UNLV’s ‘senior class’ lives it up with life-long learning

Tucked in a spacious building just off Maryland Parkway, a couple of blocks away from UNLV’s Student Union, there’s a program that has become invaluable to hundreds of seniors.

No, not the kind of seniors that are fourth-year students at UNLV, but rather retired and semi-retired people in the Las Vegas Valley who don’t believe that learning stops when life’s twilight years begin.

It’s called the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a member-driven community of more than 1,100 area folks who take, teach and design courses on everything from short story writing to conversational Italian.

All the courses are non-credit and they don’t go toward any type of degree. There are also no grades.

“We are truly the senior class at UNLV,” joked 65-year-old Alison Kasner of Henderson, who has been a part of the OLLI community at UNLV for close to 15 years. “I retired kind of young from the Clark County School District, so I started out when I was 49 or 50. I think I was the youngest member at the time. I was hooked right away.”

During the fall semester, Kasner took an introduction to wine course and a musical theater course, along with a class called “The Truth About Happiness.”

The cost for a fall semester OLLI membership is $115 while it’s $235 for a full year.

Those that teach courses get to take classes at no charge.

Learning and networking

Mala Skelton, 74, moved to the valley a couple of years ago from Southern California. She said being a part of the OLLI community not only offered interesting learning opportunities, but also helped her make new friends.

“Everywhere you go about town, you meet people from OLLI,” Skelton said. “It offers a lot educationally, but you’re also learning, networking and meeting people. It’s been the greatest thing.”

On one early November afternoon at the OLLI center, a cafeteria area was mostly empty, though office dwellers said it’s a lively place for coffee on school mornings.

Down a nearby hallway, more than two dozen people listened intently as local musician Patrick Hogan presided over a jazz appreciation course where he talked about some of his favorite Frank Sinatra songs.

In another classroom, there was a sports business course, focused on Las Vegas’ newfound reputation as a worldwide sporting event leader.

An isolation breaker

While in-person courses remain popular, the institute also offers some remote offerings and hybrid classes. The remote option, of course, was used extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time that left many seniors in a state of involuntary isolation.

“Something really wonderful happened during COVID when we started to do Zoom classes,” Kasner said. “A lot of people needed that. We have to take care of ourselves, physically, mentally and socially and that all comes back to OLLI. It’s about stimulating who we are as people.”

Kasner said it was apparent that many — especially seniors — lacked social interaction during the pandemic.

“OLLI pivoted online classes during that summer (2020),” Kasner said. “The social aspect of OLLI is as important as the learning. Many members are unmarried or widowed. Routines become more important. They attend classes to feel part of a community.”

For Fran Smith, who teaches an art history course and, as she puts it, attends more classes than she has time for, the institute is a sort of second home.

“This is my fourth career,” she joked. “I wanted to take an art history class, so that’s really why I joined OLLI in the first place. I took the class and I got brave because I thought I knew more about art history than the instructor did, so I decided to teach it.”

Now over a decade into being an institute member, Smith has served on many OLLI committees and has helped fundraise for the program.

“The learning is fun and rewarding, yes, but the social interaction is one of the great aspects, too,” Smith said. “The friends you make is what makes everything worth it.”

The institute is under the umbrella of UNLV’s Lifelong Learning arm, which used to be called the Division of Educational Outreach.

Nationwide, the Bernard Osher Foundation supports over 100 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes on university and college campuses in all 50 states, according to the foundation’s website.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.