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. 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 “Associate Alumni” and “National Alumni Association” until 2019.

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⁾

It was the Associate Alumni pushed for Washington College to change its name to Trinity College as early a 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 absorbed into the House of Convocation, which would function as a third branch of the Academic Senate, along with the faculty and Trustees, in an attempt to give the alumni more power and participation in the life of the College.

In 1883, with the election–for the first time–of three alumni to the Board of Trustees, the Alumni Association “took on new life.” The Convocation then petitioned the trustees to change the name to “Association of Alumni of Trinity College.” ³⁾

Even before the establishment of a larger, general alumni association, there were many active alumni association groups located around the U.S. which were instrumental to the work of the larger Association, particularly with regard to fundraising. Early groups included: Boston, Buffalo, California, Chicago, Detroit, Georgia, Hartford, Maryland, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, and Washington D.C., as well as regional groups like New England. By 1958 the Association had 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⁾

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 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.