Agricultural And Mechanical College Of Alabama
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Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama, with a 2020 population of 76,143. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. The Auburn-Opelika, AL MSA with a population o ...
. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest university in Alabama. It is one of the state's two public flagship universities. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and its alumni include 5
Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
and 5
Truman Scholars The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...
. Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as East Alabama Male College, a private
liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
school affiliated with the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
. In 1872, under the
Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
, it became the state's first
land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...
and was renamed as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1892, it became the first four-year
coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
school in Alabama, and in 1899 was renamed Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) to reflect its changing mission. In 1960, its name was changed to Auburn University to acknowledge the varied academic programs and larger curriculum of a major university.


History

The Alabama Legislature chartered the institution as the East Alabama Male College on February 1, 1856, coming under the guidance of the
Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
in 1859. Its first president was Reverend William J. Sasnett, and the school opened its doors in 1859 to a student body of eighty and a faculty of ten. Auburn's early history is inextricably linked with the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
-era
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
. Classes were held in "Old Main" until the college was closed due to the war, when most of the students and faculty left to enlist. The campus was a training ground for the
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
Army, and "Old Main" served as a hospital for Confederate wounded. To commemorate Auburn's contribution to the Civil War, a cannon lathe used for the manufacture of cannons for the Confederate Army and recovered from
Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...
, was presented to the college in 1952 by brothers of Delta Chapter of the
Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,0 ...
fraternity. It sits today on the lawn next to
Samford Hall William J. Samford Hall is a structure on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It is an icon of Auburn University and houses the school's administration. The building is named for William J. Samford, the Governor of Alabama ...
.


Post-Civil War

The school reopened in 1866 after the end of the Civil War, its only closure. In 1872, control of the institution was transferred from the Methodist Church to the State of
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
for financial reasons. The Reconstruction-era Alabama government placed the school under the provisions of the
Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
as a
land-grant institution A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...
, the first in the South to be established separately from the state university. This act provided for 240,000 acres (971 km) of Federal land to be sold to provide funds for an agricultural and mechanical school. As a result, in 1872 the school was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. Under the act's provisions, land-grant institutions were also supposed to teach military tactics and train officers for the United States military. In the late 19th century, most students at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama were enrolled in the cadet program, learning military tactics and training to become officers. Each county in the state was allowed to nominate two cadets to attend the college free of charge. The university's original curriculum focused on engineering and agriculture. This trend changed under the guidance of
William Leroy Broun William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, who taught classics and sciences and believed both disciplines were important for the growth of the university and the individual. In 1892, two historic events occurred: women were admitted to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, and football was played as a school sport. Eventually, football replaced polo as the main sport on campus. The college was renamed the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) in 1899, largely because of Broun's influence. On October 1, 1918, nearly all of API's able-bodied male students 18 or older voluntarily joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
for short-lived military careers on campus. The student-soldiers numbered 878, according to API president Charles Thach, and formed the academic section of the Student Army Training Corps. The vocational section was composed of enlisted men sent to Auburn for training in radio and mechanics. The students received honorable discharges two months later following the Armistice that ended
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. API struggled through the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, having scrapped an extensive expansion program by then-President Bradford Knapp. Faculty salaries were cut drastically, and enrollment decreased along with state appropriations to the college. By the end of the 1930s, Auburn had essentially recovered, but then faced new conditions caused by
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. As war approached in 1940, there was a great shortage of engineers and scientists needed for the defense industries. The
U.S. Office of Education The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal Government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972. It is now separated ...
asked all American engineering schools to join in a "crash" program to produce what was often called "instant engineers". API became an early participant in an activity that eventually became
Engineering, Science, and Management War Training The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was one of the largest and most productive educational activities in America's history. It was perhaps only second to the G.I. Bill (officially the Servicemen's Readjustment Act ...
(ESMWT). Fully funded by the government and coordinated by Auburn's Dean of Engineering, college-level courses were given in concentrated, mainly evening classes at sites across Alabama. Taken by thousands of adults – including many women – these courses were highly beneficial in filling the wartime ranks of civilian engineers, chemists, and other technical professionals. The ESMWT also benefited API by providing employment for faculty members when the student body was significantly diminished by
the draft Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
and volunteer enlistment. During the war, API also trained U.S. military personnel on campus; between 1941 and 1945, Auburn produced over 32,000 troops for the war effort. Following the end of World War II, API, like many colleges around the country, experienced a period of massive growth caused by returning military personnel taking advantage of their
GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
offer of free education. In the five-year period following the end of the war, enrollment at API more than doubled.


