Given the fact that George Edmonston Jr., the editor of E-clips and the Oregon Stater, will soon be retiring, he will close out his involvement with E-clips by sharing a list of the 20 historical events he considers to be the most important in school history. He'll cover one event each week.

#17 The OSU Alumni Association

Colleges and universities have much in common. What sets institutions apart are their individual customs, traditions and histories. The Trysting Tree, orange and black, Benny Beaver, our alma mater "Carry Me Back," the spirit and tranquillity of the lower campus, the MU, Benton Hall and the Women's Building...these are the things that bind Oregon Staters together as a family and provide the university with an identity like no other school in the world. For over 130 years, the OSU Alumni Association has played a historically significant role in keeping these connections strong, solidifying relationships among alumni, and helping in the important work of defining and preserving the unique personality of Oregon's land-grant university.

The Alumni Association was founded on Monday, Feb. 3, 1873, at a meeting held in President Benjamin Lee Arnold's office in the old Corvallis College building located downtown. Official approval for the group and the election of officers took place on June 18. The Association has been in continuous service since that time and is today the oldest organization on campus not directly related to academics.