Lowell Technological Institute - Pickout Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

Page 25 text:

Hlumtii Association „ BOUT the latter part of May, in the year nineteen hun- J j J dred, the first regular graduating class of the School met in the Art Department, which was then situated on the top floor of the Parker Block on Middle street. During this meeting the advisability of forming an Alumni Association was decided upon and three members, viz., H. A. Bodwell, S. E. Smith and C. J. Brickett, were chosen to draft a constitution and report to the meeting at a later date. At first the constitution permitted the enrollment of gradu- ates from the evening classes, but at the first annual meeting of the Alumni, it was amended so that only graduates of the day classes were eligible for membership. The members of the association are classed under the three heads of honorary, active and associate. The honorary membership includes the Board of Trustees, the Members of the Faculty and any others that may be elected by the Association. To the active membership all diploma graduates of the School are eligible and from this branch of the Association all officers are elected. To the associate member- ship all who have completed only partial courses are eligible, and these are admitted to all the privileges of the Association with the exception of holding office. The first banquet of the Association — or more properly speaking, of the class of nineteen hundred, as the Association w as not formed until after the dinner — was held at the St. Charles Hotel, on the evening of Commencement Day, Wed- 17

Page 24 text:

JHumni Association President R. P. WHITE, ' 04 Vice-President F. W. EMERSON, ' 03 Sec.-Treas. A. A. STEWART, ' 00 Committee S. E. SMITH, ' 00 H. A. BODWELL, ' 00 16

Page 26 text:

PICKOUT, 1906 nesday, June 6 th, nineteen hundred. Each Commencement Day since then a banquet has been held in the same place, and year after year many of the old men have returned to welcome the graduating class to the Association, to discuss the menu and swap stories of student days. Apart from the appreciation of the gastronomic art and the meeting of old classmates, the intermingling of the various classes is of decided benefit, especially so to the new members, as they are able to learn and profit by the experience of those who for some time have been working along their chosen lines. Each year the number of covers at these banquets has materi- ally increased until from a beginning of twenty, the number has reached the neighborhood of fifty-five, or nearly forty-seven per cent of the actual membership. The Alumni of the School have in the majority of cases been so successful in reaching positions demanding rare execu- tive ability and technical knowledge that the Board of Trustees of the School has realized the advisability of having them repre- sented on the Board. The first election for this purpose was held in. June, nineteen hundred and five, with the result that Henry A. Bodwell was elected for two years and Paul T. Wise for one year. At present a bill is in the State Legislature to increase the Alumni representation from two to four and also to lengthen the term from two to four years. 18