diff --git a/docs/requirements.txt b/docs/requirements.txt
index 44c782f0..93b1e665 100644
--- a/docs/requirements.txt
+++ b/docs/requirements.txt
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ alabaster_jupyterhub
 autodoc-traits
 recommonmark==0.5.0
 sphinx-copybutton
+sphinx-jsonschema
 sphinx>=1.7
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 5f8d3632..b7d9f7c4 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ extensions = [
     'sphinx.ext.napoleon',
     'autodoc_traits',
     'sphinx_copybutton',
+    'sphinx-jsonschema',
 ]
 
 templates_path = ['_templates']
diff --git a/docs/source/events/index.rst b/docs/source/events/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..90e30acb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/events/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+Eventlogging and Telemetry
+==========================
+
+JupyterHub can be configured to record structured events from a running server using Jupyter's `Telemetry System`_. The types of events that JupyterHub emits are defined by `JSON schemas`_ listed below_
+
+ emitted as JSON data, defined and validated by the JSON schemas listed below.
+
+
+.. _logging: https://docs.python.org/3/library/logging.html
+.. _`Telemetry System`: https://github.com/jupyter/telemetry
+.. _`JSON schemas`: https://json-schema.org/
+
+How to emit events
+------------------
+
+Event logging is handled by its ``Eventlog`` object. This leverages Python's standing logging_ library to emit, filter, and collect event data. 
+
+
+To begin recording events, you'll need to set two configurations:
+
+    1. ``handlers``: tells the EventLog *where* to route your events. This trait is a list of Python logging handlers that route events to 
+    2. ``allows_schemas``: tells the EventLog *which* events should be recorded. No events are emitted by default; all recorded events must be listed here.
+
+Here's a basic example:
+
+.. code-block::
+
+    import logging
+
+    c.EventLog.handlers = [
+        logging.FileHandler('event.log'),
+    ]
+
+    c.EventLog.allowed_schemas = [
+        'hub.jupyter.org/server-action'
+    ]
+
+The output is a file, ``"event.log"``, with events recorded as JSON data.
+
+
+
+.. _below:
+
+Event schemas
+-------------
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+   server-actions.rst
diff --git a/docs/source/events/server-actions.rst b/docs/source/events/server-actions.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..12018713
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/events/server-actions.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.. jsonschema:: ../../../jupyterhub/event-schemas/server-actions/v1.yaml
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index db23641a..274905f5 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -134,6 +134,14 @@ helps keep our community welcoming to as many people as possible.
    contributing/roadmap
    contributing/security
 
+Eventlogging and Telemetry
+--------------------------
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 1
+   
+   events/index
+
 Upgrading JupyterHub
 --------------------
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/alembic/env.py b/jupyterhub/alembic/env.py
index 4846f4c1..584f82c1 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/alembic/env.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/alembic/env.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if 'jupyterhub' in sys.modules:
         alembic_logger.propagate = True
         alembic_logger.parent = app.log
     else:
-        fileConfig(config.config_file_name)
+        fileConfig(config.config_file_name, disable_existing_loggers=False)
 else:
     fileConfig(config.config_file_name)
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/app.py b/jupyterhub/app.py
index c0998028..95d25d3c 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/app.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/app.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import atexit
 import binascii
+import json
 import logging
 import os
 import re
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ from datetime import timedelta
 from datetime import timezone
 from functools import partial
 from getpass import getuser
+from glob import glob
 from operator import itemgetter
 from textwrap import dedent
 from urllib.parse import unquote
@@ -59,6 +61,8 @@ from traitlets import (
 )
 from traitlets.config import Application, Configurable, catch_config_error
 
+from jupyter_telemetry.eventlog import EventLog
+
 here = os.path.dirname(__file__)
 
 import jupyterhub
@@ -2113,6 +2117,7 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
             internal_ssl_ca=self.internal_ssl_ca,
             trusted_alt_names=self.trusted_alt_names,
             shutdown_on_logout=self.shutdown_on_logout,
+            eventlog=self.eventlog,
         )
         # allow configured settings to have priority
         settings.update(self.tornado_settings)
@@ -2138,6 +2143,16 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
                 e,
             )
 
+    def init_eventlog(self):
+        """Set up the event logging system."""
+        self.eventlog = EventLog(parent=self)
+
+        for dirname, _, files in os.walk(os.path.join(here, 'event-schemas')):
+            for file in files:
+                if not file.endswith('.yaml'):
+                    continue
+                self.eventlog.register_schema_file(os.path.join(dirname, file))
+
     def write_pid_file(self):
         pid = os.getpid()
         if self.pid_file:
@@ -2189,6 +2204,7 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
         _log_cls("Authenticator", self.authenticator_class)
         _log_cls("Spawner", self.spawner_class)
 
