Being an Alumni

[MrBug708]

Or is it Almunus?

Do you need to graduate from a school to be considered an alumni? Or do you just need to attend the school to be part of it?

[terpkristin]

Alumnus and alumna both come from Latin and preserve Latin plurals. Alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnae/i, which is the choice of many women's colleges that have begun to admit men.

It seems that the definition varies. Most of the ones I found on the web indicate that you must be a graduate of a place to be considered an alum*. However, some definitions say "former student of..." so going my "majority rules" I'd say you have to be a graduate to be considered an alum* but it's a shaky definition.

/tk

[PilotMan]

I was always told that alumnus is singular and alumni is the plural.

You would be an alumnus.

In either case I would say that you would need to graduate to be considered either.

[aran]

Yeah... You need to graduate to be an alumnus, but if you have multiple personalities and they all graduate, then you're alumni.

[Tekneek]

You need to graduate, otherwise you're just a former student.

[Young Drachma]

It depends on the institution. For example, you often hear that Tiger Woods is a Stanford Alum, but of course..he never graduated.

Even my small college considered former VP candidate James Stockdale an alumnus, even though he left after a year to attend the Naval Academy.

So I think the rule of thumb is, "if you do something prominent or become famous and can give us money" then you can not have graduated and be an alumnus. Otherwise, probably helps to have graduated.

[Tekneek]

So I think the rule of thumb is, "if you do something prominent or become famous and can give us money" then you can not have graduated and be an alumnus. Otherwise, probably helps to have graduated.

"If claiming you brings us prestige and/or money, you're part of the alumni."

[HomerJSimpson]

Another definition: "If the college calls you 4 times a year and begs money, you are an alumnus."

[Tekneek]

Another definition: "If the college calls you 4 times a year and begs money, you are an alumnus."

Hahah. That reminds me about when I was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article while I was in school. They must have been going nuts in the Administration building because different offices started calling right around 7:30 in the morning and did this over and over for a couple of weeks.

[stevew]

At the college i went to, anyone with 30 or more hours was an alumnus.