NEWSLETTER / NO 1 THE $40 MILL ION CAMPAIGN TO HONOR BRENAU’S PAST AND SECURE ITS FUTURE SUMMER 2015

Construction has begun on the three-story residence hall that will house its first

students in Spring 2016. With an estimated price tag of $3.3 million, approximately 72 students are expected to call the new hall home. The facility also will have accommodations for some student services programs, like a health center. This construction comes on the heels of four soon-to-be completed sorority houses on the other side of Prior Street, a

public thoroughfare that runs south to north through the back portion of the campus. The construction and some proposed renovations are all part of an initiative to improve the quality of the residential experience for students at the university’s 137-year-old Women’s College. The nearly 900-student Women’s College, which began in 1878, represents almost a third of the total student body of the university. Brenau also offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate

programs on campus and online, but the Women’s College is the only residential part of the institution. Brenau President Ed Schrader said the university is committed to making the Women’s College experience exceptional and that residential life and Greek life are an essential part of that experience.

Please visit forevergold.brenau.edu for more information.

Taking Hold. New residence hall key campaign component

Non-Profit Org.U. S. Postage

PAIDGainesville, GAPermit No. 88

WHY I support ForeverGoldI give because the future of Brenau is important to me. In this season of life – with my three littles under four – it is easy to get caught up in the immediacy of the day. Remaining involved with Brenau has kept me connected to the person I was before motherhood refined me. It reminds me of the most important job of motherhood ... to prepare the little people I am charged with raising to some day go out into the world and write their own stories and pursue their own dreams. I believe the world I am preparing them for is a better and richer place when institutions like Brenau, which espouse the highest ideals of human conduct, are supported and thriving. I give to ensure that future. Sustaining Brenau, and thus the traditions and ideals she upholds, is critically important.

– Eryn Manwaring Houck, WC ’01

500 Washington Street SE, Gainesville, Georgia 30501

Crews hoist trusses onto the new residence hall along Prior Street on the Brenau historic campus in Gainesville, Georgia.

Eryn and Craig Houck enjoy some quality time with their three children. The Houcks support ForeverGold because they believe the world is a better place when institutions like Brenau are supported and thriving.

Eryn Houck’s gift supports the new Alpha Chi Omega house on Brenau’s Sorority Row. For more information on ways you can support your sorority, contact Jenny Dell, Executive Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement, at 770.534.6164.

Make your online gift today at forevergold.brenau.edu/form

John R. Cleveland, left, shows his mother, Mary Cleveland, a plaque honoring her and her late husband, Ralph W. Cleveland, during the celebration to honor the dedication of The Cleveland Physical Therapy Lobby at the Brenau Downtown Center in early July. The Clevelands’ $300,000 gift will help support the Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program and other health sciences programs. John Cleveland said the gift is intended to honor his parents for their life-long support of Gainesville and Brenau. Mary Cleveland also was awarded The Mary Mildred Sullivan Award, a community service award named for this southern-born humanitarian who assisted prisoners during the Civil War.

(as of June 30, 2015)

IN Appreciation

MESSAGE from the PresidentOur students and the extraordinarily positive impact they have on our global society are the reasons that Brenau University exists. ForeverGold is about touching student lives—and having the resources to transform them. Some folks question whether completing a $40 million dollar capital campaign is attainable at Brenau. Now that we are about to exceed $26 million in gifts, the question morphs to wow, who would have thought that this idea could be such a success in the post-recession economy? Ultimately the question becomes how can you place a value on sustaining Brenau’s unique educational experience and its product, world-changing students? Certainly, $40 million does

not even begin to do justice.  So, we work hard. We dream. And, we take visions and make them into reality because the lives of our Brenau students matter.  I invite you to read this campaign update with me; however, do not see it in terms of information about new buildings and new programs. Yes, those things are important; but, this update is so much more. It is a report of our collective success to date and examples of lives that have been touched because of the generous gifts of many. The fundamental foundation for the long-term sustainability of Brenau’s tremendous impact on each new generation is your commitment not only to give but to introduce the school to new friends in new places who can share in these important tasks at hand. Personal giving and finding others to support Brenau at any level make a difference. We call it “Give and Get.” The important thing is that you participate; that you get involved; and that you join me in the cause to continue the extraordinary legacy of Brenau.

