• Follow-up: Randal Robison, MAT

    In August of 2017 we did a story in the Brenau Window about Randal Robison and his son Nolen. Randal is a retired Army chaplain who was inspired to begin a second career in special education by his experience raising his four children, and especially his son Nolen, who has Down syndrome. On May 5, […]

  • This is how we roll: Claudia Wilburn organizes community colossal prints event

    It was a crisp, clear spring morning as Studio Art Program Director Claudia Wilburn sat perched atop a steamroller – just another day at Brenau. Wilburn and her students organized Brenau University’s first Colossal Prints event on March 23 along Brenau’s Green Street side of the Gainesville campus, outside the John W. Jacobs Jr. Business […]

  • Olesya Sypchenko teaches a music lesson to a student with autism at Sound of Music school in Buford, Ga. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

    Olesya Sypchenko: Universal Language

    Alumna uses music and OT to unlock the genius in children One of the giants of literature, Russia’s Leo Tolstoy, said that music is the shorthand of emotion. Maybe that’s why Russian-born child music prodigy Olesya Sypchenko drawn to using psychology, occupational therapy and music as tools to help children with developmental challenges. Using her [...]
  • 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.)

    Lights, Camera, Bamboo, Action!

    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 [...]

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Taylor Meadows, left, and Morgan MeadowsTaylor Meadows, left, and Morgan Meadows

Twin Therapy

In the Foundations Lab of the occupational therapy program, Morgan Meadows was assigned to do a detailed presentation analyzing another person engaged in a simple, workaday activity. “She was supposed to look at the environment, whether the activity was social or nonsocial, and explain all of the factors involved in the activity,” recalls her instructor, […]

Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Kelley Castlin-Gacutan, or "Dr. G," speaks to a group of JROTC students Friday, April 8, 2016, in Birmingham, Ala. Castlin-Gacutan received a Master of Education in Early Childhood Education from Brenau's Norcross campus. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

Rock Star

Dr. G rides shotgun with her linebacker-like driver at the wheel. We’ve just left the Jackson-Olin High School football stadium at 14th and F in Ensley, where 350 uniformed JROTC cadets passed in review before her, the celebrity dignitary. We’re about to hook a left on 20th Street for a quick run through Tuxedo Junction […]

Joyce Lott, WC '59, right, her husband, Tom, and their dog Chloe pose for a photo inside the church and one-room schoolhouse at the village on their farm in Cleveland, Ga. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

Buffing History

Brenau Alumna Joyce Lott and her husband Tom believe that sometimes it takes a village to see into the pastoral past. You do not need a time machine to travel into Appalachian farm life, circa 1866. You only need to stroll the grounds of Laurel Heritage Farm, a functional micro-village of 20 historic buildings that […]

Clara Martin’s daughters Mary Helen Martin, WC ’84, Elizabeth Martin Carpenter, WC ’80, and Dorothy “Dottie” Martin Corey, WC ’78, with Martin at the Reunion Weekend celebration of her Brenau legacy. Like other Martin students, they admit their mom’s edict against students’ turning in papers with errors made them better writers and reporters. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

‘Matchmaker’ Clara Martin Created Job-oriented Student Experiences

With steely resolve and nurturing spirit, Clara Martin left a triad of indelible marks on the Brenau landscape and the professional psyches of a generation of students. On top of that, she was a pretty good matchmaker. In three decades at Brenau, she birthed a robust mass communications program and public radio station, both which […]

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