Name change to Auburn

Recognizing the school had moved beyond its agricultural and mechanical roots, it was granted university status by the Alabama Legislature in 1960 and renamed Auburn University, a name that better expressed the varied academic programs and expanded curriculum that the school had been offering for years. However, it was popularly called "Auburn" for many years before the official name change, much like
the University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...
has long been popularly called "Sewanee". For example, what is now Jordan-Hare Stadium was called "Auburn Stadium" when it opened in 1939.


Civil Rights era to present

Auburn University was
racially segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
prior to 1963, with only white students being admitted. Integration began in 1964 with the admittance of the first African-American student, Harold A. Franklin, who had to sue the university to gain admission to the graduate school and who was denied a degree after he completed his master's thesis; he was belatedly awarded the master's in history in 2020. The first degree granted to an African-American was in 1967. According to Auburn University's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, African-Americans comprise 1,828 of the university's 24,864 undergraduates (7.35%) and 49 of the 1,192 full-time faculty (4.1%) . AU has decreased its African American faculty percentage from 4.3% in 2003 to 4.1% today, since the settlement of legal challenges to the underrepresentation of African Americans in AU's faculty in 2006. In April 2018, white supremacist
Richard B. Spencer Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 1978) is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and white supremacist. A former editor, he is a public speaker and activist on behalf of the alt-right movement. He advocates for the ...
spoke at Auburn University. The college had previously canceled his speaking engagement, but Spencer sued the university and a federal judge issued an
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
that allowed him to speak. In 2018, the university began a speaker series to promote
racial diversity A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
named Critical Conversations. In December 2021, Auburn alumna
Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors Gu ...
bought food for students during finals week.


