Alumni Association 135 Years
1980s - 1990s
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| President David Knapp (right) presents an award to alumnus Andrew C. Knowles III |
As a state-wide budget crisis continued to create difficult times for UMass Amherst during the late 70s and early 80s, a new focus was put on alumni giving. In a letter to alumni in 1981, University President David C. Knapp wrote: “In the wake of Proposition 2 ½ and President Reagan’s plan to cut the federal budget, the university is faced with perhaps its most difficult budget year since 1975… I call on all friends of the University to gear up for a struggle to maintain our current standards of excellence… higher education in general and particularly public higher education will be under siege in the coming months.”
With no immediate end in sight to the university’s financial crisis, the Association took the lead in providing students with vital links to industry contacts. Alumni were recruited to be a part of an “alumni skills bank.” The program brought alumni back to campus to meet with seniors to discuss a variety of job opportunities. Through an endowment from the Trustees of the UMass Building Association, the Eleanor Bateman Alumni Scholar in Residence program was established to enrich the student curriculum with lectures, workshops and seminars from accomplished alumni.
As the state ordered further budget cuts, the number of alumni making major commitments to the university grew. Members of reunion classes gave more than $200,000, contributing to a record $2.87 million raised from alumni, parents and friends by the mid 80s. Alumnus Andrew C. Knowles III ’57 chaired the university’s first major effort to find financial resources for programs in the private sector since before 1920. The goal was to raise $5.5 million for the School of Engineering to upgrade teaching and laboratory facilities.
In 1983, the name of the organization was changed from Associate Alumni of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Inc. to University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association, Inc. And in April of 1984, the Internal Revenue Service informed the Corporation that it had been granted 501(c)(3) status as an educational non-profit organization.
By the early 90s, the university’s financial picture became a bit brighter, in large part thanks to the support of alumni and friends. According to Director of Alumni Relations John Fuedo, an increase in the state budget allocation to UMass Amherst was a direct result of increased lobbying on the part of parents, students and alumni. “It’s about time that the UMass alumni unleashed that power of influence” on the legislature, he said in the fall 1994 issue of Alumni Connections.
That same year, the members approved a dues-based membership program, which was intended to help the Alumni Association carry out its mission statement to serve and promote the interests of students, alumni and the university.
The next decade in the Alumni Association’s history will bring it to its 135th year of service to the students and graduates of UMass Amherst. In our final installment, we’ll look at the role the Association currently plays at UMass Amherst.
Read about the Alumni Association’s beginnings as we celebrate 135 years of service to students, alumni and the university.
1874 - 1920s
1930s - 1950s
1960s – 1970s
Special thanks to the Special Collections & University Archives