Lucille Poskanzer celebrating her 89th birthday in 2022
In 2005, Lucille Poskanzer was enjoying OLLI courses at UC Berkeley when she was informed that OLLI “had been cancelled and was no more — boom! That was it, no explanation, no rationale, no recourse, nothing. It upset me; and when I get upset, I get moving. I don't take things lying down.”
She was absolutely determined “to do something about this.” And she did.
Two years earlier, Poskanzer, recently retired, was immersed in volunteer activities when she realized that something was missing — intellectual stimulation. She had helped to establish the medical genetics program at Children’s Hospital when the field of genetics was in its infancy and was accustomed to an extraordinarily full life of research, practice, and teaching. It was then that she received a postcard from the Cal Alumni Association. It touted the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Berkeley. The institute offered four courses each term with no limit to the number students could take. Intrigued, Poskanzer thought, “why not try it?” She promptly registered. Soon she found herself routinely headed to the Golden Bear Center for thought-provoking classes that she relished.
After OLLI’s closure was abruptly announced, Poskanzer recalled that, in one of her courses, the professor had compiled a list of the contact information that she and other OLLI students had provided in order to stay in touch. She had saved the list, which, she now recognized, contained strategic information.
"I saw 55-60 names on the list and decided to contact every single person and say: ‘I don't like what's happening. I have no idea why it's happening, and I think OLLI should continue. Are you interested in trying to resurrect it?’" About 90 percent of the people said ‘yes’ and so I had a cohort of people who wanted to help. And me being me, I'm not cowed by university officials. I sent an email to the chancellor."
Robert Birgeneau was the chancellor at the time. An internationally renowned physicist, Birgeneau was the first person in his family to graduate from high school. When appointed chancellor in 2004, he stated “Crucial to Cal’s pre-eminence is its historic commitment to access and inclusion . . . People from all segments of society must be included in the opportunities afforded by institutions like Cal, and we must work to remove impediments to that opportunity.” Perhaps the chancellor’s vision for the university foreshadowed Cal’s response to Poskanzer’s email.
"I told the chancellor what had happened and informed him that I have 55 people who would really like to have OLLI at Berkeley continue. I said that ‘It’s been a wonderful program, and we've enjoyed it. I think that you need to have an adult education program on the Berkeley campus. Other campuses throughout the United States had these and Berkeley should be part of that coterie. We (seniors) were the future (of) an aging (national) population but still needed intellectual stimulation and a sense of community. Berkeley being Berkeley should take the lead.’"
Subsequently, a person from the University Development Office contacted Poskanzer. “Can we meet?” he asked, noting that his father was a member of an OLLI in Arizona — a program that both he and his father considered a “godsend.” As Poskanzer recalls, “I knew immediately that I had an ‘in’ — I knew we were going to be okay.”
The development officer and Poskanzer began to meet. While he liaised with the chancellor’s office, Poskanzer took care to keep all 55 people on her email list up to date. She was cautiously optimistic:
"We're making progress. It looks like the university might be interested. Have faith. Something is going to happen. It’s just not going to happen right away."
The university proceeded to invite Poskanzer and the OLLI cohort of lifelong learners to participate in focus groups guided by professional facilitators. The facilitators queried the participants on their vision for OLLI, should it be reborn. Because of their surprise at being abruptly told about the demise of the first OLLI, without any explanation, Poskanzer and the group described a new OLLI with a bottom-up organizational structure, one that regularly sought student input and invited ongoing student involvement, whether as volunteers for events or members of committees. As well, they stipulated that the university accord academic program status to a new OLLI. The former OLLI had been a component of University Extension, which offers occupational and career education, different in purpose and substance than the liberal arts education envisioned by Poskanzer and her fellow advocates. The focus group participants further indicated they wanted both small and large courses reflective of the diversity of disciplines and subject areas. Above all, the group emphasized the importance they placed upon quality. As Poskanzer recalls:
"We wanted top-notch faculty. This was Berkeley. We wanted to attract ‘the best of the best.’"
Poskanzer anticipated that it would take time for the university to determine whether academic status would be conferred upon a new OLLI. The decision would be made by the Academic Senate, a body known for rumination and deliberation. Moreover, the university would need time to submit a proposal to the Bernard Osher Foundation. OLLIs are named after Mr. Osher, whose foundation provides start-up funding to grantees and makes gifts to endowment if a new OLLI proves its “potential for success and sustainability.”
Time passed while the university worked towards incubating a new OLLI. A mere two years after the first OLLI closed, a brand-new OLLI opened in the fall of 2007. It had garnered academic program status and foundation support. The new OLLI, with its new director, Susan Hoffman, offered ten courses and a lecture series — but there was still more to be done.
The Osher Foundation required membership growth. If the new OLLI met benchmarks for increasing its membership in each of four years, then the foundation would provide four years of annual funding. If membership levels reached exceptionally high numbers within specified time frames, then the foundation would make gifts to endowment.
Poskanzer and her cohort of OLLI advocates mobilized to launch a massive membership drive. They sent flyers and postcards all over the Bay Area, spoke to every organization that gave them a platform, agreed to interviews with anyone willing to write an article, and hosted open houses. Poskanzer’s recruitment work knew no bounds:
"I talked to everyone. If a person next to me on a BART train was about to retire, I told them about OLLI. OLLI was always on my mind."
In four years, nearly 1,000 people became OLLI members, and their number continued to grow. Poskanzer explains the draw:
"If you offer a quality product, people respond, and there is word-of-mouth. When you start talking about your wonderful classes, everybody wants to come."
OLLI offered members the joy of learning. The members reciprocated by offering faculty the joy of teaching. In Poskanzer’s words,
"Every professor didn’t know what they were getting into when they agreed to teach older people, but every one of them enjoyed teaching OLLI members. They loved the students; and they thought ‘wow, is this what teaching is all about? They didn't have to mark papers, and we all were eager to learn."
Meanwhile, OLLI’s continuous membership growth had garnered from the Osher Foundation one gift of one million dollars to endowment and then a second gift of the same magnitude.
Reflecting on the outcome of her audacious email to the chancellor – the birth of a new successful and sustainable OLLI benefitting thousands of members – Poskanzer offers these celebratory words:
"It was terrific; it was a win-win, as I knew it was going to be. We exceeded the university's expectations by far. They didn’t expect much from older people. I think we did a pretty good job."
Linda Wing, Ph.D., is an OLLI @Berkeley member and volunteer who spent more than 45 years working to transform public schools in order to enable students in the nation’s cities to learn and achieve at high levels.
The OLLI Blog showcases the voices and perspectives of the OLLI community (members, faculty and staff) as well as news from and about OLLI. Please contact OLLI's Nancy Murr to learn more.