Even in the very beginnings of professional social work, which the School symbolized, students had a sense of kinship with those who had been before and those who would follow. Soon the small group of "graduates" called themselves the Association of the Summer School with the aim of "perpetuating the acquaintance and good fellowship of the Summer School and to acquaint the members of different classes with each other." They also promoted the idea of providing scholarships each year. 

With more and more alumni/ae joining the ranks of the Association, annual reunion days were instituted which were the forerunners of the present Annual Alumni Conference. In his reunion day address in 1916, Association President Edward Hochhauser urged the alumni/ae to be "not only alive, but [to] be vigorous and even blatantly alive." With a stronger organizational structure and annual meetings of alumni/ae, plans were made to raise funds for more fellowships and to undertake other activities. Now called the Association of the New York School of Social Work (the School having changed its name in l919), a constitution was adopted by the group in l923. It stated that full membe rs of the Association had to have a diploma or certificate, or be among the students enrolled before 1906. Associate memberships were given to those in other categories. 

The relationship between the School and its graduates became central to its educational excellence and professional development. In l920, the Alumni Number of the Bulletin replaced the Annual Director's Report of faculty, staff and alumni news. The pr esident of the Association was also named an ex-officio member of the School's Board of Trustees, in much the same way that the Alumni Association president is ex-officio to the current CUSSW Advisory Council. 

Alumni/ae programs branched out to include raising money for the School's endowment, recruiting students and supporting the Alumni Fellowship. Four hundred dollars was the sum voted on by the Association for the first award to Clara Hilderman, but in o rder to give this amount, it was necessary to request all members to send in their delinquent dues of fifty cents! 

The need to help students financially has always been a pressing one at the School and the Association took up the challenge, leading the way for the establishment over the ensuing years of more than fifty scholarships by alumni/ae or their families. The Commemorative Fund was another important fund initiated by graduates as a means of providing opportunities to honor or memorialize colleagues through gifts that would help meet other special student and School needs. 

By l932, the Association had an annual campaign for dues with a list of approximately 2,000 members. There were committees appointed for finance, the Newsletter, conferences (begun in l928) and special events such as the Alumni-Students-Faculty Tea. The Alumni Council, the official governing body, met monthly when needed to review the Association's program. The Newsletter was sent to all graduates of the School and to alumni/ae who had completed a minimum of three full-time quarters. Although this was very costly on their small budget, alumni/ae knew this was a way to keep graduates aware of the School's activities and those of their colleagues around the country. 

Officially incorporated in 1942, the group changed its name legally to the Association of the New York School of Social Work. The purposes were to promote the interests of the School, to benefit and serve students and alumni/ae, and to assist in the ad vancement of social work as a profession. Also--to collect funds for various projects. In addition, its aim was to "create and control an annual fund for the use of the New York School of Social Work of the Community Service Society." Corporate opera tions were conducted in New York City and the number of directors was to be " not less than three nor more than twenty." 

Some major changes took place in the 1950s, when the School took over the Association's financial burdens. Membership dues were abolished and an administrative alumni/ae secretary was hired to supervise the office and alumni/ae programs. Dean Kenneth Johnson urged this as an important step in increasing the membership and productivity of the Association. 

Similar arrangements continued for the next ten years until the School became fully integrated into the Columbia University corporation in l955, at which time the School's name changed officially, possibly for the last time, to the Columbia University School of Social Work. The Association's corporation was dissolved around that time and it now has a permanent department within the administrative structure of the School. 

Staffed by professionals in the alumni/ae and development field and under the leadership of the Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations, the program covers a range of interests and helps provide the School and its graduates with the very be st in support, alumni/ae programs and services. In addition, the office spearheads fundraising drives for professorships, scholarships and Annual Fund gifts. Contributors to CUSSW are listed annually in the Honor Roll of Donors and have helped the Schoo l achieve an endowment of more than $40 million in gifts and pledges from its many alumni/ae and friends. 

The stature of the Alumni Association was greatly increased when membership in the Alumni Federation was opened to all alumni/ae of the University in the 1970s. In previous years, dues were based on the number of members and CUSSW was not in a positio n to join. Not long after, a CUSSW graduate was elected to the Columbia University Board of Trustees and in the last 25 years the School has had outstanding representation from its CUSSW Alumni/ae Trustees: Ann Sand '54, Marylin B. Levitt '73 '82DSW, Ma ureen A. Cogan '77, and the late Maurice V. Russell '50. In addition, sixteen alumni/ae have been selected by the Federation as recipients of the Alumni Medal for Outstanding Service, and two of the prestigious Columbia University medals for Excellence-- given to alumni/ae under 45 years of age-- have been awarded to Dr. Augusta Kappner and the late Bishop Emerson Moore. Many alumni/ae have also held leadership positions in professional associations such as the International Federation of Social Workers and the National Association of Social Workers. 

The programs initiated and carried on by the Alumni Association during its more than nine decades include professional development, continuing education, career development, ethnic conferences, retired alumni/ae projects, mentoring, regional gatherings , oral history programs and 25th and 50th anniversary celebrations each year at the Annual Alumni Conference. Among the many awards established by alumni/ae were the Wise Award, the Kenworthy Award, the Hearn Award, and the Social Welfare Award, presente d to the Rockefeller family on the 65th anniversary of CUSSW.