Sporting a plaid shirt, brown corduroy pants and a beige cardigan, 69-year-old John Rothberg poises, pen ready, as the professor begins class. In most of his classes, Prof. Stephen Cushman is the oldest person in the room. But in this 16-person class, ENAM 824, Emerson and Thoreau, Cushman seems young in comparison to a few bespectacled and gray-haired literary scholars.
Although older students at the University are not as prevalent as the under-20 crowd, several take classes here. These students enroll in the University because it offers a unique program called the Citizen Scholar Program, which allows senior citizens to take college courses and receive credit. Some students who are older than 22 but not old enough to participate in the Citizen Scholar Program also take undergraduate courses along with their graduate work. Thomas Jefferson, in a sense, began this program when the University opened. According to Jefferson, the Academical Village was meant to "enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of the body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of the day."
Back to school
In 1960, the Virginia General Assembly prompted many older students to take college courses when it passed a law allowing any senior citizen to take any University course without cost or college credit.
The General Assembly decision helped encourage Janet Webb, another Citizen Scholar, to take graduate level courses, such as Cushman's ENAM 824 class this semester.
"The University provides a great service through the Citizen Scholar Program by implementing Jefferson's idea of educating the common man in our community as a means of ensuring democracy," Webb said.
Rothberg has chosen to take advantage of the University's Citizen Scholar Program for personal satisfaction.
"As part of growing old gracefully, what could I do to be more interesting ... than take a course on Emerson and Thoreau?" said Rothberg, who is also enrolled in the course.
Rothberg owns many volumes on Emerson and Thoreau and says the "best way to assure to read volumes in Emerson and Thoreau would be to take a course."
As Rothberg sits in the class, he realizes that his age marks him as "obviously different from" the other students. However, "what Professor Cushman has done has made everyone in the class very comfortable." He adds that Cushman "encourages a very participatory class" and that he has "been extremely impressed by the other students." He not only learns from his professor, but also from the other students.
Like Rothberg, Webb is taking this course to broaden her horizons.
"Each semester, I take one course to broaden my knowledge and increase my expertise," she said. "Last summer, I took two summer session courses, Shakespeare and Classical Mythology. I strongly feel that education is an ongoing process and that individuals should be lifelong learners."
Webb actually received her Master's degree from the University's Education School. Although she now teaches English Composition and Literature at Piedmont Virginia Community College, she has chosen to study at the University because she respects "the faculty for their high ideals and the knowledge that they hold."
In choosing to study here, Webb realizes that she will be in classes with students that are considerably younger than she is. However, she feels, "That is the best part of our classes. [Students] have a totally different perspective; and so, there is much to be learned from comparing viewpoints," she said. "I feel I have something to offer younger students. And, every time I participate in class, I learn something."
Carolyn Jones Silver, 82, is another enthusiastic gray-haired student. Silver had taken courses at the University even before women were admitted as full-time students. Though she has not taken a course at the University for three years, she was a Citizen Scholar for nine years from 1989 to 1997. She decided to take advantage of this program on her 70th birthday and took poetry courses under Profs. Jack Levenson and Chip Tucker.
She also took a course in Old French, one in contemporary French translation, one in Oral Interpretation under Art Greene and two courses under Stephen Cushman.
Silver says Greene's course "was the best adventure of the second half of my life." With a big, toothy smile that is enhanced by her yellow shirt, she relates again her favorite assignment under Greene.
On the younger side
There are also students at the University over the age of 22 taking classes who are not yet old enough to take advantage of the Citizen Scholar Program. Some of these students can be found in language classes, such as 28-year-old Darden student Andres Hernandez.
"U.Va. encourages broad intellectual development," Hernandez said. "I'm actually taking advantage of the opportunity to improve my language skills while pursuing my MBA degree. I don't think many institutions offer such possibility." He now is enrolled in French 202 and is completing his graduate degree at Darden. Hernandez and others, including 26-year-old Sloan Despeaux, who is also in the class, have taken the opportunity to take other undergraduate courses, especially language classes.
"Attending courses offered by other schools strengthens the ties between Darden and U.Va. and opens new sources for knowledge development and business opportunities," Hernandez said. "Languages are valued skills in the business environment. While improving my language skills, I'm also interacting more with the U.Va. community outside of Darden. The experience has been very enriching."
Younger graduate students are not the only "non-traditionals" that take language courses at the University. Susan Flury, 51, is enrolled in Chinese 302. She has been studying part-time for two years and plans to graduate in about a year. Flury was interested in taking a Chinese course because she is an artist that "represents Chinese contemporary artists."
Flury has a degree in East Asian Studies and moved to Charlottesville from Hong Kong. She enrolled in University courses simply because she happened to live in the area. She says having younger students in her classes is energizing, but adds that she is "slower than they are."
Now, when someone older is walking around Grounds, it does not necessarily mean that he or she is a professor or a teaching assistant. This person could be a student just like any of the other 12,000 undergraduate students here at the University.
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