Silver Gopher Service Corps steps up to help fill the Class of 2027
An enthusiastic group of stalwart retirees trudged through snow, ice, and wind to greet future students and their families on the University’s first-ever Newly Admitted Students Welcome Day, hosted by the Office of Admissions on April 1. The goal: to convince these bright young people to make the leap and join the class of 2027!
The retirees greeted the arriving students and their families, directed them to various activities, and, most importantly, shared their affiliations with the University. The visitors seemed eager to interact with the volunteers.
Admissions staff engaged the would-be Gophers in a lively program that included campus tours (on freshly plowed paths), visits with Goldy Gopher, and the rousing music of the University of Minnesota Marching Band.
Hennepin County Commissioner and Board Chair Irene Fernando (’07 BS, ’14 MEd) served as a lively keynote speaker. She shared her inspiring story and how the University helped form and strengthen her leadership skills.
UMRA President Ron Matross thinks the Silver Gopher Service Corps t-shirts (see photo) are a great way for UMRA volunteers to show their connection to the Retirees Association and to the U. Shirts will be available for $15 at upcoming UMRA luncheons and future Silver Gopher volunteer projects.
—Peggy Mann Rinehart
News
The 2026 Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates for UMRA board and officer positions. If you know of someone who might be willing to step up to an UMRA leadership role—and that someone could be you!—please contact Julie Sweitzer, Nominating Committee chair.
How would you like to participate in one or more informal afternoon group conversations at the Campus Club with University leaders—deans, center directors, department heads, for example—regarding their current situations and thoughts about the future?
The University Retirees Volunteer Center greets 2026 with some exciting news: its office is moving to Morrill Hall, which houses the University’s administrative offices on the Twin Cities campus. The space is being provided by the office of Chris Gade, the vice president for communications, who oversees University Marketing Communications.
Meet UMRA member Pat Tollefson, founder of the UMRA Book Club (in 2011) and shining example of how volunteering and engaging in a variety of other activities can lead to a full life in retirement.
Here’s how to make payments for UMRA events easily in the UMRA member portal, and how to use your UMRA membership card for on-campus parking and other discounts, including University Bookstores.
Marilyn Erickson has an interesting set of three family history stories that she wrote “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”
Drawing on his training as a historian, his patience and more than a little serendipity, Jim Tracy put together an account of his family history. “This account is for our family, if not now, perhaps later, I hope it may also be of interest for others looking into the history of their families.”
Then there are the unexpected things that happen…
… like a box of family history from a cousin that was completely unexpected. Perhaps it is like an unexpected DNA match.