In the depression year of 1932, Michigan alumnus Bob Hiller brought together 10 or 15 local Big Ten alumni for informal luncheon meetings in the Biltmore Hotel. The Camaraderie caught on: Early in 1933 the Big Ten Club was formally established to spread the good fellowship generated at the luncheon meetings. The Club grew steadily, even during the wartime years of the early 40s, and in 1946 the signing of the Rose Bowl pact sparked an enthusiastic increase in membership and breadth of Club activities.

Beginning in 1946 our annual Dinner for Champions welcomed and honored the visiting Big Ten football team selected to appear in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. For a number of years the Dinner was held in the Biltmore Hotel. From 1966 through 1988, the Dinner was held at the Hollywood Palladium and from 1989 through 1994 it was held at the Century Plaza Hotel. Bob Hope headlined the entertainment for 43 years and recent Dinners featured Pia Zadora, Norm Crosby, Joe Pesci, Alan Thicke, Don Knotts, George Kirby, The 5th Dimension, Barbara McNair, Tom Lasorda, Tom Dreesen, Rhonda Shear, Fred Travalena, Joey Villa, The Pendragons and many others.

The Dinner for Champions was discontinued in 1995 at the behest of the Big Ten Alumni Directors and the Conference. The Dinner will be revived in the future only by request of the school officials of the Big Ten Conference team selected to play in the Rose Bowl game.

Our Newsletter announces upcoming Club meetings to our members, noon luncheons and evening dinners. The Newsletter also gives notice of local Big Ten schoolsalumni club activities and reports our events and special features on Big Ten schools and the Tournament of Roses. Our September meeting is traditionally a dinner at the majestic Tournament House in Pasadena, home of the Tournament of Roses Association, with which we have had a close and cordial relationship for many years. In mid-December each year we honor the newly selected Rose Queen and her Court at a luncheon in the Pasadena area. In the summer, we enjoy a day of golf followed by a banquet and the awarding of prizes.