How Senior University Georgetown Began

In the fall of 1997, October 6, with an invitation from Jack Kelly, a group of about 35 Georgetown citizens met to explore the topic of continuing education for Senior citizens in the Georgetown community. This group included persons from Sun City and also from the greater Georgetown area. Dr. Forest Hill of the LAMP (Learning Activities for Mature Persons) program at the University of Texas, reviewed the activities of their program and Jack Kelly outlined the program offered by Senior University of Atlanta, Georgia.

In the next weeks, a steering committee began to form. Dr. Linda Watkins agreed to be the curriculum chairperson. Some persons from the first gatherings offered to teach classes; Linda asked others to give one hour lectures. Just two months later, on January 9, 1998, an orientation meeting was held to introduce the first classes/lectures for a series beginning in February, 1998. Over 200 persons were present to witness short presentations from DrClaude Proctor ("Cossacks, Icons and Caviar"; Bill Glass ( Great Books); Jack Kelly ("Great Decisions in Foreign Policy"); and Dr. Adam Blatner ("Psychological Literacy"). The class with Claude filled and had 75 persons on a wait list!! We split the "Great Decisions" group into three classes with Dr. Hugh Winn and Bill Meehan as additional leaders. "Great Books" quickly reached its limit and the "Psychology" class with Adam Blatner grew to 100+ persons. The minutes of the organization in early February showed an enrollment of 242 "students". The first session began February 16, 1998, and ran for for six weeks.

The plan was to have students attend a six-week class of their choice and for all to attend a weekly lecture series on diverse topics. Included in that first term were the following lectures:

• "Sonnets of Shakespeare" by Dr. Walter Herbert
• "Crime in Texas" by Williamson County D.A. Ken Anderson
• "Your Elected Officials" by Dr. Christine Smart
• "Artists Who Painted Texas by Marjorie Von Rosenberg
• "Art and Architecture of Italy" by Betty Lemley
• "From Hong Kong to Tiananmen Square" by Dr. Robert Hazelwood

Early organizational Board members included: Jack Kelly, Linda Watkins, Winnie Bowen , Adam Blatner, Jean Beall, Kay Cordi, Christine Smart, Bill Meehan, Hugh Winn, Bill Sawyer, Howard Parsonage, Jim Brown, Whitey Stephenson, Bill Rives, Ulie Alt, David Battershell and Claude Proctor.

We were off and running!! Our first "Free and Open to the Public" lecture" was given by Dr. Bill Sawyer on "Biological Weapons and Warfare" on March 12, 1998. Another semester started only a few weeks later in April and a summer session at Southwestern University followed in July, 1998. The fall term offered additional locations at First Baptist Church in the daytime and First United Methodist Church in the evening. Senior university closed out a most SUCCESSFUL first year.

Submitted by Dr. Linda Watkins

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