In 1931, just 247 students graduated from the College of Engineering. It was two years into the Great Depression, financial problems had forced many students to drop out, and money was tight for those who remained.
So when graduation rolled around, students balked at the high cost of renting a cap and gown. One member of the class suggested using the modest sum in their class fund to buy caps and gowns, then rent them to future engineering students at a lower price than the shops in town offered. The class agreed, and a tradition was born. They didn’t know it at the time, but this was just the start of the class of 1931’s legacy of generosity and community support.
After graduation, the classmates stayed in touch, attending reunions organized by class President Paul S. Bigby every five years and, after their forty-fifth reunion, they started meeting annually. At the 47th reunion, alum Chuck Dybvig shared that his son had been killed in action in the Vietnam War, and he and his wife planned to use their son’s insurance money for a scholarship in his memory.
Inspired by this generosity, the class voted to endow a scholarship fund and established the 1931 Engineering Class Scholarship Fund and Scholar Society in 1981, with a check for $108,000.
Class members, families, friends and “’31E” beneficiaries have generously contributed to the endowed scholarship fund ever since. Today, it is valued at over $10 million. Since the initial scholarship awards in 1982, it has distributed nearly $7 million to more than 200 College of Engineering beneficiaries who were selected based on academic record, community service, school activities, and employment experience. Five to eight awards are given each year.
The financial impact is profound, but the real legacy of the Class of 1931 is more personal.
“Part of the thing that makes ’31E special is the community that surrounds it,” said Marshall Vielmetti, a recent scholar. “The people that come through are always looking to give back to the current scholars and continue to build that legacy.”
