Brenau University
Encyclopedia
Brenau University is a private university in Gainesville, Georgia
, USA, that was founded in 1878 as Georgia Baptist Female Seminary, though it has never been affiliated with the Baptist Church. The total enrollment of Brenau University tops 2,500 students in its four schools (Education, Fine Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences, and Business and Mass Communication). It offers programs through its historic Women’s College, Accelerated High School Academy, and co-educational graduate and undergraduate programs (offered online, during the evenings and weekends). In 2011, it was ranked as the twelfth best value for colleges in the South by U.S. News.
In 1900 H. J. Pearce purchased the institution and renamed it Brenau, a linguistic blend formed from the German word brennen, “to burn”, and the Latin aurum, “gold”. Its motto is “As Gold Refined by Fire”. Brenau College remained privately owned until 1911 when a board of trustees assumed stewardship of the college, as remains the case today. In 1928, Brenau created a female, residential, college-preparatory school serving grades 9 through 12, and in the late 1960s, Brenau began offering evening and weekend classes to both men and women through what is known today as The Evening And Weekend College.
Brenau College became Brenau University in 1992 by a vote of the Board of Trustees, a name change that reflected the comprehensive programs of study, the diverse student body, new and stricter employment criteria for professors, and the scope of available graduate programs.
In 2002, Brenau’s Online College was formed using internet
technology to reach students who because of professional or personal responsibilities are unable to attend classes on campus. Associate, baccalaureate
, master’s, and certification programs as well as individual classes are available in this format. Online classes are open to all Brenau students.
The institution is led by Dr. Ed Schrader, its ninth president, who has held the position since January 2005. Brenau is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
and several subject-specific accrediting organizations.
education supporting its 30-plus majors, which prepare graduates for their many future roles. The Women’s College is recognized for its outstanding instruction in the fine arts and for its programs to develop leadership skills as well as for its comprehensive nationally-recognized learning disabilities programs.
for grades 9-12 in the state of Georgia.
The Academy has several key features which make it unique. Students of the Academy form strong, often lifelong, bonds of friendship. The small student body guarantees a "clique" free experience and a small student teacher ratio. Individualized attention from teachers and a strong program in place to help those with learning disabilities continues the college preparatory traditions begun in 1928. A new development at the Academy is that young women can complete the first two years of college concurrently with finishing high school. This year's commencement exercises will be considered the school's final "rose ceremony" following traditional exercises.
, psychology
, public administration
, interior design
, and occupational therapy
.
The teacher education program also offers an educational specialist degree. Men and women of non-traditional age attend classes after work and on weekends on the main campus and at five off-campus sites throughout Georgia.
Brenau University's Online MBA was named a GetEducated.com Best Buy for affordability and quality in the Online MBA, Regionally Accredited category in fall 2007.
In the 2007-08 academic year, online and evening and weekend degree program students totaled 1700, 80% female and 20% male. Minority students make up 32% of this population, and the majority of enrollees are more than 25 years old. The Academy has an enrollment of 80 students, and begins each year at capacity.
In 2008, a 12 month, full time co-educational MBA program was launched in Gainesville. Students from different parts of the world study together for 1 year. Most select the Project Management concentration.
(NAIA) and participates in the Southern States Athletic Conference where its teams play as the “Golden Tigers”.
The University's world-renowned tennis program has attracted athletes from across the world. Coached for over 10 years by Bill Rogers, the team earned numerous conference and reigonal titles, as well as two National Championships, in 1999 and 2002. Gordon Leslie assumed the position of head coach in 2005 after Rogers left to pursue other opportunities.
Long neglected in favor of academic programs and fine arts, a new emphasis on developing the athletics department was clear in 2002 when Mike Lochstampfor began his first year as head coach of the Brenau University soccer team. Lochstampfor came to Brenau after serving as the Director of both the Men’s and Women’s Soccer programs at Oglethorpe University
in Atlanta. In 2004, Brenau’s soccer team advanced to the conference tournament for the first time in many years and even received, at one point in the season, regional recognition for the first time ever.
