The Renaissance Society gathered Friday in Hinde auditorium to kick start their new spring semester of classes offered to the Sacramento retired community.

Just like a student signing up for classes for the spring semester, this spritely elderly bunch signs up for classes including: iPhone basics, religion and society from the Civil War to the 2012 election, and ballroom and line dancing.  

Sacramento State alumni Bob Keith, 70, came for his first orientation and said, “I don’t know it all, I took it for the iPhone seminar.”

The society meets every Friday, and guest speakers arrive and talk in the afternoon.

Prominent speakers in the past include Mayor Kevin Johnson and Sacramento Bee columnist Daniel Walters.

Walters, 70, said “I [spoke] Sept. 27, and seriously never intend to retire because I love what I do.”

Over 1,700 members come together on campus to socialize and learn about new technology. When asked who has an email account, every hand in the crowd was raised proudly for this technological triumph.

“There’s something for everyone,” Noel Hinde, 79, a coordinator for the Society said. “We also give out five scholarships to deserving students.”

According to the Renaissance Society website, students were initially selected from the gerontology department, but the selection has grown into other disciplines and offers $2,500 to applicants based on need.  

The Renaissance Society offers a class called: “Ken Burns’ Career – Part I – A retrospective journey through Ken Burns’ career viewing some of his recent works,” and is a group favorite with many on a waitlist to join.

Society members enjoy many of the amenities on campus, such as: access to The Well, the library, a ten percent discount at restaurants on campus, and discounted parking.

As weekend students of Sac State, they also support the campus as volunteer ushers at upcoming plays on campus, including “Intimate Apparel” and “Gypsy.”

The society’s newspaper called the Recorder updates members once a month on class offerings and the bi-annual, one-day bus excursion.