Celebrating 150 years

150th Birthday Celebration Scrapbook

Alumni Profiles

Media Kit

Come Join Us! | PDF version (55.1 kb)
Ways to Celebrate | PDF version (19.7 kb)
News Release
Schedule of 2004 Events
About the IUAA | PDF version (18.4 kb)
150th Logo | PDF version (125 kb)
Indiana Challenge puzzle by Will Shortz
Radio spot to promote IU Alumni Association Day - Presented in Real Media streaming audio

History Summary

From the ashes of a young college that lay in ruins just 30 years after admitting its first students arose not only one of the most respected universities in the world, but also one of the world's preeminent alumni associations.

The Indiana University Alumni Association started with a fire — a midnight blaze that reduced to rubble a young frontier college already struggling for students and recognition. That fire could have made ashes of alumni aspirations for their alma mater as well — but it didn't. Instead, it galvanized a group of visionary graduates of Indiana University, inspiring them to create an association that would not only rebuild their beloved campus, but that would also help to build the future of a world-class university.

Today, the Indiana University Alumni Association serves more than 450,000 living IU graduates around the globe. Along with supporting programs that provide tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships each year, creating commencement ceremonies that make lifelong memories, and welcoming alumni back through Homecoming and a variety of other special events, the IUAA connects alumni to each other, and to their alma mater, through chapters, travel, lifelong learning, and many other rewarding opportunities.

Most of all, however, the IUAA continues to serve IU and its internationally respected missions of education, research, and service. It is significant that IU's "Society of Alumni" began when it did, after a fire that threatened the very future of the university. Today, a symbolic fire still burns within the IUAA and its members, inspiring them to support the university, its students, its faculty, and its reputation for excellence, not merely in times of crisis, but every day, and in every way possible.

— excerpt from Indiana Alumni Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2004

Visit this site throughout the year for 150th highlights and profiles of alumni.

View the Indiana University Alumni Association 150th timeline, and explore the significant events that have occurred from 1854-2004. To view this multimedia experience, you will need the Flash plug-in.

IU Alumni Association President, Ken Beckley, celebrating IUAA's 150th birthday at the Hoosiers for Higher Education luncheon.