The Cornell Club of Rochester is a Cornell-affiliated alumni organization and serves the Greater Rochester, New York, area in the promotion of Cornell University and the support of local high school and University students through scholarship, outreach, and fundraising.

Although Cornell Alumni Association events were documented as being held in Rochester as early as 1904, the Cornell Club of Rochester was officially incorporated in 1907 as a men’s club. The original club had 92 charter members, with George A. Benton (Class of 1871) serving as the club’s first president. A separate women’s club, The Cornell Women’s Club of Rochester, was founded around 1909. Although the two clubs jointly sponsored events, they would not merge into one club until 1978. From 1907 to 1909, the Cornell Club leased meeting rooms on the fourth floor of the annex of the East Side Savings Bank, 235 East Main Street. When a fire destroyed the club’s offices in 1909, proceeds from an insurance settlement became the foundation of the club’s present-day scholarship fund. In 1908 “The Cornell Masque” came from Ithaca to put on a performance, and they returned in 1909 to stage “Oolong” a Chinese comic opera, book written by Romeyn Berry ’04, at the Lyceum Theatre. In the 1930s through the 1950s, the men’s club held weekly luncheon meetings and sent red printed penny post cards to all members announcing the speaker, time, and topic. Meetings in the 1940s and 1950s were held at the Chamber of Commerce or the Powers Hotel. In the 1946 annual program committee report it was noted that 27 luncheons were held with an average attendance of 42 members. Around this time, the Men’s Club also established annual Cornell-Penn and Cornell-Dartmouth Luncheons. In 1938 and again in 1941, the men’s and women’s clubs jointly sponsored dinners at Oak Hill Country Club in honor of President Edmund Ezra Day.

In the 1960s, lifestyles and working conditions changed so that weekly lunches were discontinued, though some traditional luncheons such as the Cornell-Penn Luncheon have continued. Other events were a Pre-Frosh Picnic, a Secondary Schools Luncheon for Guidance Counselors, Father and Son Luncheons, picnics, and clam bakes, which were popular from the 1940s through the 1970s. The Women’s Club established the Founder’s Day Luncheon celebrating Cornell founder Ezra Cornell’s birthday and in 1959 established their annual Cheese Sale to raise scholarship money. Through the years, testimonial dinners have also been given to honor the Rochester area’s University Trustees, Trustee Emeriti, and other outstanding Cornell Club members. Joseph P. King ’36 was honored with a testimonial dinner at Oak Hill Country Club on May 18, 1978. President Frank H. T. Rhodes was the speaker. The Cornell singing group “Nothing But Treble” entertained after dinner. In 1992, an endowment fund was established in Joe King’s name. The Fourth Annual Joe King Memorial Golf Tournament in 1995 raised $6,000.

In 1978, the separate men’s and women’s clubs merged to become a singular Cornell Club of Rochester. Many of their individual activities and programs carried over to the combined club, including the Founder’s Day Luncheon, the annual meeting, and the Cornell-Penn Luncheon. The annual Cheese Sale also carried over to the combined club and has acted as a supplement to the club’s main fundraising and scholarship endeavors.

The club’s key programs have always been scholarship fundraising and the promotion of Cornell to prospective and accepted students. The Scholarship Committee – now a part of Cornell Alumni Admission Ambassador Network (CAAAN) – interviewed prospective students for scholarship awards. In 1944, the Scholarship Committee recommended Margaret Dragon as the first woman to receive a men’s scholarship, setting a precedent for the club. Since the early 1990s, the Cornell Club of Rochester has also promoted Cornell University through their Essay Contest; eleventh grade students from Rochester area schools are given the opportunity to practice writing college admission-style essays. Winning students are given prizes if they are accepted into and decide to attend Cornell.

In 1991 the name of the club was changed to The Cornell Alumni Association of Greater Rochester, but the name was changed back to the Cornell Club of Rochester some time after 2006.