Graduation caps decorated to celebrate accomplishment but also promote political messages.

UNLV professor and folklorist Sheila Bock studies trends behind graduation caps.

In a sea of graduation caps, how do you stand out? Increasingly, students are decorating their caps to showcase some part of their life.

Isabella Rooks, who will graduate Saturday with a degree in theater arts, is among the growing number of college students who bedazzle their mortarboards with gems, lace and glitter to add funny, serious, political or playful messages to the ceremonial accessory.

UNLV professor and folklorist Sheila Bock began studying trends behind graduation caps after she first arrived in Las Vegas in 2011. She began formally researching in 2015, taking photos from around the country and interviewing students on their graduation cap design choices.

Students at the three state universities and dozens of community colleges are graduating in ceremonies now and in coming weeks. Graduation caps let these students subvert traditional, and formal, commencement rituals.

In a sea of graduation caps, how do you stand out? Increasingly, students are decorating their caps to showcase some part of their life.

Higher education has been transformed in countless ways over the past few centuries, but one thing remains largely unchanged: the mortar boards worn on graduation day.