From the Penn State Alumni Association:
Dear Penn State Students, Alumni, and Friends,
The true spirit of Penn State is bound up in pride and tradition. Nowhere is that blue-and-white spirit better exemplified than in our annual Homecoming celebration-the grandest such spectacle in American higher education.
When you return for Penn State's Homecoming, you tap into a tradition that began nearly 140 years ago, shortly after the founding of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania-as Penn State was first known. The college held its first "Harvest Home" festival, which was part open house and part a homecoming for alumni-though there were not even 100 of them at that time. The second year of the "Harvest Home" festival saw the event greatly expand, drawing more than 2,000 attendees. That same weekend, a small group of graduates and former students held the first meeting of what would eventually become the Penn State Alumni Association.
From these humble beginnings, Penn State itself, our annual Homecoming celebration, and our Alumni Association have evolved. And as they say, the rest is history. Penn State has grown into an internationally recognized research university. The Penn State Alumni Association has grown into the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world, with more than 160,000 members. And our Homecoming has grown into a weeklong festival that draws tens of thousands of alumni, who join with current students and friends, to celebrate all that is great about our beloved alma mater.
It's a tradition on a scale you won't find anywhere else. And it's yours to enjoy year after year!
For the glory,
Roger Williams '73, '75g, '88g
Executive Director
Penn State Alumni Association