Also in 2002, another boost to campus athletics came when Lila Harste was named head coach of the cross-country
team, and in 2004 Brenau’s softball
team played their inaugural season. Leading the team was new head coach Devon Thomas, Georgia Athletics Coaches Association “Coach of the Year” in 1999, 2002 and 2004 and North Georgia “All Area Coach of the Year” in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
The 2005-2006 academic year saw a new volleyball
team hit the courts with another new member of the University staff, Loren Hauck, as head coach. Brenau further plans to add swimming in 2006, and has already hired Jim Young to coach the team. Attempts are also under way to move the crew
team to varsity status.
Perhaps most significant is the hire of Gary Bays as head coach of the new Golden Tigers collegiate basketball
team, to be launched in 2006. Former women’s basketball coach for Florida’s Warner Southern College
, Bays was named NAIA Region XIV Athletic Director of the Year for 2005, and joined Brenau in October 2005 with plans to put both varsity
and junior varsity
teams on the court in the 2006-2007 academic year.
in Columbia
, Missouri
and Spelman College
in Atlanta
.
Of the eight chapters active at Brenau, two are NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council
) and six are NPC (National Panhellenic Conference
) sororities. For the six NPC chapters “formal recruitment” follows Panhellenic’s recruitment guidelines and occurs annually at the beginning of the academic year, while the NPHC or historically African American Greek organizations hold their recruitment separate from the formal process. These sororities follow NPHC recruitment guidelines, with membership intake for Alpha Kappa Alpha
and Delta Sigma Theta
at the discretion of the individual organization.
Every woman at Brenau who is a member of a sorority becomes a member of the campus’ Greek Council, the governing body over all sororities on campus, both NPC and NPHC. The Greek Council sponsors social and other events throughout the year including the Greek Sing, Greek Week, and the Greek Gala.
The sorority chapters active on campus and their founding dates are:
, approximately 50 miles (80.5 km) northeast of Atlanta, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains
. Brenau University maintains evening and weekend satellite programs at the main campus in Gainesville and at these additional Georgia locations: Augusta
, Kings Bay
, and North and South Atlanta - Norcross
and Fairburn
.
Until 1985, when John S. Burd became president of the university, Brenau lacked a designated art gallery
; student and faculty work was displayed in various buildings across the campus. Recognizing the need for a gallery, Burd converted a small chapel outside the balcony of the University’s Pearce Auditorium into the “President’s Gallery”. Director of visual arts Mary Jane Taylor became the first gallery director and began expanding the frequency and breadth of art exhibitions on campus throughout the late 1980s. Burd also initiated the creation of Brenau’s permanent art collection in 1986. The first important acquisition during this period was a still life
painted by the American artist William Merritt Chase
. The collection today consists of over 1,100 pieces and is periodically exhibited on campus.
Highlights include early oil paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
and Paul Cézanne
; watercolors by Eugène Delacroix
; artifacts from the pre-Columbian
period of American history; an oil painting by Anna Elizabeth Klumpke; sculptures by Jean Arp
, Maria Artemis, Clyde Connell, and William King
; a gouache
by Amelia Peláez; and one of the largest collections of prints
anywhere by Jasper Johns
.
In 1990, Brenau’s neoclassical
library building, originally built in 1914, was redesigned to house the Simmons Visual Arts Center. The second art gallery director, Jean Westmacott, was appointed by the university that year and Brenau held its inaugural art exhibition, featuring Jasper Johns’s prints from the Leo Castelli Collection, at the Simmons Visual Arts Center in March 1991. This exhibition also launched an outreach program focusing on art education. Gallery tours and hands-on workshops for children have become a regular feature of this educational curriculum. Since the opening of the Simmons Center, the university has hosted a wide range of art exhibits, including the work of Brenau’s faculty and students as well as the work of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. The works of Benny Andrews, Beverly Buchanan
, Lamar Dodd
, Nancy Graves, William King, Roy Lichtenstein
, Marisol, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Donald Saff, Frank Stella, and Neil Welliver have appeared in the university’s galleries. The Brenau galleries have also featured such group exhibitions as the women artists from the Vogel Collection.
