OLLI at CSUDH is a membership organization for individuals 50 plus seeking intellectual and social activities. These activities include short courses on a variety of topics taught by university professors and experts in their field, peer-led special interest groups, discussion groups, field trips, technology workshops, social gatherings and cultural events. Learning occurs in a supportive environment without concern for grades or tests, learning for the joy of learning. Most classes are held in person, with some held via Zoom or in a hybrid online/on-campus modality, so that those seniors who are unable to attend in-person still have an opportunity to participate in our OLLI community.

All programs are led by volunteers that want to share their expertise, particular interests, research, or ideas that they would like to discuss with others. These volunteers are CSUDH professors, students, community members, politicians, professionals, members, neighbors, and more. All have one thing in common, they have a love for learning and a desire to share, and the one thing all members have in common is the belief that “Curiosity Never Retires.”

OLLI at CSUDH is much more than just a place where seniors come to learn. OLLI is a family of diverse lifelong learners who share adventures and experiences. Friendships are forged within the community each year, along with memorable moments through study, discussion, play, travel, special events, and more. Members are the heart of OLLI at CSUDH, and its eclectic curriculum. A 14-year OLLI member describes the heart of OLLI as follows, “As we get older sometimes, we begin to lose connections with friends and family for many different reasons; OLLI becomes our family, our friends. OLLI is a tribe for this latter part of life. Having OLLI keeps our minds active, and our calendars full educationally and socially. Our tribe is here for all 50 and better members of the South Bay. We are diverse in so many ways. Life at OLLI involves learning and a willingness to expand our knowledge in new areas.”

OLLI stands for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. There are 125 OLLI chapters, all associated with a college or university. CSUDH was one of the original 18 grantees in 2002, and is entering its 20th year on CSUDH’s park-like, continually evolving campus. As the membership grows and changes and the world changes, the program changes as well. OLLI is a place to ensure that you are informed and have the ability to navigate your way through current events, social issues, local and international hot topics, and always advancing technology.

CSUDH OLLI members enjoy many benefits inherent in student status, including the ability to  audit CSUDH university courses at a reduced rate. Members can also volunteer to dive deeper into the experience. Members can also join committees to plan and produce OLLI curriculum and events, or grow the membership. The benefit that members rave about is the discounted yearly parking permits, OLLI members can purchase a discounted parking pass – no small thing in LA. One OLLI member was glad to give back to OLLI with time and donations: “OLLI gives us so much and charges us so little. I want to see OLLI succeed for another 20 years. I am thankful for what it gives me and my lifelong friends, so I give my time to committees and donate so that my children have the opportunity to love OLLI as much as I do one day. What I give will never express what OLLI has given to me, but I am sure that if all of our OLLI tribe gives then OLLI will continue to grow for years to come.”

Said a former director of OLLI: “OLLI is designed to be a social event. Not a typical social event, but a way to come and interact with the teachers and with their fellow members, and because the membership is so culturally diverse, OLLI at CSUDH members can learn anything and everything by sitting and talking to any one of the other members in the OLLI program. It’s not about memorizing, because members can go back and retake an event and see it in an entirely different way, but it’s more about the sharing of information and knowledge. OLLI members love to ask questions, and CSUDH professors love to interact with OLLI members because they may have lived the experiences that the professor is talking about. An example is World War II: OLLI at CSUDH includes members that lived through World War II, and usually when you have that kind of conversation, it’s always typically about the male who fought in the war. However, there have also been conversations about what we did at home during World War II from the women that experienced it. So OLLI at CSUDH members get exposed to all of that, especially the social part.”

The director continued: “Lifelong learning is like a tool. Seniors talk a lot about always being in motion. If you aren’t learning or moving, then you’re stagnant, and you just disappear. Seniors often have no one to talk to, no one with whom to associate. It’s a reality that nowadays that seniors don’t get to see their children and grandchildren as often as they would like. This is the just the culture of America, where we don’t live in the same areas where we grew up. Interacting and learning allows seniors to be fresh, keep their minds going, always thinking, always doing, always becoming. In addition, it takes place in a college environment, which a lot of members like. This allows OLLI members to share with and learn from younger generations. They may not be our children, but in lifelong learning, you get “degrees” just by living. And if you’ve lived this long as many of the OLLI members have, they’ve got many degrees and many things that they like to share, and now they have a place to do that. As one member put it: ‘I think what a lot of us seniors focus on is that we don’t want to lose the ability to function, and not just function, we want to do more than that.’”

OLLI member Janice C. summed it up best. “What does OLLI mean to me? It serves three objectives I need in order to live a long, healthy, and happy life. Objective one is to keep the brain going. Through the lectures I have attended, the classes I have gone to, the volunteer work and the classes I have taught, they keep the brain working, so that the brain keeps on working. Objective two is it keeps my body working. Through bird-watching, urban hiking, line dancing, field trips to gems of the South Bay and also to greater Los Angeles via on-the-move riders club, all those keep my body working, so that my body keeps working. Objective three is my social life. I have met so many people who are friendly, supportive, and welcoming. We have great discussions, enjoy being together, and it feels like we’re all on the same team of working toward the goal of living a long, healthy and happy life.”