Alumni Association

Organized in 1831, the Trinity College Alumni Association (TCAA) is a network of Trinity graduates working to preserve and maintain a strong relationship with the College.

On August 3, 1831, the organization was formed under the name Associate Alumni, and Isaac Edwin Crary, Class of 1827, was elected president.¹⁾ The Associates held their meetings in Christ Church, an Episcopal church in downtown Hartford where commencements were also held. In 1839, the Trustees were placed in the embarrassing position of asking the Associate Alumni for support in replenishing its mineralogical cabinet, which was depleted, and, indirectly, admitted that the College was in financial straits and needed support. However, at the time, “The Associate Alumni of Washington College had been one of the earliest of such organizations,” with little time to have built the structures it would use in the future. Further, “in 1839 the first graduating class was just twelve years out of college, and that of the 140 living alumni, 55 were either clergymen or students of theology, and with clerical salaries then little more than pittances.”²⁾

The Associate Alumni pushed for Washington College to change its name to Trinity College as early as 1842, as “High Churchmen among the Alumni had long been dissatisfied with the institution's designation as Washington College.” They also wished for Trinity College to take on a distinctly Anglican academic air. In 1845, the College did change its name, and the alumni organization was reorganized as part of the House of Convocation, which would function as a branch of the Academic Senate in an attempt to give the alumni more power and participation in the life of the College.

In 1870, the Trinity Tablet reported that a large number of Trinity graduates would be pursuing work in New York City, and so a New York Alumni Association was formed. Its first meeting, held in June 1870, was considered the “First Annual Reunion.” The New England Alumni Association followed in 1877, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in 1880 and 1881 respectively, Georgia in 1883, and California and Maryland shortly thereafter.

In 1882, the Board of Trustees opted to elect three alumni to its numbers, and amended the Charter to reflect this; meanwhile, the College was becoming aware that the House of Convocation was mostly inactive, to the point that it became a target of mockery by students. With the election of the first alumni to the Board of Trustees, however, the Alumni organization “took on new life.” The Convocation also petitioned the trustees to change the name to “Association of the Alumni of Trinity College,” as they wished to “regularize their terminology” with that of other colleges' alumni organizations. As a result, by December 1883, the students observed that “great and enthusiastic” was the “interest of the alumni in the affairs of the College.” After decades of inactivity, it was “unprecedented.”³⁾

In 1958, the Association created an Alumni Council, which held its first conference in September of that year. The Council was to serve as “a year-round organization to advise the College administration on matters concerning alumni activities.”⁴⁾

In regard to alumni programs, in September 1990, the College hosted the first Black Alumni Gathering, which helped strengthen ties between black undergraduates and alumni, especially the mentor program, and facilitated discussions of ways in which black alumni could become more involved in the admissions and alumni programs as well as in other College activities. Co-chaired by Joanne A. Epps '73 and Donald K.Jackson '83, the event was highly successful and led three years later to the establishment of the Black Alumni Organization as a part of the National Alumni Association and the creation of the Black-American Alumni Scholarship Fund, whose first student scholar was Tanya D. Jones '97. In April 1995, the Black Alumni Organization helped celebrate the 25th anniversary of Umoja House.⁵⁾

During the 1990s, the Alumni Association also sought to revive the Board of Fellows, by looking for new ways for the Fellows to serve and assist the College more effectively.

Current alumni “Area Clubs” include Boston, Fairfield County, Hartford, Los Angeles, New York City, Southwest Florida, and Washington, D.C. As in the early years of the College, Area Clubs help to foster a sense of camaraderie among alumni as well as helping to maintain friendships and provide educational and networking opportunities. Area Clubs are the primary way Trinity College stays connected to its alumni base.

The Alumni Association is comprised of an Executive Committee as well as smaller subcommittees. The current structure of the Association requires that at least 14 members serve as representatives of the whole alumni body. The TCAA was called the “Society of Associate Alumni” and “National Alumni Association” until 2019.

The Association's work is centered on preserving the bond between alumni and the College through annual meetings, the establishment of alumni awards, and detailed reports of alumni work. These reports were often published in the Trinity College Bulletin as well as the Trinity College Alumni Magazine, and discussed funding, changes in Association leadership, and updates on programs established by the Association. Programs have centered on reaching out to and interviewing prospective students, as well as improving public relations by implementing resources like an alumni calendar and newsletter. Currently, The Trinity Reporter disseminates information pertaining to College alumni.