[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1642-S1643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE

 Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate the 
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University, OLLI 
Mason, its 30th anniversary and on its continuing success in offering 
educational programming for older Americans in Northern Virginia. 
Programs like OLLI Mason provide lifelong learning opportunities for 
seniors interested in maintaining an active intellectual life.
  The Learning in Retirement Institute was founded in 1991 to establish 
educational and social opportunities for a growing base of seniors in 
Northern Virginia. The Institute soon became affiliated with George 
Mason University as part of Mason's vision to extend its learning 
mission in the community. The institute was generously endowed by the 
Bernard Osher Foundation, a nonprofit that is dedicated to enhancing 
quality of life in the United States through education and the arts.
  What started two decades ago as a member-run Learning in Retirement 
Center with 100 members operating and teaching out of one room in 
Mason's Commerce II Building has burgeoned today into a robust, first-
rate educational and social institute with 1,100 members.
  OLLI Mason's mission is ``to offer its members learning opportunities 
in a stimulating environment in which adults can share their talents, 
experiences and skills, explore new interests, discover and develop 
latent abilities, engage in intellectual and cultural pursuits, and 
socialize with others of similar interests.'' OLLI Mason has fulfilled 
this mission by offering retirees in Northern Virginia over 600 courses 
from arts to zoology, religion to science, as well as excursions and 
special events.
  As the over 50 population across the Commonwealth continues to live 
longer and healthier lives, I am pleased to recognize OLLI, George 
Mason University, and the County of Fairfax for their initiative in 
foreseeing decades ago the critical need to offer programs that meet 
the needs, expand opportunities, and enhance the quality of life for 
older Americans across Northern Virginia. I look forward to many more 
years of their programming success.

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