In March 2002, the Burd Performing Arts Center opened and gave the university a new home for visual art on campus. The center’s gallery is known as the Leo Castelli Gallery, in honor of the New York art dealer and university trustee responsible for several major art acquisitions and exhibitions by the Brenau University Galleries. The gallery's primary function is to house long-term exhibitions of art from the permanent collection of the university.
In 2010, Brenau University entered a three-year partnership with the Atlanta High Museum of Art
. The collaboration will help deepen Brenau's commitment to the arts as part of its curriculum, and will allow Brenau students to have access to lectures, exhibits, and other special programs at the High.
Brenau University houses the Eleanor Dare Stones, as was a proponent for by Brenau College Professor Haywood Pearce Jr.
The auditorium was completed within only a year and dedicated on May 21, 1897, as “the largest of its kind in the South.” Nearly 67 years later on March 26, the auditorium was dedicated in honor of Pearce.
In 1978, the building was named to the National Register of Historic Places
, along with others on the Brenau campus. Three years later, it was closed for renovations, reopening in the spring of 1984. “It’s difficult to imagine Brenau University without Pearce Auditorium. In fact, it is hard to imagine Gainesville without Pearce Auditorium,” said John W. Jacobs, Jr., chairman of the Brenau board of trustees, as he began the centennial observance of the dedication of Pearce Auditorium.
In addition to its wide usage by such local groups as The Arts Council, the Gainesville Theatre Alliance, the Gainesville Ballet, the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra and others, Pearce Auditorium has been the site of many famous speakers. Helen Keller
, Will Durant
, Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, Martin Luther King, Sr., Letitia Baldrige
, Robert Peters, Williams Warwick, Dan Rather
, Jane Fonda
and Maria von Trapp
all have spoken or performed in Pearce. The Arts Council has welcomed additional guests in recent years as part of its Pearce Series, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
, the New York City Opera
, the Joffery II Ballet
, the Vienna Boys Choir, Ramsey Lewis
, Dave Brubeck
, Herbie Mann
, Chuck Mangione
, Steve Allen
and Loretta Switt.
The City of Gainesville made available to the group a vacant fire station building downtown. Volunteers then began collecting objects that would relate to the history of this area. The Georgia Mountain History Museum was underway. School children, tourists, and home-folks were soon attracted to the museum.
By the early 1990s, it was realized that the future of the museum had to include its own building in a more accessible location. The turning point came in 1995 when Brenau University President John Burd committed a tract of campus property for the History Museum, the White Path Cabin, and a blacksmith shop donated by Hoyt Herrin. Volunteers started soliciting the community for contributions and, after some years of stop and go, architectural plans were finally completed and all stood in readiness for its grand opening, held in May 2004.
The programs offered at Firespark! are all goal oriented, with students working towards appearing in performances within their field of study staged before their peers. Students who are visual-arts focused are featured in a gallery showing at the program’s conclusion, while mass media students are heard on Brenau’s WBCX-FM.
Gainesville, Georgia
-Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
, USA, that was founded in 1878 as Georgia Baptist Female Seminary, though it has never been affiliated with the Baptist Church. The total enrollment of Brenau University tops 2,500 students in its four schools (Education, Fine Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences, and Business and Mass Communication). It offers programs through its historic Women’s College, Accelerated High School Academy, and co-educational graduate and undergraduate programs (offered online, during the evenings and weekends). In 2011, it was ranked as the twelfth best value for colleges in the South by U.S. News.
