From the President

From Your (new) President,

One order of business at OLLI’s annual meeting in June is the election of a new board of directors who take their place alongside returning members. At the first meeting of the board, in July, officers are elected. Your new board members are Sonja Jewell Kelley, Florita Montgomery, Lynn Baker, Clark McKee, and Hilary Attfield. They join returning board members Linda Jacknowitz, Ed Johnson, George Trapp, Jane Martin, Kathy Hanko, Gwen Rosenbluth, Gwen Gill, Beverly Kerr, Carolyn Atkinson, and Kay Goodwin. This year’s officers are Clark McKee – Secretary; George Trapp – Treasurer; Beverly Kerr – Vice-President; and Ed Johnson – President; Sarah Woodrum, School of Public Health representative, and Jascenna Haislet, Director of OLLI, continue to serve as Ex-officio board members.

OLLI at WVU continues to grow both in Morgantown and the Kanawha Valley. More members are renewing membership each year and new members are joining as well. The most recent figures show that we have more than 305 members in Morgantown and 133 in the Kanawha Valley. Financially, we are stable for now, even though we have some of the lowest fees among 123 OLLIs.

But challenges remain. For example, we need a larger classroom in Morgantown. In Charleston, there is a need for a paid, part-time coordinator, and perhaps an office. We’ll talk more about these (and other challenges) in the weeks and months ahead.

May we live in interesting times!

Ed Johnson