Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or

graduates Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. The word comes from Latin, meaning nurslings, pupils or foster children, derived from "to nourish". The term is not synonymous with "graduates": people can be alumni without graduating, e.g.

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

was an alumnus of

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

but did not graduate. The term is sometimes used to refer to former employees, former members of an organization, former contributors, or former inmates.

Etymology

The Latin noun means "foster son" or "pupil". It is derived from the Latin verb "to nourish". Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective "nourishing", found in the phrase '' alma mater'', a title for a person's home university.

Usage in Roman law

In Latin, is a legal term ( Roman law) to describe a child placed in fosterage. According to

John Boswell John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947December 24, 1994) was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality. ...

, the word "is nowhere defined in relation to status, privilege, or obligation." Citing the research of

Henri Leclercq Henri Leclercq (4 December 1869 – 23 March 1945) was a French Catholic priest, theologian, and church historian who spent most of his adult life in the United Kingdom. Biography Born in Tournai, Belgium, Leclercq attended the Catholic school t ...

Teresa Nani Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

, and

Beryl Rawson Beryl Rawson (née Wilkinson; 24 July 1933 – 22 October 2010) was an Australian academic. She was Professor and Visiting Fellow in Classics at the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University (ANU). Her work "made ANU a significant ce ...

, who studied the many inscriptions about ''alumni,'' Boswell concluded that it referred to exposed children who were taken into a household where they were "regarded as somewhere between an heir and a slave, partaking in different ways of both categories." Despite the warmth of feelings between the parent and child, "an ''alumnus'' might be treated both as a beloved child and as a household servant."

Usage

An alumnus or alumna is a former student or a graduate of an educational institution (school, college, university).''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language''
/ref> According to the United States Department of Education, the term ''alumnae'' is used in conjunction with either women's colleges or a female group of students. The term ''alumni'' is used in conjunction with either men's colleges, a male group of students, or a mixed group of students:

In accordance with the rules of grammar governing the inflexion of nouns in the Romance languages, the masculine plural alumni is correctly used for groups composed of both sexes: ''the alumni of Princeton University''.

The term is sometimes informally shortened to "alum" (optional plural "alums"). This is increasingly being used more formally as a gender-neutral alternative. However, and for this latter purpose, the option "alumn" and "alumns" are also used in some institutions in Australia, Europe and the UK. The words "alum/alums" and "alumn/alumns" (pronounced with a silent "n") are both pronounced with the accent on the second syllable (al-UM), as opposed to the chemical compound

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

and its plural, "alums" (pron. AL-um). Many universities have alumni offices that coordinate

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

and offer benefits to registered alumni. Alumni

reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

s are popular events at many institutions. These may be organized by alumni offices or by

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students (alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), ...

s, and are often social occasions for

. Full membership of alumni associations is sometimes limited just to graduates rather than all alumni, e.g. at Harvard University. Universities with validation agreements may limit some alumni benefits to graduates who studied at that university rather than at validated institutions. In British English, the terms " old boy" or "old girl" are often preferred for a former pupil of a primary or secondary school, while universities refer to their former students as alumni. Some universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of California, San Francisco and Yale University, include former postdoctoral researchers as alumni, in recognition of the trainee status of such positions. Others, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consider them 'associate alumni', without full access to alumni benefits.

References

Bibliography

External links