History
Brenau was founded in 1878 as a private institution for the education of women. W.C. Wilkes, the institution’s first administrator, is credited with building many of the historic buildings that still stand today.In 1900 H. J. Pearce purchased the institution and renamed it Brenau, a linguistic blend formed from the German word brennen, “to burn”, and the Latin aurum, “gold”. Its motto is “As Gold Refined by Fire”. Brenau College remained privately owned until 1911 when a board of trustees assumed stewardship of the college, as remains the case today. In 1928, Brenau created a female, residential, college-preparatory school serving grades 9 through 12, and in the late 1960s, Brenau began offering evening and weekend classes to both men and women through what is known today as The Evening And Weekend College.
Brenau College became Brenau University in 1992 by a vote of the Board of Trustees, a name change that reflected the comprehensive programs of study, the diverse student body, new and stricter employment criteria for professors, and the scope of available graduate programs.
In 2002, Brenau’s Online College was formed using internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
technology to reach students who because of professional or personal responsibilities are unable to attend classes on campus. Associate, baccalaureate
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, master’s, and certification programs as well as individual classes are available in this format. Online classes are open to all Brenau students.
The institution is led by Dr. Ed Schrader, its ninth president, who has held the position since January 2005. Brenau is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...
and several subject-specific accrediting organizations.
The Women’s College
The Women’s College of Brenau University continues the rich tradition of education for women, serving both residential and commuter students. The mission of the university is reflected in the strong emphasis on the broad-based liberal artsLiberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education supporting its 30-plus majors, which prepare graduates for their many future roles. The Women’s College is recognized for its outstanding instruction in the fine arts and for its programs to develop leadership skills as well as for its comprehensive nationally-recognized learning disabilities programs.
Brenau Academy
Brenau Academy was formed in 1928 when Pearce told his wife that some of the first-year college students were having trouble with their course work. She began a program to help prepare young women for college which evolved quickly into the Brenau Academy, now the only female, college preparatory, residential schoolBoarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for grades 9-12 in the state of Georgia.
The Academy has several key features which make it unique. Students of the Academy form strong, often lifelong, bonds of friendship. The small student body guarantees a "clique" free experience and a small student teacher ratio. Individualized attention from teachers and a strong program in place to help those with learning disabilities continues the college preparatory traditions begun in 1928. A new development at the Academy is that young women can complete the first two years of college concurrently with finishing high school. This year's commencement exercises will be considered the school's final "rose ceremony" following traditional exercises.
Evening and Weekend Programs
In the late 1960s, Brenau began offering evening classes to male students at the junior and senior levels. As the number of evening students grew from 17 in 1969 to 1,466 in fall 2003, the structure of the program evolved and is known today as the Evening and Weekend College. Students earn bachelor's and master's degrees in teacher education, business administration, accounting, nursingNursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
, interior design
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
, and occupational therapy
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is a discipline that aims to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, and/or emotionally disabling condition by utilizing treatments...
.
The teacher education program also offers an educational specialist degree. Men and women of non-traditional age attend classes after work and on weekends on the main campus and at five off-campus sites throughout Georgia.
The Online Programs
Since 2002, college students of all ages have been able to earn degrees from Brenau University via the internet. The mission of the Online Studies department is to serve students who may be working, traveling, disabled, geographically isolated from institutions of higher education, or homebound while caring for children or other family members.Brenau University's Online MBA was named a GetEducated.com Best Buy for affordability and quality in the Online MBA, Regionally Accredited category in fall 2007.
Student population
The Women’s College continues as the heart of the university with approximately 900 students from 20 states and 23 other countries. Fifteen percent are from minority groups (not including international students) and 17% are older than 25. There are 8 national sororities on campus.In the 2007-08 academic year, online and evening and weekend degree program students totaled 1700, 80% female and 20% male. Minority students make up 32% of this population, and the majority of enrollees are more than 25 years old. The Academy has an enrollment of 80 students, and begins each year at capacity.
In 2008, a 12 month, full time co-educational MBA program was launched in Gainesville. Students from different parts of the world study together for 1 year. Most select the Project Management concentration.
