Alumnae Association of Cedar Crest College
Who We Are
The Alumnae Association of Cedar Crest College is an independent non-profit corporation* formed in 1872. Its membership consists of anyone who has received a degree from the College or has earned at least two semesters of full-time academic credits. Once you become a Cedar Crest College alum, you are always a Cedar Crest College alum.
What We Do
The purpose of the Alumnae Association is:
- to encourage engagement with the College,
- to support the College in realizing its mission, programs, and student affairs,
- to promote financial support for the College,
- to assist the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs in effectively serving alums, and
- to encourage a spirit of service among alums.
The Association works closely with the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs to provide opportunities for lifelong learning along with ways to enrich the personal, professional, and cultural lives of our alums. Through program development, communication, financial support, and a variety of networks, the Association works to build connections among alums and to the College. The Office of Alumnae/i Affairs is located in Blaney Hall Room 213.
The Association partners with the Office to plan annual reunions on campus to which all alums are invited. There are special events at Reunion for those classes celebrating five-year anniversaries (“Honor Classes”), planned with the classes’ representatives and members.
The Association works to build relationships with current students, supporting them, enhancing their campus experience, and recognizing achievement through:
- assisting first-year students on move-in day and presenting them with welcome gifts during the Open Door Ceremony,
- academic scholarships,
- College ring awards,
- campus activities for and with students,
- commencement awards, and
- contributions to the student food pantry and clothes closet (“Closing the Gap” Fund),
- and so much more.
Alums volunteer at College events like Junior Ring Ceremony and career-oriented programs, as well as at Association-specific events such as Reunion.
Becoming an Active Member of the Association
While all graduates and the others mentioned above are members of the Association, those wishing to participate in the Association more actively pay annual dues or a one-time life membership fee. In addition to supporting the work of the Association financially, dues-paying members are entitled to vote in Association elections and to serve on the Association’s Executive Board.
Annual dues payments help to fund programs, scholarships, and awards for current students, as well as the operational expenses of the Association. Lifetime membership fees are held separately and are reserved to fund special projects approved by the Executive Board from time to time.
Annual membership is free for the first year after graduation, and then for years 2 through 10 out of college, annual dues are $25 and a life membership (paid once) is $250. For alums out of school more than 11 years, annual dues are $35 and the life membership fee is a one-time payment of $350.
Your annual dues or life membership is a gift that honors your relationship with the College and your fellow alums and shows current students and prospective students that once they choose CCC, it will be part of their lives forever.
To pay dues now, please click below. Thank you!
The Ginkgo – Our Alumnae Association Logo
Since its beginnings, the Association has used as its logo a circle of three gingko leaves. The tree and its leaves symbolize hope, longevity, peace, resilience, both change ~and~ changelessness, and endurance. Most importantly, it is said to symbolize remembrance.
Gingko trees first appeared during the Middle Jurassic period almost 200 million years ago and are often referred to as living fossils. Individual trees can live up to 3,000 years.
The fan-shaped green leaves emerge in spring and sport a vein pattern unique to these trees. In autumn, the leaves change color to transform the tree into a brilliant golden spectacle. There are two gingkoes on campus – one in front of and one behind Blaney Hall.
*The Alumnae Association of Cedar Crest College is a separate 501(c)(3) and is not a part of Cedar Crest College.