Ivester College of Health Sciences dedicated

The Melvin Douglas and Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation continues to leave indelible marks across the greater Gainesville community through its most recent gift of $3.5 million in support of health sciences at Brenau. This gift, in addition to a legacy of personal generosity prior to the establishment of the Ivester Foundation, led to the naming of the Ivester College of Health Sciences at Brenau University.

Doug Ivester, former chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co. is a long-serving member of the Brenau University Board of Trustees. The foundation was established in 2011 to support nonprofit institutions and charitable causes in Hall County, Georgia.

“It is most appropriate that our College of Health Sciences bears the Ivester name,” says Brenau President Ed Schrader. “Doug and Kay have shown time and again their commitment to ensuring that Gainesville and Hall County remain vibrant and robust for generations to come, and helping to underwrite the training of health care professionals within our community is an excellent way to do this.”

Areas of study within the Ivester College of Health Sciences include the Department of Mathematics & Science, the Department of Physical Therapy, the Department of Psychology, the Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing and the School of Occupational Therapy.

The Ivester College of Health Sciences is the second of Brenau’s colleges and schools to be named in honor of university supporters. The Sidney O. Smith Jr. Graduate School was named in 2010 for the former U.S. district judge and longtime influential member of the Brenau University Board of Trustees. Smith or one of his ancestors was involved in every major development at the institution since its inception in 1878. The other three schools of the university are the College of Business & Mass Communication, the College of Education and the College of Fine Arts & Humanities.

Gale Hansen Starich, dean of the Ivester College​ ​of​ ​Health​ ​Sciences​ ​since​ ​2002 and​ ​dean​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Sidney​ ​O.​ ​Smith​ ​Jr.​ ​Graduate​ ​School​ ​since​ ​2010, says, “We are truly amazed and humbled by the Ivester Foundation gift. It is an honor to lead this school during these exciting days of growth and transformation. We are all enriched because of the Ivesters and their appreciation of the role health care education plays in this community. A gift of this magnitude positions this college to be in the forefront of reducing human suffering here and across the globe.”

The Ivester College of Health Sciences is the third high-visibility Brenau project bearing the names Ivester and Grindle – Kay’s maiden name – over the past year. In November 2016, Brenau University’s Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing was dedicated for Kay Ivester’s mother, longtime New Holland/Gainesville community resident.

“Kay and I are sincerely humbled by how we’ve been blessed with so much,” says Doug Ivester. “This community nurtured us from birth and instilled in us the values and strength of community. It is one of the true joys of our lives to be able to give back to the people who shaped us.”

During the dedication of the Grindle School of Nursing, Doug Ivester said his mother-in-law was a special, fascinating woman who took great joy and found great pleasure in sharing her joy with others. He described her selflessness in always caring for others, whether it was one brother’s battle with cancer, another brother’s disability resulting from a car accident or her husband’s final battle with multiple sclerosis.

“Her chosen role was to be a caregiver,” he said. “Her chosen role was to be a nurse, if you will. I can think of no greater honor for Inez than for this nursing school to bear her name.”

The Ivester Foundation provided funding in 2014 to complete development of the first phase of the university’s Ernest Ledford Grindle Athletics Park in New Holland, named for Kay Ivester’s father. Brenau’s softball team opened play at the new facility in February 2017.

The Golden Tigers went on to sweep the Southern States Athletic Conference, winning 30 consecutive conference games, including four tournament games. The end of the SSAC tournament found the Golden Tigers with their 51st win of the 2017 season and only five losses. No other SSAC team has won all of its conference games in regular-season and postseason play.

During a special celebration of the park on April 8, 2017, Doug Ivester said, “I can tell you if Ernest were here today, he would be thrilled with the rebirth of New Holland that is taking place.” Pointing at the gold and black scoreboard in right-center field, he continued, “And, while Ernest would deny it and downplay it, he would be really proud to see his name in lights up there and for his family name to be recognized.”

Wow factor

“The Ivesters’ investment in Brenau stretches back decades,” says John S. Burd, who served as Brenau president from 1985 to 2004. “There is a wonderful symmetry to the Smith and Ivester names gracing two of our academic units, since it was Judge Sid Smith who convinced Doug to join the Brenau board and make initial gifts. During the intervening years, Doug’s relationship with Brenau has been one of his primary moorings to the city and the county.”

