Maryland’s M Club Celebrates Its 100-Year Anniversary

COLLEGE PARK, MD — On Thursday, June 15, the University of Maryland’s M Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary, commemorating the century of the organization’s commitment to serving the university and its student-athletes of the past, present and future. Since its establishment in 1923, the organization has become a role model for other letterwinner clubs nationwide while providing countless opportunities for the thousands of student-athletes who have been a part of the Terrapin family.

“It’s very special and there’s not very many other letterwinner organizations that have hit this milestone,” Laura Chiriaco, the Executive Director of the M Club and Director of Alumni Engagement, said. “It’s our former athletes that have kept this organization going, and this organization is entirely run by former athletes and throughout the years. They are the ones that have kept it going sometimes in between Executive Director changes or volunteers and former athletes have stepped up to continue the organization. I think it just shows the commitment that our alumni athletes from Maryland have to keeping these traditions going and to paying it forward to support that next generation of athletes.”

To celebrate its 100-Year Anniversary, the M Club will hold its annual meeting where all members are invited to hear the State of the M Club and meet the board members. In the fall, the organization will host a celebration including a golf outing on October 13, followed by a tailgate before Maryland’s homecoming game on Saturday, October 14, against Illinois.

Throughout its history, the M Club has fostered new traditions and has implemented new programs to create an exceptional student-athlete experience at Maryland. By the end of its first year in 1923, the M Club established Homecoming, and in 1930, it created the University’s first athletic scholarship program. 

Other initiatives that the M Club has helped in the past include the foundation of the Terrapin Club, the institution of both the State of Maryland and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame, the organization of capital campaigns to maintain and modernize athletic facilities across campus and the creation of the Len Rodman Celebrity Golf Tournament, which has raised over $800,000 for athletic scholarships.

In recent years, the M Club has built new traditions for…