On a calm and serene evening in the spring of 1930, President Rufus B. Atwood, in his second hear of tenure as President of Kentucky State Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons, saw the need to call a meeting at the “Y” Hut for the purpose of establishing an Alumni Association.

It should be noted, however, that this effort was initiated forty years after the first graduating class of 1890 and three years after the group of graduates gathered to form the Chicago Alumni Chapter in January, 1927.  President Atwood set the tone and defined the mission as he charged those in attendance with the task of developing the structure that would serve as the frame work needed to establish an organization that would become known as the Kentucky State University Alumni Association.

Upon acceptance of the assigned task Mrs. Katie H. Brown began to transfer theory into written word and was later identified as the architect of the original constitution of the Kentucky State University Alumni Association.  She was elected the first president and served until 1933.   It was decided that annual meetings of the association would be held during K.N.E.A. (Kentucky Negro Education Association) at Louisville.  This practice continued until the establishment of Alumni Weekend at Frankfort in the mid-sixties.

The aims of the Association as delineated in article 11 of the constitution are as follows:  to promote the highest interest in the University and its Alumni; to keep the two in close and harmonious cooperation; to perpetuate and enable the highest tradition and ideals of Kentucky State, and to keep the “Kentucky Spirit” moving and flowing at full-tide wherever its graduates are found.

Since its inception, the Association has experienced a rich history of growth that has been compatible with the growth of the University.  Its tangible support of the University programs and active participation in the mission of the University has impacted the continuous development of Kentucky State University as it deservedly celebrates 100 years of service to mankind with a fervor that is irrepressible and unrestrained.