Last week I started teaching a new six-week series of writing classes for adults on the campus of Norwalk Community College. I experienced a feeling of déjà vu as I parked in the way back of the college parking lot and walked a few blocks to the building entrance on the West Campus. My alma mater, Queens College, was a four-year commuter school. I remember taking two city buses to that sprawling campus from my childhood home in my freshman year. The following year when my brother joined me at Queens College, we shared our first car, a Pontiac Grand Prix, coordinating our schedules as best as we could. (Nice idea but not practical, especially when I had an 8am class and my brother did not need to be on campus until 10am. We sold that first car and each bought our own set of wheels.) It’s interesting to see how some things remain the same, all of these years later. I am still walking along college campus sidewalks in jeans and sneakers. I still have long curly hair. The difference this time is that I am leading the classes and my students are all above the age of fifty. The Lifetime Learners Institute at NCC began in 1992 offering continuing education courses on a wide range of subjects for working and retired adults. Sign Up for Katonah/Lewisboro Newsletter Our newsletter delivers the local news that you can trust. You have successfully signed up for the TAPinto Katonah/Lewisboro Newsletter. Lifetime Learners Institute members from Fairfield and Westchester counties can find many different ways to continue learning in a vibrant and social environment on a suburban college campus. Besides my fiction/ narrative nonfiction writing class this fall, adults over age fifty can sign up for courses including ukulele, world history, watercolor painting, film and literature. The fall session also offers Cole Porter’s Life and Music, The Golden Age of Rock ‘n Roll and Bad Girls of the Bible. On this sunny fall afternoon, I notice how quiet and clean the campus looks. Crisp fall leaves and acorns scatter along the ground in the breeze. Brightly colored banners stating “NCC Proud” feature smiling students from all different backgrounds in front of the East and West Campus buildings. A large sign positioned near the cross walk proclaims, “Your path to success starts here.” Inside the West Campus building, as I navigate the long carpeted hallways to my classroom, I notice boldly painted walls with motivational phrases – Plan Ahead, Access Resources, Think Critically. Students of all ages quietly walk down the carpeted hallways, clutching their cell phones on the way to and from classes. There is a comfortable feeling; an upbeat, positive vibe. I notice the culinary center, the cafeteria, tutoring center, veterans extended studies and workforce education offices. I know that Lifetime Learners (and instructors) can use the campus gym and library, too. My class is over-registered. So many adults were excited to take my writing class that some were closed out. By the time I find my way to the last classroom, I wonder if I should have left a trail of bread crumbs for my students to find their way. But here they are, all prepared with notebooks and pens. We move the chairs into a lop-sided circle. As I glance around the room, I see five adult students who have taken my writing classes before at other locations. That immediately adds a level of comfort. Their enthusiasm is soon broadcast around the room. As my new students introduce themselves, I meet artists, attorneys, dentists, architects, engineers and teachers. Lots of retired teachers with a zest for learning and new experiences. The active participation in intentional learning experiences keeps minds sharp and personalities engaged. Keep learning and trying new experiences – there is no age limit!

Student Life Committee Plans Review of Student Groups’ Comps The Committee on Student Life discussed an assessment of the social group sanctions, preparations for the new Allston campus, and a prospective audit of student organizations’ “comp” processes in its first meeting of the year Thursday. The CSL — an advisory panel that includes Harvard administrators, faculty deans, house committee chairs, and Undergraduate Council representatives — first considered evaluating comps at a February meeting. At that meeting, several committee members argued that some organizations’ requirements are “detrimental to campus culture.” Comps are training and vetting procedures required for membership in many student organizations at the College. They can take the form of auditions, applications, interviews, required meetings, or some other demonstrations of proficiency. Some student groups require students to complete a set of requirements to secure admission, while others hold more selective competitions and cut applicants who do not meet their standards. “We’re more so describing comps in which it seems arbitrary why a comp is necessary, where there are many people who could benefit from being part of that organization, and it doesn’t need that level of cuts, or exclusivity,” UC President and CSL member Sruthi Palaniappan ’20 said in an interview Thursday. Winthrop House Resident Dean Linda Chavers, who sits on the CSL, wrote in an email that the committee hopes the proposed comp audit will promote accessibility in extracurricular organizations. “Regarding the question of eliminating comps it is my opinion that all of us in this community have an obligation to continuously examine and interrogate any and all existing structures and systems that might possibly uphold the status quo of inequality and elitism on our campus,” Chavers wrote. Members of the CSL also proposed the idea of conducting a survey to collect more data on students’ experiences with comps. Palaniappan said in an interview Thursday that the UC implemented a similar “Q Guide for comps” a few years ago. She said she believes the UC’s attempt faced “some pretty major challenges” because respondents had very strong opinions either in favor of or against specific comps. “But I think doing more anecdotal information collection from students and hearing about these comps in particular would be useful for the purposes of the UC,” Palaniappan said. Alongside the comp audit, the CSL will also help the Dean of Students Office plan an assessment of student groups more broadly. That probe will explore “member numbers, contributions to the Harvard community, and planned activities,” according to Katie Colleran, senior director of student organizations and resources in the Dean of Students Office. The CSL will also provide a formal assessment of the social group penalties in 2023, as former University President Drew G. Faust stipulated in a January 2017 statement to the Harvard community. The social group policy — which took effect with the Class of 2021 — bars members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding campus leadership positions and athletic team captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships. Colleran, who also serves on the CSL, will provide the committee with “concerns” from last year, ideas for “forward progress this year,” and a “recap” of the status of social groups that have gained formal College recognition and exemption from the penalties. Though an official review of the policy by the committee is several years away, Associate Dean of Student Engagement Alexander R. Miller and Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair said in a Tuesday interview that they have observed a “culture shift” on campus as a result of the policies. This fall, the DSO outlined a formal procedure by which extracurricular organizations can be punished for electing leaders who are members of single-gender social groups. The CSL will also offer recommendations regarding transportation, food options, and accessibility in the new campus across the river in Allston, Palaniappan said. The Allston campus is slated to open in fall 2020. “I think [the CSL] will be mainly providing input to groups such as the Registrar’s Office which deals a lot with scheduling and focuses on more of the academic side, but that also relates to transportation needs on campus,” Palaniappan said. “I know we’ll be talking with those respective offices that also deal with dining, thinking about ways to open up potential cafes that we also have in the Yard.