2 minute read
Oglethorpe University
BROOKHAVEN AT 10
BY LOGAN C. RITCHIE
In the heart of Brookhaven sits Oglethorpe University, a four-year, private college nestled into a tree-filled, 107-year-old campus featuring stone Gothic buildings and steeped in history and transformation. Oglethorpe President Dr. Nicholas Ladany just asks that you don’t consider it a “hidden gem.” “I’m used to a strong ‘town and gown’ relationship,” he said. “Brookhaven is a great place to connect. We serve as a community place for residents to walk across campus, visit the coffee shop, and experience the beauty of our park-like settings and buildings.”
The university and the community plan to collaborate in new ways, too. In April, a community event called Sip Brookhaven at Oglethorpe is to be held on campus green space. The event will feature wine and cocktails with sommeliers and mixologists. More details will be available in January.
In his third year at the university, Ladany – a psychologist serving as Oglethorpe’s 17th president -- said he wants Oglethorpe also to change in other ways. He wants to increase the diversity of the faculty, staff, and student body, and to create a multi-pronged approach to mental wellness.
The makeup of the student body already is growing more diverse. Of the 403 incoming freshman in 2021, 34 percent were first-generation students and 64 percent identified as people of color, the university reports.
Ladany said he intends health and wellness to be a “centerpiece” of his administration. “What do we need to do to enhance health and wellness in our community, our students, but also our faculty and staff?” he asked. “Helping enhance mental health on campus, particularly after the pandemic, is critical.” Oglethorpe already has opened the university’s counseling center to offer unlimited services for all students. “It’s the way we’re taking care of them as members of our community, members of our family,” he said.
The college also reaches out to students in new ways. From the incoming class of 425 students, more than 300 requested a peer mentor to help with the transition to college. Within a month of launching the mentoring program, he said, more than 5,000 texts went back and forth between the mentors and mentees.
Ladany said his goal is that in 20 to 30 years, the campus is aesthetically and physically in good shape, the student population remains diverse, and the non-traditional degree program is thriving.
“We are a place where we can have dialogue, we don’t limit speech, we try to make sure that everyone can have a free and fair conversation and feel respected in those conversations,” he said. “One example would be from one end of the political spectrum to the other. We’re the place where you can come and have those discussions and do so in a respectful and affirming manner, without feeling canceled, without feeling dehumanized.”
Nicholas Ladany
