A common experience for students, parents, and alumni of most American universities is receiving a copy of their institution’s alumni magazine in the mail. These publications, ranging from annual newsletters to quarterly magazines, are a fixture of academic outreach and public relations. But more than just serving as a connection between campus and alumni, these publications provide a written and photographic record of the history and life of the broader campus community.

I may even be revealing a “secret sauce” for our blogs, but the alumni magazines remain one of our key sources for uncovering or delving deeper into campus history. But to fully appreciate the magazine, one needs to have access and know the evolution of the publications.

The Cardinal Magazine (2024-Present) – not to be confused with the Cardinal Yearbook – is the latest incarnation of the University’s official publication. Earlier versions include The CUA Bulletin, First Series (1895-1928), CUA Bulletin, Second Series (1932-1968), Envoy (1971-1990), CUA Magazine (1989-2017), and CatholicU Magazine (2017-2024). In addition, the University’s Alumni Association and Alumni Office sporadically published and distributed its own serial, The Alumnus between 1920-1972 (with a “merger” of the CUA Bulletin and Alumnus from 1968-1970 as the “Alumnus/Bulletin”).

In a previous blog, we highlighted the digitization of one of the earliest iterations of Catholic University’s alumni magazine, the CUA Bulletin, Second Series. In that blog, it was discussed that we planned to continue digitizing the subsequent versions of the magazine. We are pleased to announce that the next three versions of the magazine are now online – The Alumnus, Envoy, and CUA Magazine.

We are missing an occasional issue, so please contact us if you happen to have a copy that we missed: lib-archives@cua.edu

Browse the digital collections here:

CU Bulletin
The Alumnus
CUA Envoy
CUA Magazine