Dear Senior Academy Members, May is graduation month and signals the shift from completing the spring semester to summer with its different tasks and rhythm. It is also the month in which to prepare for the IUPUI Senior Academy annual meeting, offering an opportunity to reflect on the year past. You will have received the invitation to the annual meeting and I am taking this occasion to persuade you to register for the event very soon, if you have not yet done so. Like last year, the annual meeting is an outdoor event because, when it was planned, the guidelines for in-person gatherings recommended to get together out-of-doors in consideration of everyone’s health. At this time, the weather forecast indicates that it may be cloudy and in the eighties, suggesting informal summer attire even though the business part of the meeting might indicate otherwise. Please note, that a small philanthropic component of the annual meeting is the collection of contributions to Paws Pantry, the organization on campus that provides food-insecure members of the IUPUI community with much needed items. In the transition from April to May, the Interest Groups provided most of the scheduled events (all those meetings are posted on the IUPUI Senior Academy website under the "Activities" tab. The String Theory Group has continued to knit and crochet hats and scarves to be donated for those times later in the year when people in our community lack such warming clothing. The Book Club completed the discussion of the last book on its list for this year. It will continue to meet next year, creating a new list of books to read and talk about via Zoom because that format enables members and their guests to join in the conversation even if they are away from home. With the warmer weather the Walking Group resumed its schedule with an exploration of murals and graffiti in the Fountain Square neighborhood. In June its members will re-visit Crown Hill Cemetery, this time with a focus of learning more about the wonderful and varied kinds of trees in its grounds. Opportunities for one-time, time and effort-limited volunteering in the community are also posted on the website. As those members interested in outdoor activities are working on forming a group, their first event is already set, namely a visit to the medicinal garden at the Medical History Museum. It was my honor and pleasure to invite 54 newly retired colleagues at the Faculty Retiree Celebration to join the Senior Academy. Some of them already did so and may join us at the annual meeting. May I invite you to extend a personal invitation and welcome to those of your colleagues, staff and faculty, whom you know well to become Senior Academy members and engage with it as they are finding their ways of experiencing and enjoying retirement? Joining an Interest Group or serving as a committee member may fit new schedules and different directions for spending passions and leisure and also (re)connect with already retired friends. After two years of serving as president of the Senior Academy I am very grateful for that opportunity, with special thanks to those who have served on the Board and its committees and with notable gratitude for the support that EVC Kathy Johnson has provided through the invaluable assistant that Mansi Singh and Chad Beckner have lent at challenging times and in contribution to efforts undertaken to develop the Senior Academy to benefit its members and make a contribution to IUPUI. I am privileged to hand matters over to the new president, officers, and Board members in the knowledge that they will serve you very well in 2022-2023. President, IUPUI Senior Academy ude[dot]iupui[at]kcekowm 317-332-8488 For questions and comments, contact us at ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas. |