Connecticut Agricultural College's Class of 1907 was the first graduating class to wear caps and gowns. The graduates, standing on the steps to Grove Cottage, the women's dormitory from 1896 to 1919, include Lena Hurlburt, fifth from right. Hurlburt was captain of the women's basketball team and first woman on the staff of The Lookout, the student newspaper.

As candidates for graduation came forward to receive their diplomas on June 14, 1907, they looked different from their predecessors at Connecticut Agricultural College.

They were wearing caps and gowns.

The Class of 1907 was the first class to wear academic gowns and mortar board caps to their commencement exercises at CAC. Previously the graduates had worn either suits and ties or hand-sewn dresses.  In the more traditional academic garb, the graduates in 1907 listened as Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, pastor of Center Church in Hartford and later dean of the Hartford Seminary, deliver an address on “The School of Life”.

Also on June 14 in UConn history:

1895 – Andrew L. Hyde elected as first alumni trustee;

1899 – Storrs Agricultural College became Connecticut Agricultural College;

1914 – Gold Hall, first residence hall for men, burned down. It had been built in 1890;

1963 – The Mace, symbol of University authority, was first used at Commencement.