and fifty year anniversaries. For some years also many
classes have followed a plan which brings four classes that were in
college together back for a reunion at the same time. The value of these
annual home-comings has always been emphasized by the Alumni
Association, and so successful has it been in making the reunion season
interesting and stimulating that the graduates return in great numbers,
sometimes in a carnival spirit, and sometimes, as during the recent war
years, with a sense of consecration and devotion. Thus it was easy to
pass from the gay fun of a burlesque commencement in Hill Auditorium,
which was the feature of one reunion season, to the commemoration of Dr.
Angell's life and services in 1916, and the great patriotic meetings of
1918 and 1919, which struck the deepest chords of alumni sentiment.

No less effective in their own field are the many local alumni clubs in
all the large cities throughout the country. This movement toward
forming local bodies began in Detroit in 1869, and quickly spread, so
that by 1876 the Michigan graduates as far west as San Francisco were
organized. While the primary reason for the existence of these clubs is
the maintenance of the social and sentimental ties inspired by the
common love of their members for the University, stimulated usually by
an annual dinner and, in many cities, by weekly or monthly luncheons,
they have begun to discover means more positive and useful to justify
their existence. From a vague, if none the less real, feeling of loyalty
to the University it is an easy step to more aggressive measures. Thus
we find the local bodies interesting themselves actively in the
University's affairs, organizing subscription campaigns for the Union,
raising funds for fellowships, and sending picked students to the
University, interesting themselves in the ever-present athletic
problems, and welcoming the President and other representatives from the
Faculties who come to tell them what their alma mater is accomplishing.
More than this, some associations are perceiving broader implications in
their organization as representative college men and women,--for the
alumnae, too, have very active clubs,--and are seeking opportunities for
civic and social service in their communities. At present Michigan has
nearly one hundred of these local organizations of alumni which may be
considered active, while there are many more who only need to have some
task set before them to b