Soon you will be receiving an email or letter inviting you to renew your UMRA membership for the 2023–24 year. We hope that you’ll renew before you get busy with your summer activities. Even better, go right now to Member Portal > Renew Membership and renew. If we get renewals by the start of UMRA’s fiscal year on July 1, we’ll have a handle on how much money we’ll have to work with next year.

If you’re on the fence about renewing, let me make a case for why you should. UMRA is all about opportunities, and this past year we offered a lot of them

• Six in-person luncheon forums and three virtual forums with talks by prominent public figures including Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and University political scientist Kathryn Pearson
• Eight virtual living well workshops on topics ranging from bone health to taking advantage of the University of Minnesota Libraries
• A well-attended summer social at Como Park and a lovely boat ride down the Mississippi River in the fall
• A wide range of special interest groups, where you could connect with others to read, hike, and take pictures, or learn about family history, travel, and financial issues
• Easy and meaningful ways to do volunteer service through the University Retirees Volunteer Center and UMRA’s new Silver Gophers Service Corps
• Grants for research and professional development, with nine retirees receiving them this year
• Publication of articles by UMRA members in the online Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays

UMRA also advocated on your behalf. When the University announced a plan to discontinue UMN email privileges for retirees, we were able to secure a pledge that UMRA members would continue to have access to their UMN emails and associated Google workspaces.

UMRA is an all-volunteer organization that depends on membership dues. I think we provide a terrific deal for our $30 annual dues charge. I hope you agree and will renew your membership for the coming year.

—Ron Matross, UMRA president