The UB mace is designed to tell the story of UB and the Niagara Frontier. Fashioned by silversmith Hudson Roysher of Arcadia, Calif., it was used for the first time in 1962. Engraved atop a miniature walled structure representing the City of Buffalo are three arrows bound together, symbolizing the unity of UB and the city.

Other details include symbolic representations of the discovery of Lake Erie in 1669 by Joliet and early explorations by LaSalle. A crest symbolizes UB’s role as a dynamic center of human growth and welfare. The motto “University and City Community” is lettered in Latin around the knob of the shaft.

Academic attire or regalia has its roots in the universities of the Middle Ages and is most colorful at major academic events such as a presidential investiture ceremony. Traditionally, the university president and his academic colleagues who are part of the platform party, or who are marching in the processional and recessional, wear robes that symbolize their advanced degrees and the institutions around the country and world where they studied and began their scholarly careers.

At the moment during the ceremony when Satish K. Tripathi is formally invested with the presidency, he dons the silver medallion bearing the seal or emblem of his office. He will subsequently wear the medallion on official university occasions such as commencement, or at academic convocations or other ceremonial events.