Alumni Association History

The first class graduated from the University of Michigan on August 6, 1845, and had 11 members. Immediately following the graduation, a Society of the Alumni was formed to plan and procure an orator and poet for the next annual meeting.

Through the rest of the 19th century, there were various alumni activities but most were unstructured. In 1868, the first regional alumni meeting took place in Chicago. Meetings in San Francisco and Japan followed.

By 1892, there were 11,449 alumni of the University of Michigan and alumni societies for graduates of LS&A, law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and homeopathic medicine. On June 30, 1897, representatives from the six societies met in the old chapel in University Hall and voted to consolidate into one unified alumni organization, thus creating the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan.

Less than a month later, alumni leaders made certain that the newly created Alumni Association was officially recognized as an independent, non-profit corporation, organized under the laws of Michigan. Before the year was over, the Alumni Association purchased Michigan Alumnus, the magazine begun three years earlier by Alvick Pearson, a member of the class of 1894. Before 1897 came to a close, the Alumni Association hired a full-time, salaried administrator, becoming the first alumni organization in the world to do so.

Historically, the Association's mission has been two fold: to develop a knowledgeable and unified alumni constituency dedicated to the well-being of the University and to generate programs of worth in response to the varied interests of the alumni body. This has steadfastly remained the mission throughout the Association's almost 200-year existence, as reflected in its current mission statement adopted by the Alumni Association's board of directors in April 1995:

The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is an independent, worldwide organization that nurtures lifelong relationships with and among current and future Michigan alumni. As a committed partner of the University, the Association offers programs of relevance and service to alumni and creates support for the University. Underlying all that we do is in the belief in the value of education to the well-being of society, and a commitment to integrity, diversity and service.

The Alumni Center, which was dedicated in 1982, is yet another tangible example of the service and support on behalf of the University's alumni. It houses the Alumni Association offices and serves as the campus home for all returning alumni and their families.