The annual rite of passage that starts on Tuesday includes a packed schedule of social and academic-related registration, orientation and special events to give freshmen and transfer students a jump-start on college life before classes begin on Monday, Aug. 24. Most returning Women’s College students won’t move into their residence halls, including the four new sorority houses on the historic Gainesville campus, until the weekend.
Fall term classes for nonresidential students in coeducational undergraduate and graduate programs in Gainesville, on other campuses and online will also get underway. The Women’s College student body of close to 900 students represents slightly less than a third of Brenau University’s total enrollment.
“This is one of the most qualified entering classes for the Women’s College that we have had in years,” said Ray Tatum, vice president of enrollment at Brenau. “We have more Honors-qualified students than before.” He explained that the cumulative grade point average of the incoming class is 3.49 on the 4.0 academic scale. The students also posted an average of 1022 on the first two parts of the SAT college entrance exam on a 1200-point scale.
Move-in day always is a high-energy, bustling occasion filled with activity and undercurrents of emotion. For many students, moving into a residence hall at Brenau will be their first real time away from home. Some moms and dads will tearfully linger, happy but reluctant to let go of their daughters while some of those daughters will champ at their bits, eager to get mom and dad back to their own nests.
Here’s a schedule and description of move-in day and other activities throughout the week:
Tuesday, Aug. 18
Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs until noon at the Northeast Georgia History Center, 322 Academy St. NE. Residential students will meet at the Pearce Auditorium, 200 Boulevard, and nonresidential students will meet at the Thurmond McRae Lecture Hall, 625 Academy St., at 1 p.m. for orientation sessions. An opening ceremony is planned for 3 p.m. at the Pearce Auditorium, with a group photo scheduled outside the building at 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 19
Students will gather at the Thurmond McRae Lecture Hall for a “Keys to Academic Success” presentation at 9 a.m. Academic department orientations for students who have selected majors will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Women’s College students will board busses at Virginia Hall, 623 Academy St., at noon for the President’s Pool Party at the Chattahoochee Country Club, 3000 Club Drive in Gainesville. Advisement and registration will take place at the Brenau Trustee Library, 625 Academy St., from 3:30 to 5 p.m. A Pearce Auditorium honor court presentation takes place at 7:30 p.m. The traditional As Gold Refined by Fire ceremony is set for 8 p.m. on the campus front lawn. During that prayer-like ceremony, students commit their dreams and aspirations to paper, then toss them onto a fire to send their wishes into the ether.
Thursday, Aug. 20
Freshman health and wellness sessions and proficiency profile testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The storied folk tales and traditions of Brenau will be presented at a Pearce Auditorium presentation at 2:30 p.m. As part of the yearly Tiger Takeover!, new students will explore the shops and restaurants of Downtown Gainesville from 6 to 8 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 21
The Academy Award-nominated film Selma will be screened at the Thurmond McRae Lecture Hall at 9 a.m. First-year Women’s College students will leave campus at 11:30 a.m. for a day trip to Atlanta that includes lunch at the The Varsity on North Avenue as well as a visit to the National Center for Civil & Human Rights Museum. The civil rights movement is a theme for the semester-long seminar all first-year students are required to take, and this year that includes a required reading of March, the memoir in graphic novel format by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a key leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960s who was a prominent figure in the Alabama voting rights march in 1965. In the film, Lewis is portrayed by up-and-coming actor Stephan James, who will play iconic Olympian Jesse Owens in the 2016 biopic Race.
Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23
Student brunches and dinners will be held on both days at the Hopkins Dining Hall, 206 Boulevard. The brunches are set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with dinners beginning at 5 p.m. The day before classes begin, a first-year residence hall competition takes place at the Pearce Auditorium at 7 p.m.
