In this May 7, 2018, photo, UNLV associate professor Sheila Bock speaks the with the Associated Press at her office in Las Vegas. Bock has been researching how and why students decorate their caps and says the themes over the years have become increasingly political. From “Game of Loans, interest is coming” to “Si Se Puede, Here To Stay,” graduating college students are choosing to decorate their graduation caps, pushing against the formality of ceremonies and taking a stand on an issue before the thousands watching them cross the stage. (AP Photo/John Locher)
In this May 7, 2018, photo, UNLV associate professor Sheila Bock speaks the with the Associated Press at her office in Las Vegas. Bock has been researching how and why students decorate their caps and says the themes over the years have become increasingly political. From “Game of Loans, interest is coming” to “Si Se Puede, Here To Stay,” graduating college students are choosing to decorate their graduation caps, pushing against the formality of ceremonies and taking a stand on an issue before the thousands watching them cross the stage. (AP Photo/John Locher) Credit: ap photograph

Las Vegas — The black letters contrast sharply with the graduation cap’s red fabric. They spell: “Vuela tan alto como puedas sin olvidar de donde vienes.”

“Fly as high as you can without forgetting where you come from.”

That’s the message that Brenda Romero, who crossed the border from Mexico with her mother when she was 2, wants to spread as she graduates Saturday from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her decorated mortarboard is part of an emerging trend in which students are pushing against the formality of graduation ceremonies and choosing to stand out in a sea of monochromatic caps and gowns by expressing joy, angst or, increasingly, political opinions.

Photos shared on social media show mortarboards adorned with expressions of gratitude toward family members and hope for the future, with phrases like “The best is yet to come” and “On to my new dream.”

Plenty also highlight the cost of higher education. “This hat was $95,990,” one cap reads. Another states: “Game of Loans. Interest is coming.”

And caps proclaiming that “Nevertheless, she persisted” abound.

The informal practice, which is not necessarily encouraged by institutions, has been around for years and is used by students to express their individuality. But over the past couple of years, it has taken a more political tone, said Sheila Bock, a folklorist and professor at UNLV.

“That desire of wanting to make aspects of one’s self visible that are otherwise invisible has always been there,” said Bock, who is researching how and why students decorate their mortarboards.

“But within the last couple of years, those types of assertions — particularly as they relate to citizenship, places of origin, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation — have taken more significance as they move into this mode of public display.”

Bock has been tracking what students put on their caps through social media posts, as well as by attending commencements, photographing mortarboards and interviewing dozens of students.