Athletics
Brenau University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate AthleticsNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA) and participates in the Southern States Athletic Conference where its teams play as the “Golden Tigers”.
The University's world-renowned tennis program has attracted athletes from across the world. Coached for over 10 years by Bill Rogers, the team earned numerous conference and reigonal titles, as well as two National Championships, in 1999 and 2002. Gordon Leslie assumed the position of head coach in 2005 after Rogers left to pursue other opportunities.
Long neglected in favor of academic programs and fine arts, a new emphasis on developing the athletics department was clear in 2002 when Mike Lochstampfor began his first year as head coach of the Brenau University soccer team. Lochstampfor came to Brenau after serving as the Director of both the Men’s and Women’s Soccer programs at Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...
in Atlanta. In 2004, Brenau’s soccer team advanced to the conference tournament for the first time in many years and even received, at one point in the season, regional recognition for the first time ever.
Also in 2002, another boost to campus athletics came when Lila Harste was named head coach of the cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
team, and in 2004 Brenau’s softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
team played their inaugural season. Leading the team was new head coach Devon Thomas, Georgia Athletics Coaches Association “Coach of the Year” in 1999, 2002 and 2004 and North Georgia “All Area Coach of the Year” in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
The 2005-2006 academic year saw a new volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team hit the courts with another new member of the University staff, Loren Hauck, as head coach. Brenau further plans to add swimming in 2006, and has already hired Jim Young to coach the team. Attempts are also under way to move the crew
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
team to varsity status.
Perhaps most significant is the hire of Gary Bays as head coach of the new Golden Tigers collegiate basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team, to be launched in 2006. Former women’s basketball coach for Florida’s Warner Southern College
Warner Southern College
Warner University is a co-educational, accredited private Christian liberal arts college in Lake Wales, Florida affiliated with the Church of God .- History :...
, Bays was named NAIA Region XIV Athletic Director of the Year for 2005, and joined Brenau in October 2005 with plans to put both varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
and junior varsity
Junior varsity
Primarily in North America, junior varsity or JV players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition , usually at the high school and college levels in the United States and Canada. The main players comprise the varsity team...
teams on the court in the 2006-2007 academic year.
Greek life
Greek life at Brenau University has a long and prosperous tradition; established in 1909, it is one of the oldest Greek systems in the United States. Brenau is one of only three women’s colleges in the United States that has Greek life, and with eight sororities active on campus, Brenau has the most chapters. The other women’s colleges with Greek systems are Stephens CollegeStephens College
Stephens College is a women's college located in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833 as the Columbia Female Academy. In 1856, David H. Hickman turned it into a college,...
in Columbia
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Spelman College
Spelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
Of the eight chapters active at Brenau, two are NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council
National Pan-Hellenic Council
The National Pan-Hellenic Council is a collaborative organization of nine historically African American, international Greek lettered fraternities and sororities. The nine NPHC organizations are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Divine Nine"...
) and six are NPC (National Panhellenic Conference
National Panhellenic Conference
The National Panhellenic Conference , founded in 1902, is an umbrella organization for 26 national women's sororities.Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumnae...
) sororities. For the six NPC chapters “formal recruitment” follows Panhellenic’s recruitment guidelines and occurs annually at the beginning of the academic year, while the NPHC or historically African American Greek organizations hold their recruitment separate from the formal process. These sororities follow NPHC recruitment guidelines, with membership intake for Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...
and Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
at the discretion of the individual organization.
Every woman at Brenau who is a member of a sorority becomes a member of the campus’ Greek Council, the governing body over all sororities on campus, both NPC and NPHC. The Greek Council sponsors social and other events throughout the year including the Greek Sing, Greek Week, and the Greek Gala.
The sorority chapters active on campus and their founding dates are:
- Alpha Delta PiAlpha Delta PiAlpha Delta Pi is a fraternity founded on May 15, 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The Executive office for this sorority is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. Alpha Delta Pi is one of the two "Macon Magnolias," a term used to celebrate the bonds it shares with Phi Mu...
