DIVERSITY IN OLLI – A COMMON THEME
"DIVERSITY" CAN BE DEFINED IN MANY WAYS, and by some measures there is tremendous diversity within OLLI at George Mason University. Certainly, the multitude of life experiences and personal histories among our members is fascinating. OLLI members came to the Washington, DC area from all over the country. However, an article in the newest edition of the annual journal of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, The LLI Review, reminded me of my initial impression when I arrived here one year ago: our membership does not have the kinds of diversity that are reflected in American society in the early 21st century.
     The article, "Culture, Community, and Diversity in OLLI: A Case Study," was written by Britta Pejic of the OLLI affiliated with the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The article describes a two-year study whose purpose was to "encourage OLLI at USM and other lifelong learning institutes to think about their communities and to consider ways of developing programming to cultivate diverse membership." She notes that OLLI members perceived a great diversity among their membership based on the traditional "melting pot" of American-born members of Greek, Irish, French, and Italian heritage and a sizable religious mix of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. The membership did not include any African-Americans or Asian participants and very few Buddhists or Muslims, even though these groups were well established in the Portland community. The author asks, "How could a program such as OLLI, with strong growth potential, act to involve these various communities?"
     In the article, Ms. Pejic describes how she collected data from three underrepresented populations in the Portland area. Her findings identified several obstacles which stand in the way of increasing diversity: poor English language skills, lower literacy rates and educational levels, and lack of time for the types of lifelong learning activities offered by OLLI. There is not an easy answer for this issue, but it is one that deserves the attention of lifelong learning institutes as we strive to remain relevant for our growing senior population.
     If you’d like to read the entire article, you can find it as the first article in The LLI Review, available as a pdf document on the Website of the OLLI National Resource Center at this link: http://usm.maine.edu/olli/national/pdf/LLI-Review-2008.pdf. A copy of the journal is also available for loan from staff at Tallwood, Lake Anne, and Loudoun locations.