A Trojan for Life

A Trojan for Life. . In June 15, 1885, the eight men and women who made up USC’s first two graduating classes gathered in a two-story wooden structure called the University Building to establish an alumni association. The group adopted a temporary constitution and bylaws and elected half its membership to office. George Finley Bovard, ’84, brother of USC’s president and later president of USC himself, served as the organization’s first president. Although it was little more than a social club for graduates of the College of Liberal Arts, known chiefly for the annual reunion banquets it held during Commencement week, this first alumni association helped keep many members of the Trojan Family connected to their alma mater until a university-wide organization, the General Alumni Association, was formed in 1923. , The General Alumni Association (GAA), founded when the university was 43 years old, elicited an immediate response among USC’s growing number of graduates. With President Edward L. Doheny, Jr. (’13) at the helm, its membership climbed to 4,800 in little over a year. The GAA took over publication of the alumni magazine, which had been launched in 1917, and organized Trojan Clubs in towns and cities around the country. The association also made its impact felt on campus. In 1924, it inaugurated an annual Homecoming celebration, and over the next decade and a half, devoted considerable time and raised funds to create Alumni Park, the Trojan Shrine (Tommy Trojan) and the Alumni Memorial Pylon and was instrumental in persuading the city to remove the street car lines and utility poles along University Avenue, today’s Trousdale Parkway. Other activities included class reunions; fundraising, including a “Loyalty Fund” to finance its operations and provide support to the university; and job placement services. , After World War II, under the leadership of executive director Arnold Eddy, the GAA bounced back with a flurry of activity, inaugurating many programs that continue today, including various women’s organizations, the USC Clubs, an academic open house and SCions, a group made up of the relatives of USC alumni. , Today, the General Alumni Association assists with student recruitment around the world, generates and awards hundreds of scholarships and continues to sponsor Homecoming, the academic open house and other activities. Members serve as mentors and provide internships for students. Since 1976, the GAA has, fittingly, been headquartered in the university's first building, now called Widney Alumni House, the same building where USC’s first alumni association had been founded nearly a century earlier.