In July 1869, University President Thomas Henry Burrowes, on very short notice, hosted what turned out to be a small group of alumni at an open house called Harvest Home. It was a homecoming of sorts for returning former students, although the first official homecoming celebration was not until 1920. The second year, attendance was much higher with more than 2,000 alumni and friends returning for several days of festivities, including farm exhibitions and lectures.

At this second Harvest Home celebration, a group of alumni decided that the time was right for the formation of an alumni society. The first meeting was held in a chemistry room in Old Main on July 28, 1870—nine years after the first students graduated.  A.A. Breneman ’66, a professor of chemistry, was elected president and John Thompson ’64 was named secretary. Thus, the Alumni Association was conceived and would continue to develop over the years into the powerful network that it is today.

Highlighting this evolution, are events such as the first alumni chapter, which was established in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1898.  The first organized class reunion took place in 1911 when the college’s first graduating class of 1861 celebrated its 50th.

Membership in the Penn State Alumni Association hit 25,000 in 1970 and 100,000 in 1987.

Today the Alumni Association has more than 150,000 members and a network of affiliate groups that totals more than 300. The Blue & White Society, the student membership of the Association, continues to thrive. The Lion Ambassadors—an organization founded in 1981—serves as the student alumni corps, working to strengthen Penn State’s traditions and impress a sense of pride and involvement upon the minds of students, alumni, and friends.

We are largest dues-paying alumni association in the country—having held that status since 1995. We also strives to be the most ambitious organization of our kind, following a mission “to connect alumni to the University and to each other, to provide valued services to members, and to support the University’s mission of teaching, research, and service.”