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Dear EPIC Members and Friends of EPIC,
I know you will be disappointed to learn that our longtime President, Jeanne Stellman, has stepped down from her role as President, effective July 15. The good news is that Jeanne is thriving, but no longer able to combine both the growing tasks associated with EPIC with her on-going professional work and personal commitments. She hopes to continue participating in EPIC events. We will look for an opportunity in the coming year to lift a glass in thanks for all she has done for EPIC.
According to our charter, as Vice President, I have now assumed the role of President until we hold elections at our Annual Meeting in late September. Anyone out there interested in taking on a leadership role in EPIC, please be in touch!
The Program for the Fall Semester is in place. Our first meeting will be the EPIC Conversation with Dirk Salomons on September 10, the event that was postponed in the spring. The Drama Society has scheduled its first meeting for September 20. Our Welcome of New Members and Annual Meeting will be on September 24. Our own Connie Nathanson will be talking on October 8 about her recently published book, a study of the debate about France’s blood supply in the AIDS epidemic. A music performance is in the pipeline for October 22. We will have our annual Retirement Finance and Tax Review with Tamara Telesko of TIAA on November 8. On November 22 Prof. Richard Peña, Prof. Emeritus of Film, who just retired in June, will speak on early African-American filmmaking. Prof. Magdalena Sobieszczyk, Department Chair, Infectious Diseases, will speak about COVID and the pandemic on December 5.
We already have three interesting programs lined up for Spring 2025! And, of course, weekly Yoga on Thursdays, the Chalmers Graduate Scholars Lecture, and, we hope, the Music Initiative will continue. And, we will have our holiday party on December 17.
I am sorry to report that the Retired Officers Medical Benefit Reform Committee has been frustrated by a continuing reluctance of the responsible senior administrators in the University to meet and continue substantive discussion of the need to increase the level of subsidy, and extend eligibility of the subsidy to a larger proportion of those already retired. But we press on. A letter was sent to a broad list of University leaders on July 29 urging a substantial improvement in the benefit for 2025.
We will be back in touch in early September. Meanwhile, best wishes for a more peaceful and healthy summer.
Best,
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