Articles

Lynn Jones leaves a legacy of design

A 140-year-old institution like Brenau University is, naturally, known for the historic structures that dot its campus, from Walters House and its ornate fireplaces to Pearce Auditorium and its remarkable painted ceiling. What few who walk these halls know is nearly every historic Brenau building has been maintained with the help of one woman and […]

Q&A with ‘Rampage’ location manager John Latenser

Scores of trailers, film equipment and crew members set up camp in the Brenau University Trustee Library parking lot in summer 2017, piquing the curiosity of Gainesville locals. Even though the project was to remain confidential during filming, eventually Brenau students and community members caught glimpse of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on set to film [...]

Lights, Camera, Bamboo, Action!

Dwayne Johnson's character Davis Okoye with gorilla George in New Line Cinema's action adventure 'Rampage,' which was partially filmed on the Brenau University campus. (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/Brenau photo illustration.)
Almost 100 years ago, a Japanese garden was planted in a secluded spot on the Brenau Gainesville campus. In the summer of 2017, that grove was no longer a forgotten remnant of the university’s history – it found its way into the Hollywood spotlight. Scores of trailers, film equipment and crew members set up camp [...]

Fashion, film and a flair for the dramatics

With alumnae in the industry like Janie Bryant, Emmy Award winner for her work on the HBO series Deadwood and three-time nominee for her work on AMC’s Mad Men, and Antonina Lerch, who worked on Showtime’s popular Dexter and the 2009 Star Trek reboot, Brenau University has built a legacy in costume design. Now, it [...]

Chandy Henson’s Long Journey

It’s been quite a decade for Chandy Henson. The Atlanta resident enlisted in the Army, served seven years as a medic, left military service and, finally, began to pursue her dozen-year-old dream of becoming a physical therapist. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Henson, a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Physical Therapy […]

Sandra Greniewicki: Pliable Heart

Sandra Greniewicki, Anne Warren Thomas Professor of Nursing & Health Policy, poses for a photo inside the Lockett-Mitchell Parlour. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

In May of 1961, President John F. Kennedy tapped into that nascent mother lode of good old American faith and chutzpah when he declared that the veritable global laughing stock of a U.S. space program would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. A year earlier, a group of Gainesville, […]

Brenau mourns passing of longtime supporter of health care programs

George Thomas, husband, father, brother, businessman, church leader, woodworker and longtime supporter of Brenau University, died Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, at Lanier Village Estates in Gainesville following an extended illness. He was 87. At Brenau, Thomas and his wife, Anne Warren Thomas, are perhaps best known as the Gainesville benefactors who helped sustain and grow […]

Class of 2021 Brenau Scholars

Brenau Scholar logo
The Brenau Scholars Program recognizes those who, as the Brenau Ideal states, “find satisfaction in being rather than in seeming” and “find joy in doing rather than in dreaming.” The young women chosen for this program epitomize these standards, using their talents, ambition and brilliance daily to pursue their goals and to excel in academics, [...]

Brenau Scholar Olivia Pelton

Olivia Pelton, Brenau Scholar

From the moment you meet Olivia Pelton, with her golden Rapunzel hair and delicate cat-eye makeup, you might imagine she is straight out of a Disney fairy-tale musical. It’s no surprise, then, that she started her own business at age 14 called Party Princess, in which she dressed up as Disney princesses to attend community […]

Brenau Scholar Olivia Eafano

Olivia Eafano Brenau Scholar

Olivia Eafano has had an interesting relationship with music from an early age, not only because she loves it, but because it helped distract her from a childhood medical issue. She started taking voice and piano lessons at age 5, which was about the time she was diagnosed with uveitis, an autoimmune disorder that tricks […]