Antedating of "Yalie"

[Baker, John]

        Well, at least when I was there (1977 - 1981), "Colonels" at Centre referred specifically to the teams and not to people.  It was rarely extended even to the people on the teams - someone would say "I'm on the football team," not "I'm a Colonel."  The college uses "Colonel" to designate alumni who have met certain contribution standards, but even that, I believe, is only in the alumni publications.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Wilton [mailto:dave at WILTON.NET]
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 7:14 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Yalie"


> Haven!)  Many colleges, I daresay the majority, have no word
> at all for their people.  I have no idea what to call someone
> at my own undergraduate alma mater, Centre College -
> Centrists, perhaps?

I would dispute that. Most colleges and universities do indeed have a word
for their students and alumni, usually a variant on their athletic mascot. A
"Quaker" is from Penn, a "Trojan" from USC, a "Tiger" from Princeton, and a
"Pard" (Leopard) from my alma mater, Lafayette. Few of these names enter the
general consciousness though, probably because few schools achieve the
iconic status that Harvard and Yale have.

Harvard would seem to be an exception (probably because "Crimson" doesn't
lend itself to this form). Yale, interestingly, has two ("Yalie" and "Eli")
that are unrelated to the Bulldog mascot. Georgetown also has a non-mascot
name, "Hoya."

I would bet that if you looked at the Centre College newspaper, you would
see "Colonels" used to refer to the student body and alumni.