Flints Provide $1 Million Gift to Reinhardt University

CANTON, GA -- Austin and Bea Flint have long-standing, strong ties to Waleska and Reinhardt University.

That connection to the community dates back to 1969 when they purchased land just a couple of miles from the center of town as a "retreat" from the city, and a place where Austin’s mother would reside for most of the rest of her life.

Reinhardt is also the place where Bea taught English for 12 years, from 1978 to 1990.

Now, with a $1 million gift to the university for current capital projects and in support of a new endowed scholarship for music students, the Flints are being recognized with the naming of the concert hall in the Falany Performing Arts Center. The hall will bear the name “Flint Hall.”

The capital projects portion of their gift provides the largest gift to-date for the building of a new theater building for the University’s burgeoning theatre and musical theatre programs.

Asked what she remembers most about her years at Reinhardt, Bea Flint doesn’t flinch, “it was a family.”

"Dr. Mallard is continuing that kind of family atmosphere at Reinhardt,” she added, referring to the university's current president.

Involved in the community through her work and voluntarism in the arts, particularly as a charter member of the Cherokee Chorale, Bea Flint said she's proud of the growth and development of Reinhardt as a center for culture and the arts, especially the School of Performing Arts and the FPAC.

Known throughout North Georgia for his work as a radiologist since moving to Canton to start his practice following medical school at Emory University, Dr. Austin Flint is “excited about the future” especially as Reinhardt launches its School of Nursing and Health Sciences later this year.

“Every university president would love to have the kind of remarkable friends and supporters we have in Austin and Bea Flint,” said Reinhardt President Dr. Kina S. Mallard. “We are overjoyed by their generosity in support of our new theater building and with this endowed music scholarship that will bear their name.”

Dr. Flint joined the Reinhardt University Board of Trustees in 2016 at the invitation and encouragement of his long-time friend and board chair, Billy Hasty.

“Austin and Bea Flint are among our community’s greatest treasures,” said Hasty. “They are simply some of the most generous people I’ve ever met, and though they would never seek the spotlight, their gifts to Reinhardt – both as active participants in programs and now with Austin serving on the Board of Trustees – are part of the transformation of Reinhardt that is on fast forward under the leadership of President Mallard.”

The Flints are making this gift with the support of their three sons, Russell, Douglas and Cris. Thus the name “Flint Hall” will adorn the hall built in 2002 as the centerpiece of the Falany Performing Arts Center.

“Our parents have lived most of their adult lives in this community, and they have always sought to support the things that they believe make a difference and that build the arts,” said Dr. Russell Flint, an orthopedic surgeon at Piedmont-Mountainside Hospital in Jasper. “My brothers and I are proud to join in celebrating their grand gift to Reinhardt University and to encourage strong support for a growing, thriving Reinhardt University.”

On Friday, Feb. 10, Flint Hall will be officially named, and the Flint family will be honored as a part of the 15th Anniversary Celebration of Falany Performing Arts Center's opening.

For tickets to the event, visit www.reinhardt.edu/fpac or call (770) 720-9167.

For information about making a gift to Reinhardt University in support of its new theater building, contact the Advancement Office at (770) 720-5621 or by email to advancement@reinhardt.edu.

Photo: Dr. Austin and Bea Flint are pictured with Reinhardt University Board of Trustees chairman Billy Hasty (l) and President Dr. Kina S. Mallard (r) in front of the concert hall in the Falany Performing Arts Center. In appreciation of their gift, the 350-seat concert hall will be named Flint Hall. Credit: Jeff Reed