The South Bend Alumni Association was founded in 1985 as the South Bend School Boosters with a single objective: to save the School Field stadium and complex from demolition and
reconstruction as a service facility and bus parking lot. Louis Baker formed the original committee to address fundraising for the project. The committee elected Edwin Ehlers as its first Chairman of the Board when it was decided to continue on a new mission: to assist with education in our schools and incorporate as an Indiana 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit corporation.
The name “Boosters” often led to the belief the organization focused entirely on athletics. To change this perception, the Boosters organized as the Alumni Association in 1989 and named Joseph S. Fragomeni, Sr. as its first chairman. In 1994, the Boosters and Alumni Association merged under the name South Bend Alumni Association.