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Have you ever wondered about the word Alumnus?
The word Alumnus, commonly referring to a person who has received a degree from a school (high school, college or university), does have other meanings as well. Strictly speaking, 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, which is the choice of many women’s colleges that have begun to admit men. Originally from the Latin pupil, from alere, “to nourish,” we hope this gives you a better sense of belonging.
Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism, both terms are used for mixed groups: the “alumni/alumnae of Redondo High School” or the “alumni and alumnae of Redondo High School.” While not quite equivalent in meaning, the terms graduate and graduates avoid the complexities of the Latin forms and eliminate any need for using a masculine plural form to refer to both sexes.
We thank Dictionary.com for their help in making these little known facts crystal clear.
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High School Archives
Congratulations to Mel Younker, ‘49, now of Reno, NV, for correctly identifying January’s Picture of the Month as the 1949 Co-ed Ball. The picture, taken in the boy’s gym, appeared in the 1949 Pilot and depicts the king and queen and their entire court, all well-dressed and presumably well-behaved participants.
