Enews31-20

October 30, 2020

• Alerts & Notices
• From the Desk of the Executive Director
• History Club
• Poet’s Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• OLLI Annual Town Hall Meeting, online, Friday, November 6, 10:00; followed by fall Thanksgiving volunteer celebration at 1:00. All members welcome at both events.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, November 6; regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, November 3, at 6:00.

By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director

For the last two weeks, OLLI President Paul Howard and I had the great pleasure to attend the 2020 Osher National Conference—held virtually this year. The conference invitees included directors and volunteer leaders from the 124 OLLIs around the country.

The conference sessions included topics related to operating in the “new normal” of remote course offerings, welcoming and equipping teachers, donor engagement, and teaching about systemic racism. One especially engaging session featured Beth Steinhorn of VQ Volunteer Strategies. Beth discussed supporting volunteers during these unprecedented times by sustaining community among volunteers and members. She highlighted Charles Volg’s book The Art of Community: Seven Principles of Belonging, in which he talks about nurturing relationships in teams.

Volg suggests we need to find ways to make members feel more connected, welcome, proud, and excited to be part of the group. Beth further iterated a need to help each other stay connected with the existing technology, social engagement, and intellectual stimulation. These ideas are vital takeaways I plan to share with staff, committee chairs, and the OLLI Board of Directors to keep in mind as we lead OLLI during these different and challenging times.

History Club
By Elizabeth Lambert, History Club CoordinatorThe next meeting of the History Club (via Zoom) will take place on Wednesday, November 4 at 4:00. On what promises to be a most interesting day in the history of this country, our speaker will be Heather Dudley and her subject is the Electoral College.

As Heather notes, “The spirit of party infuses our opinion about whether or not the electoral college is a good thing. Republicans will tend to defend it, and Democrats, having lost two elections where they won the popular vote, will generally promote change. We will delve into how and why the framers came up with this odd system for electing the president.”

Her talk will focus on the debates in the Constitutional Convention and how the system evolved over time. Those who have taken her classes know the discussion will be stimulating and highly informative. All OLLI members are invited.

Meetings & Clubs

Please note: Physical meetings for clubs and activities are canceled until further notice in accordance with Mason’s guidelines. OLLI is conducting its classes and activities online. Refer to the university’s coronavirus website for official university updates and check the OLLI calendar for revised information.

The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office. The list is accurate as of mid-week but for the most up-to-date information, please view the latest forecast of coming events on our website (News/OLLI Calendar). Note: All OLLI members are welcome at, and encouraged to attend, meetings of the Board of Directors, committees and resource groups, kick-off coffees, etc. (bolded below). The OLLI office has sent (or will send) emails with links and meeting passwords to club members; you may also log in at the member portal and click on ZOOM CLASS LINKS.

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OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.

Editorial Staff
Chief Editor: Paul Van Hemel
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: David Gundry, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel 
Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Roz Stark,
Jane Hassell
Backup Chief Editor: Alice Slayton Clark

Submissions: Members are encouraged to submit letters to the editor, letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit (on etiquette matters), OLLI-related news items, articles, and photos. Submit material to: ollienewseditor@gmail.com.
Deadline: Tuesday, 6:00, for that week’s issue (Monday, 6:00, for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words.
Note: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News on the DocStore. To search the content of issues, use Search Our Site or put your search term in Google followed by “site:olli.gmu.edu/” without the quotes.

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