WKU Society for Lifelong Learning celebrates 10 years with discussion on AI

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – September may seem a little late for students to start classes at WKU, but for one organization, it’s never too late to learn something new.

“This semester, we have 60 classes and we have two semesters per year… and it’s all for the love of learning. If you look in this classroom, you’ll see 70 eager faces to learn about AI,” WKU Society for Lifelong Learning president Jane Barthelme says.

Normally, when you think of a college campus, you see 20-year-olds partying, getting ready for their final exams and getting their bachelor’s degrees, but at the Knicely Conference Center, the SLL is flipping that narrative on its head. As they get ready for their first day of classes learning about artificial intelligence, they’re also celebrating a huge milestone: ten years of learning for the sake of learning.

“There’s something really for everybody, and I know for a fact that people who have been attending here, it’s changed their lives. They’ve made new friends, they’ve learned new things. We’ve met together and laughed together and gone out together, and it’s just been wonderful,” student Vicki Gregory says.

In the ten years SLL has been around, they’ve seen a lot of growth with 70 students signed up for the AI class alone.

“We had 19 classes that semester, and like I said, this semester we have 60. So this is an opportunity to scan through the offerings, and perhaps it’s something you’ve always wanted to learn about and never had the opportunity. There’s academics, there’s how-to’s, there’s legal advice, there’s watercolors, there’s just about anything you can imagine, so we certainly enjoy it,” Barthelme says.

Vicki loves the social aspect of learning these new things even as she grows older.

“There’s just a diverse opportunity to learn new things, and as we grow older, I know being social is very important… and this is a great way to achieve that,” Gregory says.