Georgetown Retired Faculty and Staff

One of the joys of being a provost is that I am invited from time to time to events sponsored by the Georgetown University Association of Retired Faculty and Staff (GUARFS).

December is usually the time of their annual holiday party, and I attempt to attend whenever possible. This year it is a virtual holiday party and I’ve submitted a video of my holiday greetings along with an update on new activities ongoing at the University.

The members of the Association are devoted Georgetown colleagues. Despite their retired status, they value their careers at Georgetown sufficiently highly to maintain connections to the University. They come from all parts of the university, both faculty and staff, and so the diversity of their backgrounds enriches the communication within the group.

Many continue their scholarly lives. The provost office has established a small research fund to help out some of those research projects. As one retiree said, “My life didn’t change much after I retired from the university. I keep working on my research that I have ongoing. It’s just that the source of my income changed to retirement accounts.” So the group is alive with interesting interchange in their meetings.

The GUARFS sponsors a large set of activities for the benefit of members. One of the more interesting is a set of noncredit courses (often three 90 minute sessions) where one of the members offers an introduction of a topic to other retirees. For example, recent courses have titles like “Exoplanets, the Habitable Zone, and Greenhouse Warming;” “Psalms of Lamentation: Dealing with Suffering;” “Gabriel García Márquez and Magical Realism;” “Jews, Christians, and the Holocaust (Shoah);” “The Grimms’ Magic Tales;” “Encountering Islam Beliefs and Muslim Practices;” “Controversies in Global Business;” and “Contemporary Philosophy of Mind.”

The members also enjoy the benefits of guided group tours, nondegree auditing of courses in Georgetown College, and the services of the Office of Scholarly and Creative Publications. Some of those retirees who wish to continue teaching contribution to the curriculum of the Masters of Arts and Doctorate of Liberal Studies that are offered by the School of Continuing Studies.

From time to time, there are luncheon meetings with guest speakers from the University faculty or administration. This is a way for the retired faculty and staff to keep up with changes occurring at the University. There are generally plentiful questions and ideas on how to improve the university.
Of course, the pandemic forced changes in the activities of the group. They are coping with communication and gatherings via Zoom and other electronic media. I hope that they continue their work, despite the dearth of in-person meetings.

Regardless of how they meet, they keep the spirit of Georgetown alive among themselves – a devotion to lifelong learning, original inquiry and scholarship, and service. Happy holidays, GUARFS!