April 18, 1910 - Phi MuPhi MuPhi Mu is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. It was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The organization was founded as the Philomathean Society on January 4, 1852, and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same year...
October 8, 1910 - Zeta Tau AlphaZeta Tau AlphaZeta Tau Alpha is a women's fraternity, founded October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia. The Executive office is located in Indianapolis, Indiana...
January 7, 1911 - Alpha Chi OmegaAlpha Chi OmegaAlpha Chi Omega is a women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. Currently, there are 135 chapters of Alpha Chi Omega at colleges and universities across the United States and more than 200,000 lifetime members...
November 24, 1911 - Alpha Gamma DeltaAlpha Gamma DeltaAlpha Gamma Delta is an international women's fraternity, who are mainly sluts, founded in 1904 at Syracuse University. The Fraternity promotes academic excellence, philanthropic giving, ongoing leadership and personal development, and a spirit of loving sisterhood. Also known as "Alpha Gam" and...
May 5, 1913 - Delta Delta DeltaDelta Delta DeltaDelta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international sorority founded on November 27, 1888, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. With over 200,000 initiates, Tri Delta is one of the world's largest NPC sororities.-History:...
May 6, 1914 - Alpha Kappa Alpha May 14, 1994
- Delta Sigma Theta April 21, 2000
Location
Brenau’s 50 acres (202,343 m²) main campus is located in Gainesville, GeorgiaGainesville, Georgia
-Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
, approximately 50 miles (80.5 km) northeast of Atlanta, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. Brenau University maintains evening and weekend satellite programs at the main campus in Gainesville and at these additional Georgia locations: Augusta
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, Kings Bay
Kings Bay, Georgia
Kings Bay is a small unincorporated community located at 30.804 N, 81.560 W in Camden County on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Georgia....
, and North and South Atlanta - Norcross
Norcross, Georgia
As of 2010 Norcross had a population of 9,116. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 40.8% white , 19.8% black or African American , 0.7% Native American, 2.1% Asian Indian, 10.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.5% from some other race and 4.3% reporting two or more races...
and Fairburn
Fairburn, Georgia
Fairburn is a city in Fulton County, Georgia. The population was 12,950 at the 2010 census.- History :Fairburn is located along a railroad line and was once the county seat for Campbell County, Georgia, starting in 1870...
.
Brenau University Galleries
Brenau University Galleries, located on the campus of Brenau University in Gainesville, feature one of the finest university art collections held by an educational institution in the state of Georgia.Until 1985, when John S. Burd became president of the university, Brenau lacked a designated art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
; student and faculty work was displayed in various buildings across the campus. Recognizing the need for a gallery, Burd converted a small chapel outside the balcony of the University’s Pearce Auditorium into the “President’s Gallery”. Director of visual arts Mary Jane Taylor became the first gallery director and began expanding the frequency and breadth of art exhibitions on campus throughout the late 1980s. Burd also initiated the creation of Brenau’s permanent art collection in 1986. The first important acquisition during this period was a still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
painted by the American artist William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
. The collection today consists of over 1,100 pieces and is periodically exhibited on campus.
Highlights include early oil paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
and Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
; watercolors by Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
; artifacts from the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
period of American history; an oil painting by Anna Elizabeth Klumpke; sculptures by Jean Arp
Jean Arp
Jean Arp / Hans Arp was a German-French, or Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper....
, Maria Artemis, Clyde Connell, and William King
William King (artist)
William King is a contemporary American sculptor born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1925. His work spans countless media and usually revolves around the figurative portrayal of human figures. After attending the University of Florida, King moved to New York in 1945 and graduated from Cooper Union in...
; a gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
by Amelia Peláez; and one of the largest collections of prints
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
anywhere by Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
.
