WL
William Lightfoot
  • Gainesville, GA

William Lightfoot from Gainesville, Ga., Gains International Experience in Brenau University Program in Guatemala

2012 Mar 2

William Lightfoot from Gainesville, Ga., traveled to Guatemala during spring break Feb. 26 - March 4 for a Brenau University program to provide students with broader international experience as they prepare to function in the global society. Lightfoot is dean of the College of Business & Mass Communication at Brenau.

The trip, which included graduates students in Brenau's multidiscipline Master of Business Administration programs and undergraduate students involved in the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization, marked the 11th travel-study mission led by the College of Business & Mass Communication to provide students with experience working directly in the emerging economy in the Central America country.

Brenau encourages international experiences for students as part of its Four Portals of Learning liberal arts curriculum designed to expand world views and prepare Brenau graduates to engage as productive citizens of the world.

In Guatemala, students have been working to help improve business practices of small enterprises, charitable organizations and other institutions in the country. Projects have included developing a tourist map for the famous Antigua Mercado and addressing recycling needs in the old colonial capital. In addition to working as "consultants," the students have also engaged in hands-on work like building chicken coops at an orphanage and helping at the Safe Passage Project (Camino Seguro), which has created a school for the families living near the infamous city dump of Guatemala City. For recreation, the students also planned to climb the Pacaya Volcano and visit Lake Atitlan.

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. In 2012 Brenau online programs scored high in national rankings by U.S. News, including a #9 in the nation "Honor Roll" listing for graduate degree tracks in Brenau's College of Education. 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 was highlighted among the Colleges of Distinction.