+        self.init_eventlog()
         self.init_pycurl()
         self.init_secrets()
         self.init_internal_ssl()
diff --git a/jupyterhub/event-schemas/server-actions/v1.yaml b/jupyterhub/event-schemas/server-actions/v1.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..35ffad67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jupyterhub/event-schemas/server-actions/v1.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"$id": hub.jupyter.org/server-action
+version: 1
+title: JupyterHub server events
+description: |
+  Record actions on user servers made via JupyterHub.
+
+  JupyterHub can perform various actions on user servers via 
+  direct interaction from users, or via the API. This event is 
+  recorded whenever either of those happen.
+
+  Limitations:
+
+  1. This does not record all server starts / stops, only those
+     explicitly performed by JupyterHub. For example, a user's server
+     can go down because the node it was running on dies. That will
+     not cause an event to be recorded, since it was not initiated
+     by JupyterHub. In practice this happens often, so this is not
+     a complete record.
+  2. Events are only recorded when an action succeeds.
+type: object
+required:
+- action
+- username
+- servername
+properties:
+  action:
+    enum:
+    - start
+    - stop
+    description: |
+      Action performed by JupyterHub.
+
+      This is a required field.
+
+      Possibl Values:
+
+      1. start
+         A user's server was successfully started
+      
+      2. stop
+         A user's server was successfully stopped
+  username:
+    type: string
+    description: |
+      Name of the user whose server this action was performed on.
+
+      This is the normalized name used by JupyterHub itself,
+      which is derived from the authentication provider used but 
+      might not be the same as used in the authentication provider.
+  servername:
+    type: string
+    description: |
+      Name of the server this action was performed on.
+
+      JupyterHub supports each user having multiple servers with
+      arbitrary names, and this field specifies the name of the
+      server.
+
+      The 'default' server is denoted by the empty string
diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
index d803f834..03d9cf3b 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
     def oauth_provider(self):
         return self.settings['oauth_provider']
 
+    @property
+    def eventlog(self):
+        return self.settings['eventlog']
+
     def finish(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """Roll back any uncommitted transactions from the handler."""
         if self.db.dirty:
@@ -848,6 +852,11 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
             SERVER_SPAWN_DURATION_SECONDS.labels(
                 status=ServerSpawnStatus.success
             ).observe(time.perf_counter() - spawn_start_time)
+            self.eventlog.record_event(
+                'hub.jupyter.org/server-action',
+                1,
+                {'action': 'start', 'username': user.name, 'servername': server_name},
+            )
             proxy_add_start_time = time.perf_counter()
             spawner._proxy_pending = True
             try:
@@ -1028,6 +1037,15 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
                 SERVER_STOP_DURATION_SECONDS.labels(
                     status=ServerStopStatus.success
                 ).observe(toc - tic)
+                self.eventlog.record_event(
+                    'hub.jupyter.org/server-action',
+                    1,
+                    {
+                        'action': 'stop',
+                        'username': user.name,
+                        'servername': server_name,
+                    },
+                )
             except:
                 SERVER_STOP_DURATION_SECONDS.labels(
                     status=ServerStopStatus.failure
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_eventlog.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_eventlog.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3cfbaec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_eventlog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""Tests for Eventlogging in JupyterHub.
+
+To test a new schema or event, simply add it to the
+`valid_events` and `invalid_events` variables below.
+
+You *shouldn't* need to write new tests.
+"""
+import io
+import json
+import logging
+from unittest import mock
+
+import jsonschema
+import pytest
+from traitlets.config import Config
+
+from .mocking import MockHub
+
+
+# To test new schemas, add them to the `valid_events`
+# and `invalid_events` dictionary below.
+
+# To test valid events, add event item with the form:
+# { ( '<schema id>', <version> ) : { <event_data> } }
+valid_events = [
+    (
+        'hub.jupyter.org/server-action',
+        1,
+        dict(action='start', username='test-username', servername='test-servername'),
+    )
+]
+
+# To test invalid events, add event item with the form:
+# { ( '<schema id>', <version> ) : { <event_data> } }
+invalid_events = [
+    # Missing required keys
+    ('hub.jupyter.org/server-action', 1, dict(action='start'))
+]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def eventlog_sink(app):
+    """Return eventlog and sink objects"""
+    sink = io.StringIO()
+    handler = logging.StreamHandler(sink)
+    # Update the EventLog config with handler
+    cfg = Config()
+    cfg.EventLog.handlers = [handler]
+
+    with mock.patch.object(app.config, 'EventLog', cfg.EventLog):
+        # recreate the eventlog object with our config
+        app.init_eventlog()
+        # return the sink from the fixture
+        yield app.eventlog, sink
+    # reset eventlog with original config
+    app.init_eventlog()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('schema, version, event', valid_events)
+def test_valid_events(eventlog_sink, schema, version, event):
+    eventlog, sink = eventlog_sink
+    eventlog.allowed_schemas = [schema]
+    # Record event
+    eventlog.record_event(schema, version, event)
+    # Inspect consumed event
+    output = sink.getvalue()
+    assert output
+    data = json.loads(output)
+    # Verify event data was recorded
+    assert data is not None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('schema, version, event', invalid_events)
+def test_invalid_events(eventlog_sink, schema, version, event):
+    eventlog, sink = eventlog_sink
+    eventlog.allowed_schemas = [schema]
+
+    # Make sure an error is thrown when bad events are recorded
+    with pytest.raises(jsonschema.ValidationError):
+        recorded_event = eventlog.record_event(schema, version, event)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ad40788f..7821b905 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ async_generator>=1.8
 certipy>=0.1.2
 entrypoints
 jinja2
+jupyter_telemetry
 oauthlib>=3.0
 pamela
 prometheus_client>=0.0.21