Celebrating Northwestern’s 175 Years

Dear Northwestern alumni,

As I continue my listening tour as a first-year Wildcat, each day I gain deeper appreciation of the history and character of our University. Our Purple is truly unique: elite without being elitist, comprehensive without rigid silos, excellent yet still without limit to our potential.

Since the founding days, Northwestern University has aspired to achieve “the highest order of excellence, as a complete university.” Complete, indeed, in the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, medicine, law, journalism, education, business and athletics.

Today we remain as hopeful and ambitious as the University’s founders were 175 years ago. Generations before us have navigated numerous challenges and elevated the institution over and over again. In the coming months, we will celebrate Northwestern 175 both on campus and across alumni communities, reflect on the milestones achieved through the years, and chart our paths toward Northwestern’s bicentennial.

This morning we officially kicked off the 2026 Wildcat Welcome, and it is truly exciting to meet the Class of 2030 and their families at the dorms and dining halls. After the New Student Convocation and the first game in New Ryan Field, we look forward to Homecoming and Reunion Weekend and then Family Weekend in October. After that, I will travel to Northwestern alumni hubs to get together with you all, starting with Chicago, New York, Florida and California, with many more to come.

We also hope to welcome you back anytime, especially as we begin exploring additional opportunities for alumni welcome services. Across the years that you spent at Northwestern and the places you live today, the Wildcat family is unified in our Purple Pride. We want our alumni community to be one of the largest premier networks of any kind, with every member of the community engaged with many others.

Thank you for making us proud of what you do each day. Thank you for your support to your alma mater as we write, together, a new chapter in the enduring chronicle of Northwestern.

Go ’Cats!
Mung

Mung Chiang
President
Northwestern University