Cornell’s timeless fight song, “Give My Regards to Davy,” ends with “We’ll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck’s when I get back next fall!” But who was Zinck?

Theodore Zinck was an Ithaca saloon owner who operated Zinck’s (or the Hotel Brunswick) on Aurora Street from about 1879 until his death in 1903. His establishment became a popular hangout for Cornellians – students and alumni – and several proprietors and Aurora Street bars borrowed the Zinck’s name after his death until the last closed in 1967.

As early as 1892, alumni in Chicago began gathering as the “Cornell Zinck Club.” But the current iteration of Zinck’s Night dates to fall 1973 when the Notable Class of 1974 began a Thursday night senior social club that rotated through local establishments. In 1983, the Class of 1977 organized a national happy hour event with other classes from the ‘70s and ‘80s joining in. It expanded in its second year and then was rebranded in 1985 as the Spirit of Zinck’s Night that we know and love today, bringing together Cornellians for an evening of camaraderie on the third Thursday of every October.