NEWS in Brief

VOLUNTEER SpotlightAgreeing to serve as a Brenau ForeverGold campaign volunteer was an easy decision for Betty Verson Norton, WC ’52. After all, she says, “Brenau has always been a significant part of my life.” Betty arrived at Brenau having left Cuba a few years before Fidel Castro took over. After four years she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. During her junior and senior years, she served as a student recruiter. “I shared my love for Brenau with girls from South Carolina and Georgia, often traveling alone. That was the beginning of sharing what Brenau was and how it could benefit these young women.” She later taught at Brenau Academy for three years. And she’s been sharing her passion for Brenau and her beloved Alpha Chi Omega sorority ever since. The Norton family is part of the very fabric of the Gainesville community as they own successful real estate and insurance companies started by Betty’s father-in-law in 1928. Over the years Betty has given her time to many organizations in the community, but Brenau has always held a special place in her heart as evidenced by her 28-year tenure as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees. Betty and her husband, Frank, are longtime supporters of Brenau and they have made provisions for the University in their estate plans. As a successful businesswoman, Betty understands that risk taking and embracing change are key components to thriving enterprises whether her family businesses or Brenau University. It’s this understanding that fuels her passion for Brenau and its bold $40 million ForeverGold: An Extraordinary Legacy campaign. “I have always had great respect for Brenau administrators,” she said. “President Schrader embraces the changing world and has taken risks that have paid off to position Brenau and her students to prosper in our changing world. “Our ForeverGold campaign is critical to ensure that Brenau continues to build upon and maintain the standard of excellence that has been its hallmark in providing quality education and leadership in our ever changing world. I encourage all alumni and friends to support this bold endeavor.”

Brenau Academy alumnae and twin sisters Camille Walter Ashcraft, A ’60, left, and Carolyn Walter Darke, A ’60 were instrumental in leading Academy alumnae to provide almost $9,000 to refurbish Academy Corner located at the intersection of Academy Street and Boulevard on the historic Gainesville campus. A portion of the funds provided a bronze commemorating the Academy and fresh landscaping including park benches. The funds also provided a plaque to accompany a portrait of longtime Academy Dean C.B. Branham that hangs outside the Alumni Office at the Walters House.

Brenau President Ed L. Schrader, Ph.D.

Sandra Smith Soterakis, WC ’60, raises her glass during President Ed Schrader’s toast at the 2015 Alumnae Reunion Weekend brunch. And the university raises our glass to celebrate Sandra’s recent generous pledge to Delta Delta Delta renovations and Brenau’s All-Steinway School initiative.

Alyson Shields, WC ’13, recently pledged $5,000 to name the balcony in the newly completed Phi Mu sorority house on Brenau’s historic Gainesville campus. As a recent graduate, Alyson is putting her B.A. in Mass Communications to work as she serves as news cast anchor, reporter and news assistant at WDUN/AccessNorthGA in Gainesville.

Betty V. Norton

ForeverGold touches student lives

Cheering for us all,

Frances Reeves Drayton, WC ’61, shown here with her husband, Graham, of Bishopville, South Carolina, recently made provisions in her estate to establish a generous endowed scholarship to support teacher education at Brenau University. As a classroom teacher for 13 years, Frances knows firsthand the challenges teachers encounter and she wants her scholarship to help enhance teacher training so that ultimately it will positively help classroom students of the future. For planned giving information, contact Ben McDade at bmcdade@brenau.edu, 770.534.6173 or visit Brenau’s planned giving website at brenau.giftlegacy.com.

CAMPAIGN GOAL: $40 MILLION

Health Care and Sciences Initiative: $12.5 million• Nursing Program Enhancements• Rehabilitative Science Program Enhancements• Brenau University Downtown Center

Women’s Education Initiative: $9.5 million• Center for Women’s Leadership and Service• Residential Housing and Sorority Row• Grace Hooten Moore Memorial Fountain• All-Steinway School Initiative• Ernest Ledford Grindle Athletics Park

Student Access and Experience Initiative: $18 million• Scholarships and Fellowships• Endowment for International Experiences• Annual Support

Visit forevergold.brenau.edu for more information.

$25.7M64.25%