Showcase

Creating lasting change together

MLK Convocation 2022

By Margie Gill, BU ’10 Dr. Margie Gill is an associate professor of psychology and Brenau’s interim executive director for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives. She graduated cum laude from Georgia Gwinnett College in 2008 with a B.S. in psychology and received her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Brenau, where she received the […]

Planning with purpose

The Brenau woman sculpture near Pearce Auditorium

Planning ahead is vital for the success of any business or organization, but what makes that roadmap to the future strategic? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “strategic,” is an adjective that means “relating to the identification of long-term or overall aims and interests and the means of achieving them.” “Plan” is a noun defined […]

A vision realized: Brenau Downtown Campus takes shape with Renaissance expansion

Brenau University is expanding its footprint in downtown Gainesville to coalesce into a true downtown campus location focused on health sciences. The university’s revitalization of the former Georgia Mountains Center and the addition of the Gainesville Renaissance are changing the look of downtown. Brenau’s expansion in a prime location contiguous to the Brenau Downtown Center […]

‘Passion and talent’: Thompson family donates extensive art collection to Brenau

The estate of Claire Thompson, who died in September 2021, has donated an extensive collection of work by her late husband, William J. Thompson, to Brenau University Galleries.  The Thompson collection, valued at more that $270,000, consists of 68 works by the renowned sculptor and printmaker that span the artist’s career from the 1950s to […]

Expanding international efforts: Brenau establishes Miller Institute for Global Education

Brenau President Anne Skleder, Pete and Cathy Miller, and students

Brenau University has established the Miller Institute for Global Education to guide its internationalization plans that aim to increase students’ global awareness, an initiative key to the university’s mission and its strategic plan. The institute is funded by an estate gift from Pete Miller, who has been a Brenau trustee since 1998, and his wife, […]

Making dreams a reality: Medical, Health care scholars programs teaches high school students about health care careers

Students participate in a learning experience as Medical Scholars

Andrea Garcia, a junior pursuing a psychology degree with a concentration in pre-occupational therapy, hadn’t been exposed to her future career before she participated in Brenau’s Medical Scholars program. “I had never heard of occupational therapy prior,” she says. “I chose Brenau because they have a great and well-known OT program, which I learned about […]

Serving those who serve: Veterans, military family members get gold status treatment as Brenau students

The Collier family with Dr. Anne Skleder at winter graduation 2021

Students can face extraordinary challenges that affect themselves and their families while pursuing higher education. For many, those challenges are due to military service or veteran status. The Postsecondary National Policy Institute reports active duty military students say they struggle with maintaining scholarships and in-state tuition due to deployments and frequent moves.  While on active […]

Forging new paths: First-generation students tackle college culture, educational goals

Esha Tasir examines a pteri dish in a lab

Trailblazers. Pioneers. Leaders. Being the first means taking a different approach, and first-generation college students often must carve a different path to the finish line than their classmates with parents who graduated from college.  In spring 2022 at Brenau, 42% of students in The Women’s College were navigating the university experience as first-generation students. The […]

Practicing for her people

Alumna Marshirl Locklear serving the Lumbee Tribe one patient at a time By Mark Ray Robeson County, North Carolina, ranks dead last among the Tar Heel State’s 100 counties for health outcomes and health factors like smoking and obesity. Diabetes, cancer, poverty and a lack of local medical specialists make it hard for the rural […]

Giving peace a chance

Brenau’s mediation leaders awarded honorary doctorates from Tbilisi, Georgia, university By Dashiell Coleman In March 2020, Brenau University’s Ken and Mary Lou Frank were in Chicago doing what they do best: helping guide the world’s future peacemakers.  Ken Frank, director of Brenau’s Conflict Resolution & Legal Studies program, and wife Mary Lou Frank, adjunct instructor […]