For the 2025-26 academic year, nine students at Brenau University have been awarded scholarships funded by Kay and Douglas Ivester and the Melvin Douglas and Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation Inc.
The couple are Hall County natives and Doug Ivester has served as a Brenau trustee for many years. The Ivesters are heavily involved in the success of Ivester College of Health Sciences and the Gainesville Renaissance, which houses the Lynn J. Darby School of Psychology and Adolescent Counseling on the second floor. They have supported multiple initiatives at Brenau, including the naming of the Ernest Ledford Grindle Athletics Department.
This year, seven students have been awarded the Kay and Douglas Ivester Scholarship, designated to assist first-generation students as they pursue their education at Brenau. Established in 1993, Ivester Scholars/Mary Inez Grindle Nursing Scholars are awarded annually for one year and are first-generation undergraduate students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher who are pursuing a degree in the Ivester College of Health Sciences and live in Hall County.
This year’s recipients are:
- Yareli Auguilar, senior nursing major
- Ivi Camilo, senior nursing major
- Nayeli Canales, senior nursing major
- Leyna Le, first-year nursing major
- William Naylor, senior nursing major
- Shakhenyah Reyes-Fernandez, senior nursing major
- Madison Tithof, senior nursing major
The Melvin Douglas and Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation Inc. also awarded recipients of two endowed scholarships the foundation established last year.
Yekaterina Doroshenko, a junior accounting major, is the 2025-26 recipient of the Mary Louise Roddy Scholarship. The fund honors the mother of Fred Roddy, CEO of Roddy Properties, Inc. Roddy oversaw development of the Gainesville Renaissance, which is owned by Doug Ivester.
Sara Walker, a senior psychology major, is the 2025-26 recipient of the Virginia Dale Rochester Scholarship. The fund honors the mother of Brian Rochester, a board member of the Ivester Foundation. Rochester also is president and chief operating officer of Rochester | DCCM, a land development firm founded by his parents in 1966 as Rochester and Associates.
