Renew your UMRA membership
Soon you will receive an email or letter inviting you to renew your UMRA membership for the 2024–25 year. Please renew before you get busy with your summer activities. Even better, go right now to umra.umn.edu > Member Portal > Renew Membership and renew.
UMRA is an all-volunteer organization that depends on membership dues. If we get all our renewals by the July 1 start of UMRA’s fiscal year, we’ll know what financial resources we’ll have to work with next year.
UMRA is all about opportunities to engage and serve each other, and this past year we offered a lot of them:
Six in-person luncheon forums and two virtual forums with talks by prominent public figures, including Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and PBS correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro
Eight living well workshops featuring expert advice on topics including hearing loss, knee issues, and therapeutic approaches to aging
A well-attended summer social at Como Park, a lovely autumn boat ride on the Mississippi River, and a fun winter party with music by Twin Cities entertainers Dane Stauffer and Dan Chouinard
Interest groups for connecting with others to read, hike, take pictures, or learn about family history, travel, and financial issues
Meaningful ways to volunteer through the University Retirees Volunteer Center and the Silver Gopher Service Corps
Grants for research and professional development, with nine recipients this year
An eclectic eJournal full of general interest articles and videos produced primarily by UMRA members
I hope you’ll support UMRA by renewing your membership for the coming year. Your support helps to make our programs and many other member benefits possible!
—Eric Hockert, UMRA president
News
At a contentious meeting March 14, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved a resolution restricting University units from issuing statements “of public concern or public interest.” Several dozen faculty and students present vehemently protested the resolution.
The election of UMRA officers and new board members for 2025–26 will be conducted via an online poll from May 12 to 18, with the results to be announced at our annual meeting on May 20. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt leads the slate of nominees as president-elect. She came to the University of Minnesota in 1989 as a professor and associate dean, and retired in 2018.
This spring, UMRA will launch a new member portal to simplify and more efficiently manage many essential tasks, including enrolling new members, updating member records, registering event attendees, and processing payments.
Meet UMRA member Vicki Gaylord. In her 32-year career at the Institute of Community Integration, a U of M Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, her work made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people around the world.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center is seeking candidates to serve on the URVC Leadership Council. The council meets six times per year to identify opportunities for volunteer projects and develop strategies for growing and supporting volunteer participation.
Deanne Magnusson was raised in a family in which education and volunteerism were encouraged. She earned three degrees at the U of M, and enjoyed a career working in education with leaders and schools in Minnesota and across the world. These experiences, and her volunteer work today with URVC, continue to transform her as an educator and as a person.
UMRA’s 2025 Professional Development Grants for Retirees awards cover a diverse set of topics reflecting the breadth of studies undertaken by University retirees, including Mark Bohnhorst for his proposal “More New Thinking about Presidential Elections.”
UMRA member Lynn Slifer is taking full advantage of retirement, pursuing her interests in writing, crafting, babysitting grandchildren, good food, wine, and travel, plus serving on the leadership council of the University Retirees Volunteer Center.
UMRA’s online Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays is a unique venue hosting diverse content that is enjoyed by people around the world. If you enjoy helping authors polish their products for publication, JOIE is looking for a new leader. It’s an opportunity that has been tremendously rewarding for the outgoing editor-in-chief.
UMRA has lost contact with many members because of the unfortunate demise of your @umn.edu email accounts. If you haven’t done so already, please update your email address on our system. It won’t take long.