One of the Ivesters’ earliest gifts in 1994 was the creation of the family-funded Kay and Douglas Ivester Endowed Scholarship at Brenau to benefit first-generation college students based on academic performance, leadership, character and personal motivation. Since that time, the university has awarded approximately 60 scholarships from the fund. The naming of the Mary Inez School of Nursing coincided with the university’s announcement that this scholarship henceforward will benefit top students who plan to pursue careers in health science professions, including nursing.

“The enduring leadership, vision and generosity of trustees like Doug Ivester make Brenau such a special place,” says Brenau Board of Trustees Chairman Pete D. Miller. “We are most fortunate to have trustees of Doug’s caliber who realize how their generous investments in this institution not only ensure the future vitality of the university but also strengthen the community as a whole while preparing our students to be leaders in communities around the world.”

Doug Ivester has a penchant for the “wow factor,” as he refers to the intent of the $1 million gift in 2001 to create the Ivester Programming Endowment at Brenau “to support high level programs that the university would be unable to otherwise present,” according to the agreement. “It is the intent that any activity funded by this endowment be special, different and better than any other activity that the university offers. … In determining the events that come to campus funded by this endowment, attention should be given to the ‘wow factor.’ In other words, community members should be impressed by the programming and even wonder how Brenau was able to schedule such programming.”

Over the years speakers have included Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed, which collectively spent 237 weeks on the New York Times’ best-seller list and 19 weeks at No. 1; husband and wife political strategists and media personalities James Carville and Mary Matalin; and Jack Welch, who in his 21 years as CEO transformed General Electric into the world’s most admired and successful company with his innovative management techniques.

“Brenau is honored to be a part of the initial group of institutions to be supported by the Ivester Foundation that will impact Hall County and beyond,” says Matt Thomas, Brenau vice president for External Relations. “The most recent gift by the Ivester Foundation helps to strengthen and continue the university’s legacy of implementing programs that mutually benefit the university and the city of Gainesville and Hall County.”

Helping others succeed

Longtime Ivester friend and foundation President Lynn Darby recalls how initially Doug and Kay discussed creating a foundation that funded Hall County philanthropic causes upon their deaths. However, eventually, he and others prevailed upon them to create the foundation in 2011 and begin funding initiatives in their lifetime. Currently, the foundation accepts proposals by invitation only.

“Since Doug and Kay possess such a strong sense of generosity and derive deep satisfaction in helping others succeed, many of us thought it most appropriate that they begin supporting initiatives in Hall County during their lifetime, so that they might see what great meaningful and significant impact their generosity creates,” says Darby, whose friendship with the Ivesters goes back to his days of working with Doug at then Ernst & Ernst, a widely respected accounting services firm.

Conversations around creating the foundation coincided with Schrader’s efforts to construct the athletics park in the Ivesters’ native New Holland community, located about a mile from Brenau’s residential campus. Schrader had engaged leadership of the local Milliken New Holland facility about the possibility of gifting a 16.75 acre tract of land adjacent to the facility for the athletics park site.

Once the Milliken gift was secured, Schrader shared with the Ivesters his vision for the property. The Ivesters agreed to provide the needed funding in 2014 to complete development of the $2 million first phase of the park that included the site development, a softball field, bleachers, parking and a field house.

The completion of the $4.2 million Phase II will help round out the university’s $40 million ForeverGold: An Extraordinary Legacy campaign. As funds are secured, the second phase will address Brenau’s soccer and other field sports through the creation of a traditional field surrounded by a track. The full development of the park will support the growth of the university’s athletic program. Brenau’s student-athletes now number more than 220 and constitute almost 25 percent of the Women’s College student body.

“The park will benefit all in this region as the green space created by this project will facilitate numerous community-use possibilities such as films on ‘The Green’ providing evening entertainment and family recreational opportunities for those in the surrounding area,” says Schrader. “The public programs will be organized and supervised by Brenau interns and professional staff, ensuring the quality of these community events and openness to the surrounding community.”