia • Servitium
Knowledge • Skills • Service
These three principles have guided PIMS since its founding and continue to define its mission, vision, and values.
Within the crest are professional emblems representing the many disciplines of funeral service, reminding students that this profession demands both technical excellence and compassionate care. At its center stands the Lamp of Knowledge, one of the crest’s most meaningful symbols. It represents education, wisdom, and the responsibility passed from one generation of funeral service professionals to the next.
It was this lamp that ultimately inspired PIMS’ newest graduation tradition.
Following Your Servant’s Heart
Every student’s journey at PIMS begins with a calling.
For generations, the Institute has embraced the belief that funeral service is more than a career. It is a profession built on compassion, integrity, humility, and service to others during some of life’s most difficult moments.
At PIMS, that calling is often described as following your servant’s heart.
Students who answer that calling spend their time at PIMS developing far more than technical knowledge. They cultivate clinical skills, professionalism, confidence, ethical judgment, and the empathy required to care for families with dignity and respect through both our Campus Program and Online Program.
Through extensive clinical education, restorative art training, embalming experience, and meaningful interactions with families, students discover that funeral service is not simply what they do, it becomes part of who they are.
Graduation marks the moment when that preparation becomes purpose.
The student who arrived eager to learn leaves prepared to serve.
Carrying the Light Into the World
The new orange graduation gown represents the flame of the Lamp of Knowledge.
Throughout a student’s education, that flame symbolizes the knowledge, skills, and values entrusted to them by faculty, mentors, and the generations of funeral service professionals who came before.
At commencement, however, the symbolism changes.
The graduate becomes the keeper of that light.
The orange gown represents more than academic achievement. It symbolizes the moment graduates carry the light of PIMS beyond the Institute and into funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, hospitals, medical examiner offices, and communities across the nation and around the world.
There, they will help families navigate some of life’s darkest hours. They will provide comfort when words are difficult to find. They will honor lives with dignity and compassion while reflecting the values that have defined PIMS since 1939.
Knowledge is meant to be shared.
Service is meant to be lived.
The light that was kindled at PIMS now shines through every graduate who carries it forward.
Complementing the orange gown is a PIMS blue tassel, creating a visual connection to the colors found within the historic PIMS crest while allowing the orange flame to remain the defining symbol of commencement.
A Tradition Carried Forward
The introduction of the orange graduation gown is more than a new tradition. It is a visible reminder of the responsibility every PIMS graduate accepts as they enter the funeral service profession.
For nearly nine decades, the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science has prepared students through its commitment to Knowledge, Skills, and Service. That commitment does not end at commencement. It continues through every graduate who serves families with compassion, professionalism, and integrity.
The orange gown symbolizes the moment when students complete one chapter of their journey and begin another. The light first kindled through their education at PIMS is no longer theirs to keep. It is theirs to share.
After following their servant’s heart into funeral service, they now carry that light into the world, helping guide families through some of life’s darkest hours.
Knowledge. Skills. Service.
The Lamp of Knowledge now belongs to the graduate.