 Dear Senior Academy Members, Fall semester classes have begun and yet the campus feels different because of the precautions dictated by the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. The Senior Academy Board continues to hold its meeting via Zoom and the first event was also on Zoom, in this case for good reason because it was a showcasing preview of the digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis project that will go public in November. The second September event is also a Zoom meeting, a presentation about Nazi art theft by Helen Schwartz, the invitation for which was sent and registration for it is available under “upcoming events” on the IUPUI Senior Academy website. The next event is a picnic in Eagle Creek Park at the Lilly Lake Shelter, on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Even though there will be no box lunches served at this gathering, I hope you can join us and add your lunch to the provided water and snack. Following what has become a regular process, you will receive an invitation with further details via email to register for the event listed on the IUPUI Senior Academy website under “upcoming events.” Please note that meeting in person requires caution in addition to being fully vaccinated: bring a mask and observe physical distancing. Also, the picnic is an opportunity to bring items you want to donate to IUPUI's Paws Pantry that serves food-insecure students, faculty, and staff as well as items for the auction that is part of IUPUI’s United Way campaign (see below). You may remember that a tour of the Miller House in Columbus, IN, had been planned for April 2020 and became a casualty of the corona pandemic shutdown. This year’s plan is to tour the Miller House on Thursday, October 28, 2021. The Miller House and Garden is a famous Mid-Century modern home. It showcases the work of leading 20th-century architects and designers Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche, Alexander Girard, and Dan Kiley. Owned and cared for by Newfield’s, it’s one of the architectural icons of Columbus, Indiana. In order to reserve tour spaces for Academy members, you need to pre-register by Friday, September 24, 2021, on the IUPUI Senior Academy website “upcoming events” and answer some questions for subsequent planning purposes. There will be a second registration step, after the number of participants are known, that includes information for payment and carpooling opportunities. The Last Lecture is a signature event of the Senior Academy. This year the lecturer is Erv Boschmann and the scheduled date of the event had to be changed. If you marked your calendars for November 5, 2021, please change the date to Monday, November 1, 2021, 2–4 p.m. The conflicting inauguration celebration of the new IU president, Pam Whitten, on the IUPUI campus necessitated the rescheduling of the Last Lecture—at this point in person, not via Zoom. You may have noticed that that the IUPUI Senior Academy website has been much improved. Together with the Academy’s Facebook page, it is designed to work as an easy and effective information hub and also to connect members with each other. The Member Center does not only encourage members to create their individual profiles and decide whether they want to allow other members to get in touch via email, or not, but also to indicate what their interest are and if such shared interests have or may coalesce into a group. At this time, three such “Interest Groups” have formed, the first one being the String Theory Group that has been very busy creating items for Paws Closet. They will deliver their creations before Thanksgiving in time for the holidays and take a break in November and December. The Book Club also meets monthly for its discussion of a select book from a growing list of suggestions from the members, thereby creating a catalogue of books to read or choose as presents. The Walking Group began its monthly meetings in September at Crown Hill Cemetery on a beautiful day and then explored part of downtown and the Cultural Trail under grey skies. Interest in outdoor activities is strong and diverse, suggesting that various sub-categories fit under that umbrella and that the Walking Group may well be joined by a group that focuses on gardens and gardening and another one that revolves around travel. The meetings of all those groups are listed under “Upcoming Events” on the IUPUI Senior Academy website. Joining such a group is easy: register for its posted event and do not hesitate to invite guests to it, too. Registration for Interest Group events allow for planning future events as well as communicating among group members and across group. Please note, however, that organizing Interest Groups is an ongoing process (not all the kinks have been worked out yet). While the various Interest Groups already constituted or planned are taking shape, groups and activities under the very broad umbrella of volunteering are the focus of a Volunteer sub-committee of the Senior Academy Board. Steve Kirchhoff is leading that effort together with Anne Belcher, Christy Tidwell, and Karen Black. Please contact any of them if you share that particular interest and have ideas you want to share. As members of the IUPUI community you will have received invitations to contribute to two annual campus initiatives, the United Way and Campus campaigns. In addition to raising funds for student scholarships from the Senior Academy, the contributions of Senior Academy members to the United Way and Campus campaigns have been significant. It would be gratifying if this kind of impact on the campus and the greater Indianapolis communities can be maintained, even surpassed in 2021-2022. You may have responded to the email invitation to contribute to the United Way campaign and gone online to do so. You may also know that you can choose alternative ways to support this campus action. Contributing items to the auction is one such alternative (the range of possible items to contribute is broad, ranging from artwork and jewelry to bottles of wine and food baskets.[1] Some of you may prefer contributing in a particular tax-savvy way, rolling over funds from an IRA as “donor advised funds” in order to reduce the RMDs from IRAs. Doing so may seem a bit cumbersome as evident from the instructions in the footnote.[2] Whatever you can contribute and however you can do so, it is in a cause that the Senior Academy supports. Marianne S. Wokeck For questions and comments, contact us at ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas. [1] Wine basket (wine glasses, napkins), bath basket (lotions, salts, etc.). Tickets to events, sculptures, artwork, housewares, bike, picnic basket of gourmet foods are other possible items suitable for the auction. [2] If you are 70½ or older, you can direct a distribution from your IRA to the United Way of Central Indiana. This option provides a way to use your required minimum distributions (RMDs) to make a charitable gift without reporting it as a withdrawal that is subject to income tax. To donate to United Way with an IRA, select Check on the epledge site. Instruct the custodian (whoever holds the IRA) to send the funds directly to the United Way with a note identifying you as the donor and explaining that the donation is coming from an IRA. Make sure the check is made payable to United Way of Central Indiana and not to you as donor. Otherwise, the withdrawal will result in a taxable event. Personally, I recommend that you consult with your wealth advisor (titles for people with that specific expertise at TIAA and Fidelity vary) and do not hesitate to get in touch with United Way of Central Indiana, 2955 N. Meridian St. Indianapolis, IN 46208, Phone: 317-921-1315, Mike Caldwell, Planned Giving, gro[dot]icwu[at]llewdlac[dot]ekim. |
