The Washington University Alumni Association is responsible for organizing various activities designed to foster a sense of camaraderie amongst graduates.  

The inauguration of Washington University occurred on April 23, 1857, and the first class graduated from the University on June 20, 1862. This class was composed of five members. On Monday, June 23, 1862, a meeting of the graduates of the Class of 1862 was held at the residence of Dr. Williams G. Eliot. Dr. Eliot stated that the object of the meeting was to establish an “Association of the Alumni of Washington University.” From this time the Association held yearly meetings, at which the annual oration was delivered, officers elected, and other matters of interest and importance to the Alumni discussed and acted upon. In 1870 the Alumni held their first banquet.

On February 7, 1881, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, the Association having continued to that date without them. This constitution, however, limited the membership in the Association to the graduates of the Collegiate Department, and therefore the graduates of the Polytechnic School formed a “Polytechnic Alumni Association,” which grew in strength and numbers until 1886. On May 14, 1885, however, a resolution was unanimously adopted whereby the graduates of the “Scientific” courses in the Undergraduate Department were invited by the Alumni Association of Washington University to meet with them at the Annual Business Meetings and to participate in the Election of Officers. This invitation was accepted, and on January 12, 1886, the first meeting of the graduates of all the Undergraduate Departments was held, and since that date there has been but one “Alumni Association of Washington University.”

For more information about the Alumni Association, see the introduction by Everett Paul Griffin, Secretary, in the “First Annual Bulletin of The Alumni Association of Washington University” 1907, within this collection.