Alumni
CHS History
From the early days of the School of Hotel Administration, alumni valued the close-knit relationships they shared with each other and felt an intense loyalty for the school. The bond they felt grew partly out of adversity. When the school's earliest graduates mentioned Cornell in the job market, it was a hindrance rather than a benefit. They had no successful alumni to point to as examples, and most employers thought they were wasting four years of time and money when they could have been working and getting paid instead. These early SHA alumni stuck together partly because they were forced to find their own opportunities. And when success came to them, they often felt an intense gratitude to Cornell.
Students of the early 1920s promised each other that they would maintain in close contact after graduation. On November 16, 1927, at a reunion banquet during the National Hotel Exposition in New York City, plans were formulated for a permanent alumni association, and in May 1928, in Ithaca, the Cornell Society of Hotelmen (CSH) was formally organized. In 1998, society members voted to change the name to the Cornell Hotel Society (CHS). Graduates of the School of Hotel Administration are automatically members of the Cornell Hotel Society.
In addition, CHS has inducted numerous honorary members and has over 1,700 dues-paying affiliate members. Affiliate members fullfill a required number of courses offered by the school's Office of Executive Education. There are 60 national and international chapters, each represented by a chapter president, located within 10 regions, headed by regional vice presidents. The society is led by an Executive Committee which includes a president, vice president, second vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Class Directors represent each of the classes and provide classmate news for Hotelie magazine. The school maintains an electronic directory which is complimentary to alumni and available to dues-paying affiliate members.
The society is a dues-supported membership organization. In addition to administrative expenses, dues go to several large CHS scholarships and Hotel Ezra Cornell. In the past 10 years, CHS has given away over $800,000 to the School of Hotel Administation. The association's main office is located in the Office of Alumni Affairs at the School of Hotel Administration. The office is responsive to the needs and requests of all alumni and Society members.
Staff may be contacted at
174 Statler Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
t. 607.255.3565
f. 607.255.1499
hotel_society@cornell.edu
For a more in depth history of the beginnings of your alumni organization, read this, often humorous, essay by Professor John Courtney '25, in which he remembers the early beginnings of the Cornell Hotel Society.