The following article summarizes the original event which is listed below the summary.
UMRA returns to campus for May 2022 Annual Meeting and Forum
UMRA held a celebratory annual meeting on May 24, 2022, with an in-person luncheon at the Campus Club on the Twin Cities campus. Around 80 members attended the event, and nearly 20 participated online. Outgoing President Jan Morlock welcomed many U of M special guests including Provost Rachel Croson, vice presidents Matt Kramer and Bernard (Bernie) Gulachek, and John Coleman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
One reason for celebration was UMRA’s new memorandum of understanding with the University, signed by President Morlock and Provost Croson on March 1. Another was UMRA’s successful reunification with the University Retirees Volunteer Center.
Provost Croson spoke in appreciation of UMRA’s work, as individuals and as an organization, in service to the University and our communities. She committed to maintaining a close, cooperative relationship in furtherance of our missions.
President Morlock also recognized the work of the UMRA Zoom Team, consisting of Virgil Larson, John Anderson, Kris Mortensen, and Mary Koppel, who kept UMRA forums and workshops going during COVID when many retiree associations shut down. UMRA’s monthly programs were at least as well attended via Zoom as they had been previously.
The election of officers and board members occurred virtually during the previous week. Morlock announced the results were unanimous and welcomed new board members Russell Luepker and Kate Maple and returning board member Will Craig. New officers include Eric Hockert as president-elect, Kristy Frost Griep as treasurer, and Julie Sweitzer returning as secretary. Morlock thanked departing board members/officers, Frank Cerra, Gary Engstrand and Greg Hestness.
Incoming President Ron Matross then briefly took the podium to thank Morlock for being “a delight to work with and for deftly bringing us through the challenges that the past year presented to us.” As an expression of appreciation from the Retirees Association, he also presented her with a gift certificate for tickets to the Guthrie Theater and a word cloud describing her leadership of UMRA.
Morlock returned to the podium to conclude the formal annual meeting and introduce CLA Dean Coleman as the keynote speaker for the forum. Dean Coleman described how CLA has defined the skills students acquire as liberal arts majors. The student body has become more racially and ethnically diverse, but COVID created challenges in maintaining international students. The college’s Public Life Project is changing how CLA prepares students for public life and addressing the conflicts of our time.
The new Liberal Arts Engagement Hub in the recently renovated Pillsbury Hall has hosted many community partners who define their projects and bring new perspectives to collegiate life.
Ron Matross ended the meeting by encouraging all to join UMRA’s summer celebration at Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul on August 9, and next year’s in-person luncheon forums.
—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA secretary
EDITOR’S NOTE
As members of the University of Minnesota Retirees Association were joyfully gathering on May 24, 2022, for their first “reunion” at the U of M Campus Club in Minneapolis after 27 months of separation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unaware of an unspeakably tragic event that was unfolding in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. There, a lone, 18-year-old gunman entered an elementary school armed with an assault rifle and shot to death 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers. As parents, grandparents, and educators, we grieve the loss of life and the loss of innocence inflicted on the surviving family members, Robb Elementary School children, teachers and staff, first responders, and members of the Uvalde community.
—Kristine Mortensen, news editor
CLA Dean John Coleman to keynote 2022 Annual Meeting
Tue, May 24 2022, 11am
John Coleman
Dean
College of Liberal Arts
Campus Club West Wing Dining Room and via Zoom
May 24 will mark UMRA’s return to in-person luncheon forums at the Campus Club for the first time in more than two years and a celebration of our resilient fellowship. We will also announce the new board for the coming year. See the election article on page 3 for how to cast your vote.
We hope you will attend in person on May 24; reservations open April 28 and are due May 16.
Plan to arrive at the Campus Club West Wing Dining Room by 11 a.m. for a buffet lunch starting at 11:15. When the Annual Meeting begins at noon, we’ll announce the election results and then welcome Provost Rachel Croson to celebrate the signing of a renewed Memorandum of Understanding between UMRA and the University. Next, we’ll introduce UMRA’s president for the coming year, Ron Matross, and at about 12:25 p.m. we’ll kick off the forum with speaker John Coleman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
Leading the liberal arts
With 31 academic departments, 500 professors, and 14,000 students, CLA is the largest academic unit at our university. The college has always been at the center of the U’s mission and its role as a land grant university. In 2019, Dean Coleman led the college’s celebration of 150-plus years of history.
You may recall reading last fall about the CLA Public Life Project, a new cross-disciplinary initiative. The official aim of the project is to develop “… the knowledge and skills students need to grapple with polarizing divisions and inequalities, engage empathetically with others, and prepare for active, meaningful public lives.” We look forward to hearing from Dean Coleman about how he sees the role of the college in preparing graduates for public life in this era of great stridency and divisions.
Also in 2021, the college under Dean Coleman’s leadership completed the long-planned renovation of Pillsbury Hall in the heart of the east bank of the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. Pillsbury Hall is now home to the Department of English and its Creative Writing Program, and the new Liberal Arts Engagement Hub. A tour of Pillsbury Hall would be a terrific idea for UMRA’s 2022–23 program year.
A nationally recognized scholar
Dean Coleman has focused his efforts in four key areas since becoming dean in 2014: ensuring that CLA alumni are the most desirable graduates available; promoting and rewarding research and creative excellence; advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion of faculty, staff, and students; and deepening a culture of engagement with alumni, the community, and the state.
A nationally recognized scholar, he is the author or editor of seven books on American politics and government and numerous articles in edited volumes and major journals. Prior to his arrival at CLA, he was chair of the Political Science Department and a Lyons Family Faculty Fellow at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was on the faculty for more than 20 years.
We hope you will attend in person on May 24; reservations open April 28 and are due May 16.
If attending remotely is better for you, we plan to offer a Zoom option for the meeting and forum. To join UMRA’s 2022 Annual Meeting and Forum via Zoom, please register at umra.umn.edu.
—Jan Morlock, UMRA president