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While this small Georgia school known for its performing arts program just went co-ed, students still see this former all-women’s college as a “historic college that empowers and shapes young women into leaders,� and students say “Brenau is all about traditions, sisterhood, and being the best you can be.� The “small, close-knit campus� offers generous scholarship opportunities, as well as online and a “part time and weekend option,� which drew one Nursing major to the school because it allows students to work and attend school concurrently. The professors at Brenau are “very supportive and understanding and are always available when you need them,� and “they care about their students and want to help them succeed.� Students praise the “accessibility of [facilities] and staff [and the] ability to form close professional relationships with professors� and stress that the school is “a place of comfort with an emphasis [on] a well-rounded education.� Some students wish Brenau could “be more modern� and “bring computers into the courses.� In addition to the traditional college student, “Brenau offers education to adults who have been out of school for a long time with assistance to excel.� Some students lament that Brenau’s teaching style is “‘know this’ or ‘know that’ [with] little discussion� and say that the “math we have is strictly on our own.�

The typical Brenau student has “a sense of hunger for learning and an ability to get along with others.� The sense of community is underscored by one psychology major who says, “We are really big on getting to know people especially incoming freshmen.� With the online, part-time, and commuter options, many students, like this business accounting major, say, “I take my classes online, therefore I am not on campus or anywhere near campus.� Many students would describe their fellow Brenau students as “working adults,� though for others “Brenau [students] love to study together, hang in the tearoom, go to Mule Camp on karaoke night and have adventures in the bamboo forest.� The “housing could improve� on campus and some students would like to see “leniency� in the alcohol policy (Brenau is a dry campus) for “legal adults.�

On campus, sororities and sports are popular, and students say that weekday activities usually involve “homework, [going] to the mall, and [hanging out] with friends.� “For fun [we] might go to the Gainesville Square, which is just a few blocks from campus,� says one biology major. An international relations major says that it’s common to “hang out with . . . friends [and] people talk a lot about politics.� For a nursing student who’s a self-described “artist at heart,� free time is spent drawing, painting, reading, and taking photographs. Volunteerism is common—“My life is about serving others,� says one pre-nursing student—with another student highlighting time spent at a local animal shelter. For students who want to travel beyond the school’s small hometown of Gainesville, the University of Georgia in Athens is a popular destination, as is Atlanta, which is only an hour away by car.