The curious incident of the nobbled college and university retiree associations

Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention? 

 
Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. 

 
Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time. 

 
Holmes: That was the curious incident. 

A brutal murder takes place near a racing stable in the English countryside. The murder victim is the trainer of the top-ranked race horse Silver Blaze, who was housed and trained at that stable. The trainer was killed by a heavy blow to the head. His body was found just a short distance from the stable. During that same night, Silver Blaze vanished. And while this murder and theft of a very valuable horse was going on, the stable’s guard dog failed to bark. 

Scotland Yard is baffled. In desperation, they call in the greatest detective of them all, Sherlock Holmes.  

I read Silver Blaze many years ago, near the beginning of my addiction to detective stories. I was reminded of this story recently, as I served for one year as secretary of the College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC), then became president of that organization a few months ago.  

Some retiree associations at colleges and universities are flourishing, contributing not only to the wellbeing of their members but also to the output and reputation of the institutions from which their members retired. Others limp along, barely surviving, or end up dying. Their life-threatening ailment is that they are unable to recruit new members. Most retirees from the institutions where the retiree associations are limping or dying are completely unaware of the existence of the retiree association. Why? Because the college or university administration blocks any attempts by the retiree association to communicate with staff who are about to retire or have recently retired.  

Back to the Sherlock Holmes story, and a spoiler alert: Holmes discovers that Silver Blaze’s trainer is not the innocent victim, but is, in fact, the villain. He is the one who leads Silver Blaze out of the stable under cover of darkness. The guard dog, very familiar with the trainer, does not bark. The trainer intends to nobble (deliberately injure) his own champion racehorse by sticking a very small dagger-like knife into one of the horse’s leg muscles. This would inflict a minor injury that would not be visible, but would make the horse slightly slower, slow enough to lose an important race in which he was the favourite. By betting against his own horse, the trainer could make a great deal of money. However, the horse expresses his objection to this procedure by kicking the trainer on the head, killing him, before running off into the night. 

Unlike the trainer in Conan Doyle’s story, university executive officers and HR departments are not villains. They conscientiously defend the privacy of their retirees and soon-to-retire staff by refusing to release information as to how to contact these former employees. However, some of them do this in such a ham-fisted manner that, as an unintended side effect, they nobble or even kill off the local retiree association by depriving it of the chance to recruit new members. 

Other administrators protect the privacy of their recent retirees or about-to-retire staff in ways that do not nobble the institution’s retiree association. They permit members of the retiree association to attend and speak at pre-retirement sessions for about-to-retire staff, and there distribute information about the activities of the retiree association and how to become a member. Or the human resource department may simply include a brochure produced by the retiree association in the document package for the pre-retirement sessions. Some institutions automatically enroll retiring staff in the retiree association, with an explanation of how to opt out of the association if they wish to. There are other ways in which the university administration can work with the retiree association, rather than nobble it, without compromising privacy. For example, the staff association of the university can provide a link to the website of the retiree association, as can the alumni association and the external affairs unit. 

Any of these measures, or a combination of several of them, has resulted in some retiree associations flourishing, with over 1,000 members. This benefits not only the university, but also the community surrounding the university, with which the retiree associations are often closely engaged. Where such measures are blocked, the nobbled retiree association is in a constant struggle to survive, even at a large university such as the University of Alberta, and may finally succumb. 

As Fred Fletcher wrote in an earlier “Academic for Life” column:  

[Retiree Associations] organize a wide range of social and intellectual activities, including lectures and discussions, theatre trips and tours, and visits to local attractions. In addition, they arrange for continuing contributions by members to their institutions, raising funds for scholarships, mentoring younger faculty and students, encouraging ongoing professional activities that enhance the reputation of their institutions and many volunteer activities. 

A retiree association can be a valuable asset to a college or university and to the surrounding community. Such associations maintain and strengthen the link between the institution and its retired staff, to the benefit of all.