In 1990, Brenau’s neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
library building, originally built in 1914, was redesigned to house the Simmons Visual Arts Center. The second art gallery director, Jean Westmacott, was appointed by the university that year and Brenau held its inaugural art exhibition, featuring Jasper Johns’s prints from the Leo Castelli Collection, at the Simmons Visual Arts Center in March 1991. This exhibition also launched an outreach program focusing on art education. Gallery tours and hands-on workshops for children have become a regular feature of this educational curriculum. Since the opening of the Simmons Center, the university has hosted a wide range of art exhibits, including the work of Brenau’s faculty and students as well as the work of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. The works of Benny Andrews, Beverly Buchanan
Beverly Buchanan
Beverly Buchanan is an African American artist. Buchanan is noted for her exploration of Southern vernacular architecture through her art....
, Lamar Dodd
Lamar Dodd
Lamar Dodd was a U.S. painter whose work reflected a love of the American South.- Early life and education :Born in Fairburn, Georgia to Rev...
, Nancy Graves, William King, Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
, Marisol, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Donald Saff, Frank Stella, and Neil Welliver have appeared in the university’s galleries. The Brenau galleries have also featured such group exhibitions as the women artists from the Vogel Collection.
In March 2002, the Burd Performing Arts Center opened and gave the university a new home for visual art on campus. The center’s gallery is known as the Leo Castelli Gallery, in honor of the New York art dealer and university trustee responsible for several major art acquisitions and exhibitions by the Brenau University Galleries. The gallery's primary function is to house long-term exhibitions of art from the permanent collection of the university.
In 2010, Brenau University entered a three-year partnership with the Atlanta High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
. The collaboration will help deepen Brenau's commitment to the arts as part of its curriculum, and will allow Brenau students to have access to lectures, exhibits, and other special programs at the High.
Brenau University houses the Eleanor Dare Stones, as was a proponent for by Brenau College Professor Haywood Pearce Jr.
Pearce Auditorium
In late 1895, a meeting of the Gainesville, Ga., townspeople discussed the need for a new auditorium. Dr. A.W. Van Hoose and Dr. Haywood Jefferson Pearce, president of Brenau University from 1893-1943, asked the community to lend Brenau US$10,000 without interest for five years for the construction of an auditorium. The funds were raised in a short period, and the contract for the construction was signed April 1, 1896.The auditorium was completed within only a year and dedicated on May 21, 1897, as “the largest of its kind in the South.” Nearly 67 years later on March 26, the auditorium was dedicated in honor of Pearce.
In 1978, the building was named to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, along with others on the Brenau campus. Three years later, it was closed for renovations, reopening in the spring of 1984. “It’s difficult to imagine Brenau University without Pearce Auditorium. In fact, it is hard to imagine Gainesville without Pearce Auditorium,” said John W. Jacobs, Jr., chairman of the Brenau board of trustees, as he began the centennial observance of the dedication of Pearce Auditorium.
In addition to its wide usage by such local groups as The Arts Council, the Gainesville Theatre Alliance, the Gainesville Ballet, the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra and others, Pearce Auditorium has been the site of many famous speakers. Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
, Will Durant
Will Durant
William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...
, Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, Martin Luther King, Sr., Letitia Baldrige
Letitia Baldrige
Letitia Baldrige is an American etiquette expert and public relations executive.A graduate of Vassar College, she is a former State Department employee and was the White House Social Secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy....
, Robert Peters, Williams Warwick, Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
and Maria von Trapp
Maria von Trapp
Maria Augusta von Trapp , also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers...
all have spoken or performed in Pearce. The Arts Council has welcomed additional guests in recent years as part of its Pearce Series, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...
, the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, the Joffery II Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, the Vienna Boys Choir, Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
, Chuck Mangione
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960.-Early life and career:...
, Steve Allen
Steve Allen (comedian)
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
and Loretta Switt.
Northeast Georgia History Center
During the 1970s, James and Francis Mathis started collecting artifacts from the early days of those who settled in Northeast Georgia. A number of items were soon displayed at Gainesville’s Home Federal Savings Bank. As others in the community started to express an interest in remembering the past, a nucleus began to be formed with plans to start a museum.The City of Gainesville made available to the group a vacant fire station building downtown. Volunteers then began collecting objects that would relate to the history of this area. The Georgia Mountain History Museum was underway. School children, tourists, and home-folks were soon attracted to the museum.
