Recently, in my home country (Vietnam), there has been a controversy over the type of attire a university used in their recent graduation ceremony. This situation has attracted a great deal of criticism, but the one I want to talk about here is that the style of dress is "too Christian". One comment said: "Why are they 'cosplaying' as Christians? The school is not even Catholic". This got me wondering. As far as I know, the academic tradition in "western" universities originates (or at least is heavily influenced by) Christianity, right? We can see the presence of Latin in ranks, degrees, and mottos... in many universities. And since the lecturers in the past were from the clergy, it wouldn't be surprising if the modern Western-style academic dresses have priestly elements, right? So maybe the outfits in question look "too Christian" because they are Christian, or at least descend from the attire of the clergy?
Here is one of the photos from the ceremony. Sorry if my English is inadequate.
Not quite.
They come from a tradition *in Christian countries--*that of servant's liveries. From the very early medieval period in England through to around the 1600s, a servant in a rich family's household would be paid a 'livery,' a living, which included a certain amount of cloth and trimming in the family's colours as well as embroidered badges with a coat of arms delivered once a year. It was a matter of prestige to have many servants dressed neatly in family colours. The term 'livery' now doesn't mean payment in money and food but only the uniforms, but the origin was a living stipend. This practice was common throughout western Europe--if you've read Romeo and Juliet, the reason that the servants of the Montagues and the Capulets recognise each other is that they're all in liveries--but I only really know about the practice in England.
When the early colleges were being formed (Oxford, Cambridge, Bologna etc.) this was how households were structured, and unlike later domestic staff it was expected that many servants would be educated noblemen. A steward, usher, attendant and so forth would be expected to be only one stage or so down the ladder of nobility. A 'henchman' originally would be a sort of non-military knight's squire, a boy sent to the house of a higher-ranking nobleman to learn how to conduct himself in society.
And these households, which had up to five hundred people year-round, included children, both children of servants and children as servants. They had tutors, grammar masters (and dedicated chaplains, so the education took a decidedly Christian bent) for the education of the younger boys. The teachers for universities like Oxford and Cambridge were recruited from roles like these, and they were used to that structure. The gowns in specific colours as purchased by the college, then, are equivalent to the liveries of upper servants in a noble household, including the hierarchies of costume from fellows to professors and lecturers to students.
However, those early Western European colleges were highly religious institutions. Many aspects of modern international education are, in subtle and less subtle ways, influenced by Christianity. I will add that the picture you've attached does resemble in many ways to me various Vatican ceremonial costumes, but I don't know enough about modern Catholicism or about Vietmanese clothing to comment on that.
Most of the information on household structure and livery's adaption into scholar's robes comes from 'Up and Down Stairs' by Jeremy Musson.
