Tonight, 85 faculty and staff members will be initiated into an organization that honors their years of service to Iowa State.

The single requirement for induction to the club is giving 25 years of service to ISU.

“Each year, we get a list of people who have completed 25 years of service and then we send them an invitation,” said Betty Licht, coordinator of the 25-Year Club.

Licht said all initiates will be presented with a certificate by ISU President Martin Jischke.

All have completed 25 years of service to the university, as of Dec. 31, 1996, and will become members of the 25-Year Club at this evening’s annual banquet.

“In the last three years, we have also honored those who have completed 35 years,” Licht said. There are 23 members of the faculty and staff who have completed 35 years of service.

Licht said there are more than 1,400 members of the 25-Year Club.

The club was formalized on June 9, 1934 by Colonel Harold E. Pride, then secretary of the Iowa State College Alumni Association.

Joan Herwig, director of the Child Development Laboratory School and associate professor of human development and family studies, is one of the initiates to be honored by the club tonight.

“I have been pleased with the statements that have come from the [25-Year Club] and the college dean acknowledging the years of service,” Herwig said.

She said she stayed with Iowa State because of all the opportunities for professional growth, both in terms of her own career and in working with students.

Herwig said she is also pleased with the growth of Iowa State since she came here.

“I take a fair amount of pride in the way in which Iowa State has evolved since 1972. The 25 years have gone fast, and we have made some tremendous advances,” she said.

Herwig said she is most surprised by how fast the time has gone.

“Semesters roll by, and there are always teaching and research challenges, and one gets caught up in all those aspects,” she said.

Reservations are required for tonight’s banquet in Room 220 of the Scheman Building. The social begins at 6:15 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7.