Who Are Our Alumni?

“Alumni shall be life-long members of the college, since St. John’s College is a community not limited by geographical location or fixed periods of time” (Polity, Article XIV, Section 1)   

The college’s governing document, the Polity, states in Article I, The College, Definition of Terms, that “Alumni” shall refer to (i) those who have been awarded a degree by the College, (ii) those who withdrew or separated in good standing after completing at least two semesters of undergraduate study or at least one segment of Graduate Institute study provided that a) in the case of Undergraduate Students, the class with which they matriculated has graduated, or b) in the case of Graduate Students, at the end of three full sessions of the Graduate Institute after the one in which they last enrolled, and (iii) those who have been designated as honorary members of the Alumni Association of St. John’s College. All who have ever been Alumni shall continue to be.

A Polity for the College was first instituted in 1945 by St. John’s College President and New Program founder Stringfellow Barr, who requested, “the type of polity that might serve the college community best and would be appropriately adapted to and coordinated with the aims of the program.” Since that time, the Polity has remained the college’s principal governing document, overseen by the Board in consultation with the faculty, and subject to a quinquennial review.