A brief history of the Association of Past Students

The Association of Past Students, founded in 1889, has been a vibrant and active community for alumni from Cardiff University’s predecessor institutions as colleges in the University of Wales, and through to the modern day.

The “APS” – as it has affectionately been known – has always represented the interests of the communities of graduates. It has celebrated the achievements of former students in literature and the arts, in science and architecture, and in many other avenues of life in which they succeeded.

The University’s archives include some APS papers. One believed to be from c 1910 amends the APS’ “general rules and objects” and includes some marvellous gems:

“a Life Membership Subscription shall be one guinea” (this appears to have been amended by hand to Two Guineas, possibly at a later date)

“Officers of the Association shall be… a President… five (!) Vice-Presidents… an Honorary Treasurer… and Two Hon. Secretaries, one of whom shall be a man and one a woman….” Another note emphasises that “Women shall be eligible for all or any of the Offices of the Association”. (Such emphases were felt unnecessary in the 1988 and 1998 drafts of the Constitution!)

The APS’ objectives included fostering and maintaining links between the University and its former students; encouraging benefactions and support for the University; promoting the interests of former students; and promoting and encouraging social, cultural and other activities. In its heyday, the APS excelled at these objectives as a vibrant and active community.

In 1988, when University College Cardiff and University of Wales College of Science & Technology merged to form the University of Wales, Cardiff (now Cardiff University), the Associations of former students joined together to form one new Association of Past Students. The reborn, united Association continued with similar objectives to its original – and adopted additional “Past Students” when the University of Wales Medical School joined with Cardiff University in 2004.

The commitment and energy invested by a range of alumni volunteers lasted for many years. Events included afternoon teas with strawberries and cream, quiz nights, silent auctions, golf tournaments, regular opera outings, lunches, talks, and even some overseas visits.

A notable annual dinner included prestigious guest speakers, from University leadership to notable alumni, such as Lord Kinnock of Bedwellty; renowned actor Philip Madock; Booker-prize-winning author Bernice Rubens; Baroness Finlay of Llandaff; and many more.

Undertaking all this activity came at a cost. The APS’ income derived from “life subscriptions” paid by graduating students – beyond “one guinea” (or even two), members have recalled that the fee was £5 in the 1960s, £10 in the 1970s and as much as £20 in the 1980s. A subvention by the Students’ Union, paid on a per-graduating-student basis, also provided income for a time.

APS membership was also associated with the Students’ Union. Members enjoyed rights such as use of University sporting and library facilities.

Other, significant changes came in the 1990s. In 1994, Student Unions were required by legislation to become independent charities, so the APS’ income via the Students’ Union ceased. Then in the late 1990s, Cardiff University began to build its database of former students (“alumni”), with significant support from the APS’ excellent records.

By 2004, when the Development and Alumni Office was formally established, the APS was still active but starting to struggle to meet the needs of a rapidly growing – and increasingly global – alumni body. Today, nearly 10,000 new alumni are added to the rolls of ‘former students’ each year, including several thousand overseas alumni.

APS members have made many significant contributions to the life of the University. For instance, the Act of Remembrance Service is now firmly established in the University’s annual calendar and is celebrated in front of the First and Second World War memorial plaques (paid for and created by the APS) now erected in Main Building. The service builds in part on the Aberdare Hall remembrance luncheon organised by Bill John and Mary Maddock Williams for many years.

The APS Regalia (the President’s Badge of Office, and a ceremonial ribbon) are now deposited in Cardiff University’s Archives, so that future generations of Cardiff students, alumni and friends may learn of and remember the APS.

In partnership with the Alumni Office, the APS is now planning to erect a memorial plaque in the University’s Memorial Gardens (behind Aberconway Building) which will commemorate Stephen Whitehouse, a young Cardiff student who lost his life while firewatching on a roof during the Second World War.

In the APS’ final years, with diminished capacity to host events and an ageing Executive Council, its activities reduced. But loyal APS members will be sustained by longstanding friendships and memories of a happy community. They wish the Alumni Office team all the best as they encourage and foster friendship and community amongst Cardiff University’s past students.