In 1939 the Hofstra College Alumni Association was formed, and its first meeting took place in June of that same year on the east porch of Hofstra Hall.
The Hofstra Alumni Organization:
Honoring the Past, Building an Exciting Future
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he first graduating class at Hofstra College wasted no time organizing an alumni effort to encourage former students to stay involved with their alma mater. In 1939 the Hofstra College Alumni Association was formed, and its first meeting took place in June of that same year on the east porch of Hofstra Hall. Though the alumni framework has gone through many restructuring efforts over the past 70 years, alumni have always been a vital and influential constituency at Hofstra. As 2008 came to a close, the governing body of Hofstra alumni – the Hofstra Alumni Organization –readied for a major transformation. According to Immediate Past President Joseph Sparacio ’89, this latest reorganization is one that “will help the alumni body grow at the same pace as that of the University itself. My dream is for Hofstra to have an alumni network comparable to that of an Ivy League school. I think we have the mechanism to build that now.” For close to two years, Sparacio, the officers and assembly of the Alumni Organization (AO), and Hofstra’s Alumni Affairs staff have been rethinking how to best serve the University’s 115,000+ alumni around the world and how to reinvigorate alumni interest in Hofstra. There is renewed focus on providing professional programs for alumni, reaching out to former student leaders and those who participated in special interest groups on campus, and utilizing online tools to keep graduates informed and connected.
William Kaiser served as Hofstra’s first executive secretary for alumni. He is pictured on campus in 1957.
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“It is time for us to start thinking as a national – even an international – body,” says Sparacio. The AO looked at redefining its mission and ways to make it easier to communicate with alumni and get involved with Hofstra – even from a distance.