Symbol of religious authority about to be given to US university (5)
I believe the answer is:
mitre
'symbol of religious authority' is the definition.
'about to be given to us university' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 're' (regarding).
'to be given to' says to put letters next to each other.
'us university' becomes 'mit' (I've seen this in other clues).
're' put after 'mit' is 'MITRE'.
(Other definitions for mitre that I've seen before include "Clerical coverage" , "Corner joint - bishop's hat" , "What a bishop may have on" , "Type of joint - bishop's hat" , "Episcopal headdress" .)