Community Voices, January 2016

One of the most popular regional outreach programs at SMSU is our life-long learning program, GOLD College. Formerly called Senior College at SMSU, GOLD is an acronym for Growth, Opportunity, Learning, and Development. GOLD College offers non-credit classes with a variety of topics. Each class is held one day per week for two hours. There are no tests or grades, and it is for people of all educational levels, and all ages. The spring schedule of classes will begin on campus in March, but this year we are taking the program on the road.

“GOLD on the ROAD,” will take several classes to Palm Springs, CA and Scottsdale, AZ in February.  Last year a pilot program was held in Phoenix and a sold out crowd of alumni, retirees and friends enjoyed a fun and educational program put on by Dr. Lloyd Petersen, Emeritus Professor of Education.

We are excited to have Dr. Petersen back again this year as the featured presenter in both locations.  His topic of discussion is titled, “Brother against Brother: A Look at America’s Civil War.” Dr. Peterson’s presentations are always highly interactive and will feature a variety of videos, photos and civil war memorabilia. The first program will be on Monday, February 22nd in Palm Springs, CA where Dr. Michael Kopp, SMSU Emeritus Professor of History will lead a complimentary presentation: “Lincoln and the Civil War.”

The following day, Tuesday, February 23rd we will take GOLD College back east to Scottsdale, AZ where Dr. Peterson will again share his civil war presentation.  He will be joined by  SMSU Alumna, Deeann Griebel who will lead a break-out session titled: “The Middle East/Arab World Conflict: Causes, Projected Length, Possible End, and Economic Impact.” Deeann is highly respected financial advisor and her presentations are extremely engaging and informative.

These two days promise to be very engaging as we share some of our academic distinctiveness with our alumni and friends in other parts of the country. Staying active learners throughout our lifetime is an important aspect of our educational process and GOLD College is a unique program to assist us in our pursuit to stay active.  Participants will find and experience a number of different things including; personal fulfillment, discovery of other people and cultures, active citizenship, a fostering of community, and most importantly a fun and engaging environment.

If you are traveling or know of retirees that are in the Palm Springs or Scottsdale areas, I encourage you to join us or share this GOLD College opportunity.  If you are interested in GOLD College here on campus please watch the SMSU Alumni website (www.smsualumni.com/goldcollege/index.html) for announcement with the complete list of spring sessions on campus beginning in March. There will topics of interest for everyone and we hope that you can join us to stay an active and engaged learner.

Published in the Marshall Independent, Saturday, January 30, 2016.