FAU Jupiter’s Lifelong Learning Society Celebrates 20 Years
Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter Lifelong Learning Society (LLS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary during the 2017 winter and spring semesters.
Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter Lifelong Learning Society (LLS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary during the 2017 winter and spring semesters. Commencing in 1997 with 125 students, the LLS has grown to more than 8,000 members who have registered for more than 30,000 class registrations in 2016 because of exciting liberal arts classes and special one-time events that were offered.
“In its 20 years, the Lifelong Learning Society has become increasingly integrated into the university community,” said Josette Valenza, director of the LLS. “Our members are looking to stay active and involved in a university setting, and the Lifelong Learning Society gives them purpose, a chance to make new friends and learn about an array of subjects.”
FAU’s LLS began on the Boca Raton campus in 1980 and originally was established as the “Society for Older Students” by Sol Kolodny before adopting the LLS name in 1988. In the fall of 1996, the executive director of LLS in Boca decided to expand the program to northern Palm Beach County. That spring, René Friedman, the founding director of LLS in Jupiter, presented a preview showcase with an enrollment of 125 students in Palm Beach Gardens. It was then decided to begin membership and courses in the fall of 1997, and at the end of spring 1998, the northern campus had grown to more than 1,100 students.
In 1999, LLS moved to the newly built John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter. In 2001, Friedman and Josette Valenza, the current director of the program, kicked off a building campaign for the Elinor Bernon Rosenthal Lifelong Learning Society Complex and the Tamar and Milton Maltz Center for Education, which was completed on time and under budget in 2005 thanks to generous donations received from LLS members.
Registration for the winter semester is now open. Registration for the spring semester will begin on Wednesday, Feb.1. For more information, contact the Lifelong Learning Society at 561-799-8547 or visit www.fau.edu/llsjupiter.
-FAU-
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