150 Years: Activities

The Alumni Quarterly, initially the BSNS Quarterly for the Bloomsburg State Normal School, became the official publication of the Association when revived in 1926. First issued in 1894, the magazine informed alumni of campus happenings for 110 years until the final one in 2004.

A number of additions to campus have come from the most recent alumni in the form of Senior Class Gifts. One was donated by the Class of 1904, which purchased a fountain to be placed in Penn Street in front of Carver (then called Institute) Hall. It was also sometimes referred to as the Auditorium Building.

The gift of the Class of 1916 was a pergola designed to stage outdoor performances. It was designed and built at a cost of $394 and placed in the old grove of trees on campus near Science Hall.

The World War I Memorial Pinery was a gift of the Class of 1919 to remember those alumni and students who lost their lives in this terrible war. The original program for the ceremony in May 1919 that dedicated the War Hero Memorial Pinery listed the individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In May of 1937 the Association honored 1891 graduate, longtime faculty member, and first Dean of Instruction William Sutliff at his retirement by publishing a book of his poetry.

Six years following the removal of the 1904 fountain due to damage from over the years, the Class of 1940 donated a second fountain for the space in front of Carver Hall. After being removed in 1955 when Penn Street was opened up and many years in storage, in 2007 it was made the centerpiece of the new Academic Quad.

The Association was active in the mid-to-late 1970s sponsoring trips to various areas of the world. These vacation opportunities included excursions to Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

The Alumni Association took a leading role in providing funding for a 1983 competition to erect a statue of the University’s husky mascot, 50 years after it was chosen to represent the school. Seen here are the competition announcement and dedication program for the statue that would grace the lawn southwest of Carver Hall.p>

In 1986 a select group of students was chosen to represent Bloomsburg University by greeting and assisting visitors to the campus and participating in alumni and community events. They were called the Husky Ambassadors.

Pennsylvania issued license plates for alumni of the state system universities in 2001. 

Decals issued by the Alumni Association from 1980 to the 2000s.

In 2009 the Alumni Association, along with the Friends of the Bloomsburg University Library Association, paid for and dedicated a grave marker to the University’s first president, Henry Carver, and his wife Elizabeth in Denver. He had been buried without a marker since 1889 in one of the area’s oldest pioneer burial grounds, Riverside Cemetery.