Sarah Rooker
  • history and political science
  • Class of 2015
  • Jasper, Ga.

Sarah Rooker from Jasper, Ga., Wins Prestigious Scholarship to Brenau University

2011 Oct 22

Sarah Rooker from Jasper, Ga., is among five outstanding first-year students at the Gainesville, Ga.-based Brenau University Women's College who are the 2011 recruits to the Brenau Scholars program, which is designed to attract top high school academic prospects. She is majoring in history and political science.

The daughter of Debbie J. Rooker and the late Mike Rooker,, Sarah is a graduate of Pickens County High School. In high school she was p president of the Mock Trial Honor Society, vice president of Future Business Leaders of America, yearbook editor and business manager, and a member of Beta Club. Her long-term goal is to go to law school and become a hospital administrator.

The three-year-old initiative combined the previous Brenau Scholars program and a leadership scholarship program to provide a more attractive package. Thus far it has netted more than a dozen young women that Brenau officials say would have been successful in any university environment.

"We could not be more pleased with the success of the Brenau Scholars program," said Scott Briell, senior vice president for enrollment and student services. "The young women that it has attracted have stepped into leadership roles on campus in and out of the classroom. They fully embraced both the spirit and responsibility associated with the Brenau Scholars program, and we expect this year's group to do the same."

Aimed at prospective first-year residential students at the Brenau Women's College, the historic nucleus of the 133-year-old institution, the Brenau Scholars honor includes a full-tuition scholarship for the freshman year, a value of more than $20,000. It can be renewed for subsequent years if recipients meet conditions of the contract for the first-year award.

The university selects Brenau Scholars for their past and potential academic success, leadership achievement and personal qualities as exemplified in the Brenau Ideal. Brenau Scholars must have an SAT score of 1200 or better or ACT composite score of 27 or better and a 3.2 or better grade point average in a college preparatory curriculum. Students selected for this prestigious scholarship must reside on campus, participate in the Brenau Honor's Program and the Women's Leadership Development Program, complete a long-term community service project and maintain grade point average above 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.

ABOUT BRENAU – Founded in 1878, Brenau University currently enrolls about 2,800 students in graduate and undergraduate programs on campuses and online. The main campus of the Georgia-based liberal arts institution, which includes the Brenau Women's College, is in Gainesville with other campuses in Augusta, Kings Bay and in two metro Atlanta locations, Norcross and Fairburn. Brenau's 2011 ranking as one of the top 15-best higher education values in the Southeast by U.S. News & World Report marks the university's sixth consecutive year in that position for the magazine's America's Best Colleges guidebook. Brenau University also was granted "Honor Roll" status among the 2012 listings of the great collegesand universities to work for by The Chronicle of Higher Education and one of the best universities in the Southeast by The Princeton Review. Breanu's extraordinary learning environment also his highlights among the Colleges of Distinction.