For 50 Years You've Put The ‘GO’ In Go Bulls

Timeline of USF Alumni Association Activities

July 25, 1963: Steering committee led by Julian Piper, ’63, begins laying the framework for the Association

Dec. 21, 1963: Members adopt by-laws

Dec. 22, 1963: 325 charter class members graduate in first USF Commencement

April 18, 1965: First Outstanding Senior award (now Outstanding Graduate) goes to accounting major Richard Cadwallader, (left), who died in 2013; first King-O’Neal Scholar (highest GPA) is physics and English major Bob Ashford, now a law professor at Syracuse University

January 1966: First alumni newsletter publishes; Janet Lorenzo, ’63, wins the contest to name it The Golden Horn

Nov. 4,1969: Alumni Association incorporates; future state senator John A. Grant Jr., ’64, Life Member, is board president
June 1970: USF has 10,000 alumni

1971: USF President Cecil Mackey hires Joe Tomaino, ’71, as the association’s first executive director; lawyer John Bell, ’64, donates $100 to become first member of Tomaino’s Century Club, forerunner of the Iron Bulls Club

October 1971: Pinellas County alumni form Association’s first official chapter

June 20, 1972: President Mackey and Tomaino launch the Telefund, a membership and fundraising drive, to raise money for the association’s new all-academic scholarship program

July 6, 1972: Hillsborough County chapter alumni hold their first meeting

October 1972: Association opens membership to all former students, not just USF graduates

Jan. 6-14, 1973: Association hosts Homecoming activities for alumni for the first time

June 10, 1973: Malcolm K. Hayes becomes USF’s 20,000th graduate on his 26th birthday

November 1975: Association offers 16 one-year, full-tuition scholarships

1976: First USF Day with the Rowdies soccer team

Nov. 30, 1976: Association celebrates USF’s 20th anniversary by presenting its first 20 Distinguished Alumni Awards to graduates who have reached the pinnacle of success in their professions; U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons, “the father of USF,’’ is the ceremony’s keynote speaker

1977: Total Association scholarship awards since 1973 reach $50,000

Sept. 1979: Joe Tomaino’s assistant, Lee Patouillet, creates and launches the USF Ambassadors student leadership group

May 23, 1981: Association presents its first Class of ’56 Awards, recognizing non-alumni for distinguished service to USF and the Tampa Bay area; the 11 recipients include U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons; former USF presidents John Allen and Cecil Mackey; and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner

January 1984: 14 USF Ambassadors are selected to assist celebrities during the Super Bowl

Oct. 1, 1987: USF gets its first specialty Florida license plate; $25 from each sale goes to the association for scholarships and academic and student programming

October 1987: Association announces the first USF logo credit card

Dec. 16, 1989: Tracy Tyson becomes USF’s 100,000th graduate

June 28, 1990: Sen. John Grant, ’64, and Beverley Grant, ’66, become Life Members No. 1 and 2

May 1991: Andy Mintzer, ’77 and MAcc ’78, Life Member, receives the first Donald A. Gifford Service Award, recognizing alumni for unparalleled service to USF

Oct. 15-18, 1997: First fall Homecoming, SuperBull I, includes football and more activities for alumni

May 1998: The Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center, a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot “home away from home” for alumni at USF opens following years of fundraising for construction

June 2000: Association launches its website, now usfalumni.org

February 2004: The Alumni Center expands, more than doubling in size

Oct. 15, 2004: Tamsen Fadal, ’92, receives the first Outstanding Young Alumni Award, recognizing alumni age 35 or younger who’ve demonstrated innovation, creativity and success in their careers

Oct. 16, 2004: An annual tradition begins with the first USF alumni Homecoming “bead” created for alumni association members

May 2005: Alumni Voice newsletter launches

July 2007: Alumni Voice magazine launches

2008: The association publishes the first Book of Bull to introduce students to USF traditions. Its predecessor was the Itty Bitty Book of Bull.

June 5, 2009: Dazaun Soleyn, ’14, Life Member, becomes the first member of the Student Alumni Association, which will grow to more than 6,000 – the largest student organization on campus

April 2, 2011: Association hosts its first fundraiser social, Bulls Around the World, which will later become Brahman Bash and then Green & Gold Gala

May 20, 2011: Association hosts first Life Member Appreciation Baseball Game, a free event for all Life Members, later revised to include all association members

Feb. 13, 2012: Bill McCausland, MBA ’96, Life Member, becomes the association’s seventh executive director and immediately leads a successful alumni advocacy effort challenging disproportionate state budget cuts to USF

August 2012: The association partners with the USF Federal Credit Union to offer a broad array of financial services, including new logoed credit and debit cards

April 12, 2013: Association hosts first USF Fast 56 awards, recognizing the 56 fastest growing Bull-owned or -led businesses

May 1, 2013: The first alumni and students are inducted into the Order of the Golden Brahman, an elite organization whose members build and promote student and community relationships for the benefit of USF

Oct. 22, 2013: As part of Homecoming festivities, the first Working Bulls Luncheon recognizes more than 3,000 USF graduates working at their alma mater

Nov. 19, 2013: The first Class Ring Ceremony offers a special presentation of official USF class rings

Dec. 13, 2013: The first 50-year class reunion brings together members of the class of ’63 to become the first inductees in the Golden Guard Society

October 2015: Alumni Voice and USF Magazine become a new publication, USF, the official magazine of the alumni association

Oct. 24, 2018: Cameron Weed, ’17, becomes Life Member No. 5,000

Sept. 2019: Association scholarship funds distribution exceeds $5 million