Yes, you are able to set up your SJU Gmail account to send from your alias. By default, your account will only send mail from <username>@sju.edu, however the alias will be active for receiving e-mail and nothing needs to be done on that aspect, so you will not be losing any messages sent to your alias. What you will need to do is to configure your Gmail account to use your alias as your sender address, which is done as follows:
- Log in to your SJU Gmail account
- Click the gear icon in the upper right, then select Settings.
- Click the Accounts tab
- Click on "Add another email address you own"
- On the window that pops up, enter your alias e-mail address, leave the "Treat as an alias" checkbox checked, and click on "Next Step"
- Click on "Send Verification" to send a verification message to the alias address
- When you receive the message, click on the verification link in it or copy the verification code and paste it into the verification window and then click on Verify
- Return to the Account Settings page in Google, where you'll find your alias listed, and click on "Make Default" to activate it as your primary address
- Optionally, on the same page, you can select whether to reply to messages from the address that the originals were sent to, or to always reply using the default address; the options are labeled "Reply from the same address the message was sent to" and "Always reply from default address", respectively
Please note that, much like with The Nest, changing the default address to your alias will not change the username that you will use for logging in to Gmail.