A Collection of College Words and Customs | Page 5

so crooked,
Sprains all his wits to overlook it. His sickness puts on every name, Its cause and uses
still the same; 'Tis toothache, colic, gout, or stone, With phases various as the moon, But
tho' thro' all the body spread, Still makes its cap'tal seat, the head. In all diseases, 'tis
expected, The weakest parts be most infected." Ed. 1794,
Part I. p. 8.
ÆGROTAT DEGREE. One who is sick or so indisposed that he cannot attend the
Senate-House examination, nor consequently acquire any honor, takes what is termed an
Ægrotat degree.--Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 105.
ALMA MATER, pl. ALMÆ MATRES. Fostering mother; a college or seminary where
one is educated. The title was originally given to Oxford and Cambridge, by such as had
received their education in either university.
It must give pleasure to the alumni of the College to hear of his good name, as he
[Benjamin Woodbridge] was the eldest son of our alma mater.--Peirce's Hist. Harv.
Univ., App., p. 57.

I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our Almæ Matres, assented to by sundry of
their children.--Terræ-Filius, Oxford, p. 41.
ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF. An association composed of the graduates of a particular
college. The object of societies of this nature is stated in the following extract from
President Hopkins's Address before the Society of Alumni of Williams College, Aug. 16,
1843. "So far as I know, the Society of the Alumni of Williams College was the first
association of the kind in this country, certainly the first which acted efficiently, and
called forth literary addresses. It was formed September 5, 1821, and the preamble to the
constitution then adopted was as follows: 'For the promotion of literature and good
fellowship among ourselves, and the better to advance the reputation and interests of our
Alma Mater, we the subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form ourselves into a
Society.' The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank. The first orator elected was the Hon.
Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished Senator of the United States. That appointment was not
fulfilled. The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge, now of
Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion; and since that time the annual oration
before the Alumni has seldom failed.... Since this Society was formed, the example has
been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to extend to them all. Last year, for the
first time, the voice of an Alumnus orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale; and one of
these associations, I know, sprung directly from ours. It is but three years since a
venerable man attended the meeting of our Alumni, one of those that have been so full of
interest, and he said he should go directly home and have such an association formed at
the Commencement of his Alma Mater, then about to occur. He did so. That association
was formed, and the last year the voice of one of the first scholars and jurists in the nation
was heard before them. The present year the Alumni of Dartmouth were addressed for the
first time, and the doctrine of Progress was illustrated by the distinguished speaker in
more senses than one.[01] Who can tell how great the influence of such associations may
become in cherishing kind feeling, in fostering literature, in calling out talent, in leading
men to act, not selfishly, but more efficiently for the general cause through particular
institutions?"--Pres. Hopkins's Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses, pp. 275-277.
To the same effect also, Mr. Chief Justice Story, who, in his Discourse before the Society
of the Alumni of Harvard University, Aug. 23, 1842, says: "We meet to celebrate the first
anniversary of the society of all the Alumni of Harvard. We meet without any distinction
of sect or party, or of rank or profession, in church or in state, in literature or in science....
Our fellowship is designed to be--as it should be--of the most liberal and comprehensive
character, conceived in the spirit of catholic benevolence, asking no creed but the love of
letters, seeking no end but the encouragement of learning, and imposing no conditions,
which say lead to jealousy or ambitious strife. In short, we meet for peace and for union;
to devote one day in the year to academical intercourse and the amenities of scholars."--p.
4.
An Alumni society was formed at Columbia College in the year 1829, and at Rutgers
College in 1837. There are also societies of this nature at the College of New Jersey,
Princeton; University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and at Columbian College,
Washington.

ALUMNUS, pl. ALUMNI. Latin, from alo, to nourish. A pupil; one educated at a
seminary or college is called an alumnus of that institution.
A.M. An abbreviation for Artium Magister, Master of Arts. The second