By the early 1990s, it was realized that the future of the museum had to include its own building in a more accessible location. The turning point came in 1995 when Brenau University President John Burd committed a tract of campus property for the History Museum, the White Path Cabin, and a blacksmith shop donated by Hoyt Herrin. Volunteers started soliciting the community for contributions and, after some years of stop and go, architectural plans were finally completed and all stood in readiness for its grand opening, held in May 2004.
Center for Lifetime Study/Brenau University Learning and Leisure Institute (BULLI)
The Brenau University Learning and Leisure Institute offers non-credit classes for mature adults looking to stimulate their thinking and expand their knowledge. A variation on common Elderhostel programs, BULLI is made available to and oriented towards adults in the Northeast Georgia community who are seeking academically oriented continuing education.Firespark!
Firespark! is the 2-week co-educational summer program for students in grade 9 through 12 from all over the world who are gifted in theatre, dance, music, visual art, and mass communications. Student admission is based on essays, recommendations by current educators and auditions when applicable, and classes are led by working arts professionals who also reside on campus during the program.The programs offered at Firespark! are all goal oriented, with students working towards appearing in performances within their field of study staged before their peers. Students who are visual-arts focused are featured in a gallery showing at the program’s conclusion, while mass media students are heard on Brenau’s WBCX-FM.
University Alumnae
- Florence Reville GibbsFlorence Reville GibbsFlorence Reville Gibbs was a Democratic congresswoman, the first woman to represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives....
, former member of CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.... - Helen Dortch LongstreetHelen Dortch LongstreetHelen Dortch Longstreet , known as the "Fighting Lady," was the second wife of Confederate General James Longstreet. She earned her nickname from being a champion of causes such as preservation of the environment and civil rights...
, ConfederateConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and political figure - Lera Millard ThomasLera Millard ThomasLera Millard Thomas was the wife of Congressman Albert Thomas and briefly succeeded her husband as the Representative in Congress representing the Eighth District of Texas from 1966 to 1967...
, former member of Congress
Academy Alumnae
- Sally FosterSally FosterSally Foster is an Australian breaststroke swimmer.She won the silver medal in the 200 m breaststroke event at the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships....
, Sally Foster Fundraising founder, Class of 1955 - Amanda BlakeAmanda BlakeAmanda Blake was an American actress known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke.-Early life and career:...
, Actress, Class of 194? - Katherine Jane BryantKatherine Jane BryantKatherine Jane Bryant is an American television costume designer.Her most notable work is in the HBO Western series Deadwood, for which she was awarded the Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Series in 2005...
, Emmy award-winning costume designer for Mad MenMad MenMad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, Class of 1985
Faculty and administration
- Ed SchraderEd SchraderDr. Ed Schrader is President of Brenau University. He is the university's ninth president and has directed the Gainesville, GA school since January 2005. Brenau has experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment and academic quality under Dr. Schrader's leadership and has assumed a role of...
, president since 2005 - Mortimer WilsonMortimer WilsonMortimer Wilson was an American composer of classical music. He also scored several musical and dramatic films in the 1920s....
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and former music professor - Franciszek ZacharaFranciszek ZacharaFranciszek Zachara was a Polish-American pianist and composer who concertized extensively throughout Europe in the years leading up to 1928...
, pianistPianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and former Dean of Music
External links
- Brenau University
- Kings Bay Campus
- Firespark!
- Gainesville Theatre Alliance (GTA)
- Northeast Georgia History Center
- "Giving Voice to a New Generation: Metro Atlanta's three women's colleges are going strong, even while the number of women's colleges nationwide has declined" (Agnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....
, Spelman CollegeSpelman CollegeSpelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
, and Brenau University)