As Queen’s gets ready for the 100th anniversary of Homecoming this fall, Oct. 16-18, we’re continuing our monthly “Countdown to 100” story series all about this milestone tradition and the many ways alumni have shaped ɫƵ over the past century – and continue to shape its future.
This month: how Homecoming gave alumni a reason to gather and the QUAA gave them a way to be heard.
Allison Williams, Artsci’09, has seen it again and again at Homecoming.
Alumni come back to campus expecting to catch up with old friends and revisit old stomping grounds. But somewhere along the way, something deeper often happens.
“You can enter this kind of time warp,” says Williams, president of the Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA). “You have all these shared experiences with people, but you’re all at different ages and stages. It can be a really interesting moment to gain some perspective on where you’ve come from and where you’re going.”
For Williams, that sense of perspective is part of what makes Homecoming more than a return to campus. It can remind alumni that their relationship with Queen’s is still active and something that can change and take on new meaning long after graduation.
That idea has been at the heart of the QUAA since its beginning: alumni connection shouldn’t end at graduation. It should keep evolving. It should keep giving graduates and former students ways to stay connected, be heard, and help shape Queen’s future.
When alumni gathered for the university’s first Homecoming in 1926, they did more than celebrate. Amid a week of reunions and dances and one of the most famous football games in Queen’s history, grads and former students voted unanimously to form what would become the QUAA.
It was a vote to make their Queen’s connection more formal and more lasting.
A few months later, the first issue of the Queen’s Alumni Review took up the question directly: “Why an Alumni Association?”
The article had multiple answers. An alumni association could share news about the university, facilitate class reunions, encourage participation in university governance, keep alumni records up to date, and inspire financial support for the university. It could also help students and graduates through recruitment, career support, and other forms.
The bond between grads and their university, the article suggested, had to be active, mutual, and ongoing. And it was something the new association could help foster.
A century later, Williams says the QUAA is still doing that through events, community initiatives, volunteer opportunities, and more.
“Alumni have a lot to offer the university and a lot to gain from the university, and at its core the QUAA is really about community.”
Some of the reasons for an alumni association named a century ago have changed over time. Student recruitment, for instance, isn’t at the top of the list anymore. But others feel as relevant as ever.
Career support is one of them, Williams says, especially as new graduates enter a changing world of work shaped by uncertainty and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Alumni can help one another navigate that change and offer advice, perspective, and connections that extend the Queen’s community well beyond campus.
The QUAA also gives something less tangible but just as important: a visible structure for belonging. In a busy and often disconnected world, Williams says the association helps remind alumni that they’re part of a larger community.
That message is especially meaningful this year, as Queen’s marks both Homecoming 100 and the 100th anniversary of the QUAA.
For Williams, the hope is that alumni return feeling appreciated and aware that they still have an important place in Queen’s life. Homecoming may begin with familiar faces and memories of student days, but it can also open the door to those moments of perspective and something more lasting.
“I hope it maybe reignites their relationship with Queen’s,” says Williams. “Maybe they can see how Queen’s is not necessarily just part of their past. It can be something that’s part of their present and part of their future.”
Registration is now open for Homecoming 100. Explore the full schedule and register for Oct. 16–18, and learn more about the QUAA and the many ways alumni can stay connected