Academics

The 2020 edition of ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranks Auburn as tied for the 97th best national university overall in the U.S., tied for 40th among public universities, and 164th in "Best Value Schools". Auburn is a charter member of the
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
(SEC), currently composed of 13 of the largest Southern public universities in the U.S. and one private university, Vanderbilt. Among the other 12 peer public universities, Auburn was ranked fourth in the 2011 edition of ''U.S. News & World Report''. By 2018 this had risen to $778.2 million, thanks to a $500 million "It Begins at Auburn" growth campaign began in 2005, the most successful in school history. By 2017, the university raised over $1.2 billion in the "Because This is Auburn" campaign, being the first university in Alabama to raise over $1 billion as well as the most successful fundraising campaign in school history. Auburn University is ranked 6th most LGBTQ-unfriendly campus by ''
The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
'' in its 2020 rankings of the 386 American campuses that it surveys. Auburn's College of Architecture pioneered the nation's first interior architecture degree program; its dual degree Architecture & Interior Architecture degree was the first in the nation. Its College of Architecture, Design, and Construction pioneered the nation's first Design Build master's degree program, capitalizing on the college's Building Science program with Auburn's "Rural Studio" program where Architectural students build highly creative and ingenious homes for some of the poorest regions of Alabama. These homes and efforts have been publicized by People Magazine, Time, featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, numerous Architectural and Construction periodicals as well. Of special mention is the School's
Rural Studio The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University. It aims to teach students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture while also providing safe, well-constructed and inspirational homes a ...
program, founded by the late
Samuel Mockbee Samuel "Sambo" Mockbee (December 23, 1944 – December 30, 2001) was an American architect and a co-founder of the Auburn University Rural Studio program in Hale County, Alabama. After establishing a regular architectural practice in his native Mi ...
. The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering has a 134-year tradition of engineering education, consistently ranking in the nation's largest 20 engineering programs in terms of numbers of engineers graduating annually. The college has a combined enrollment of close to 4,000. In 2001, Samuel L. Ginn, a noted U.S. pioneer in wireless communication and Auburn alumnus, made a $25 million gift to the college and announced plans to spearhead an additional $150 million in support. This gave Auburn the first Bachelor of Wireless Engineering degree program in the United States. Auburn University was the first university in the Southeast to offer the bachelor of software engineering degree and the master of software engineering degree. Auburn has historically placed much of its emphasis on the education of engineers at the undergraduate level, and in recent years has been ranked as high as the 10th largest undergraduate engineering program in the U.S. in terms of the number of undergraduate degrees awarded on annual basis. The Ginn College of Engineering is now focused on expanding the graduate programs, and was recently ranked 60th nationally university with doctoral programs in engineering by ''U.S. News & World Report''. Last year, the college ranked 67th among all engineering programs. Auburn's Economics Department (formerly in the College of Business, now in the College of Liberal Arts) was ranked 123rd in the world in 1999 by the ''Journal of Applied Econometrics''. Auburn was rated ahead of such international powerhouses as INSEAD in France (141st) and the London Business School (146th). Auburn's MBA Program in the College of Business has annually been ranked by ''U.S. News & World Report magazine'' in the top ten percent of the nation's more than 750 MBA Programs. The
Ludwig von Mises Institute Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). It wa ...
(LvMI) offices were once located in the business department of Auburn University, and the LvMI continues to work with the university on many levels. ROTC programs are available in three branches of service: Air Force, Army, and Navy/Marine Corps with the latter being the only one in Alabama. Over 100 officers that attended Auburn have reached flag rank (general or admiral), including one,
Carl Epting Mundy Jr. Carl Epting Mundy Jr. (July 16, 1935 – April 2, 2014) was a United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 30th Commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from July 1, 1991 until his retirement on ...
, who served as
Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions. The CMC reports directly to the secr ...
. Auburn is one of only seven universities in the Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program, and has historically been one of the top ROTC producers of Navy nuclear submarine officers. In addition to the ROTC graduates commissioned through Auburn, two master's degree alumni from Auburn, four-star generals
Hugh Shelton Henry Hugh Shelton (born January 2, 1942) is a former United States Army officer who served as the 14th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001. Early life, family and education Shelton was born in Tarboro, North Carolina and g ...
and
Richard Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United Stat ...
, served as
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...
in the last decade. Both officers received their commissions elsewhere, and attended Auburn for an M.S. (Shelton) and M.B.A. (Myers). Auburn has graduated six astronauts (including T.K. Mattingly of
Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...
fame) and one current and one former director of the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
. 1972 Auburn Mechanical Engineering graduate Jim Kennedy, currently director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, was previously deputy director of
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's
Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...
(MSFC). Several hundred Auburn graduates, primarily engineers and scientists, currently work directly for NASA or NASA contractors. Hundreds of Auburn engineers worked for NASA at MSFC during the peak years of the "space race" in the 1960s, when the Saturn and Apollo moon programs were in full development.
Auburn University owns and operates the
Auburn University Regional Airport Auburn University Regional Airport with the Robert G. Pitts Field is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4  km) east of the central business district of Auburn, a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. The airport is ...
, providing flight education and fuel, maintenance, and airplane storage. The Auburn University Aviation Department is fully certified by the FAA as an Air Agency with examining authority for private, commercial, instrument, and multiengine courses. In April 2015, Auburn University received the nation's first FAA approval to operate a new Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight School as part of the Auburn University Aviation Center. The College of Business's Department of Aviation Management and Supply Chain Management is the only program in the country to hold dual accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). Created over 65 years ago, Auburn's flight program is also the second oldest university flight program in the United States. The
Old Rotation The Old Rotation is a soil fertility experiment on the Auburn University campus in Auburn, Alabama. The Old Rotation experiment, which started in 1896, is the third-oldest ongoing field crop experiment in the United States and the oldest continuous ...
on campus is the oldest continuous agricultural experiment in the Southeast, and third oldest in the United States, dating from 1896. In addition, the work of Dr. David Bransby on the use of
switchgrass ''Panicum virgatum'', commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the ...
as a
biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
was the source of its mention in the
2006 State of the Union Address The 2006 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 31, 2006, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 109th United States Congress. It ...
. The university recently began a Master of Real Estate Development program. one of the few in the Southeast. The program has filled a void of professional real estate education in Alabama. ''Modern Healthcare'' ranked Auburn University's Physicians Executive M.B.A. (PEMBA) program in the College of Business ninth in the nation among all degree programs for physician executives, according to the Journal's May 2006 issue. Among M.B.A. programs tailored specifically for physicians, AU's program is ranked second.


Colleges, schools and departments

''Date indicated is year of founding'' * College of Agriculture, 1872 ** Agricultural Communications **
Agricultural Economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...
and
Rural Sociology Rural sociology is a field of sociology traditionally associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural areas. It is an active academic field in much of the world, originating in the United States in the 1910s with close ties ...
** Crop, Soil and
Environmental Sciences Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
**
Animal Sciences Animal science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind". It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the ...
** Biosystems Engineering **
Entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...
and
Plant Pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungus, fung ...
** School of
Fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
,
Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
, and
Aquatic Sciences Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live. Aquatic(s) may also refer to: * Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...
**
Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
** Poultry Science * College of Architecture, Design and Construction, 1907 ** School of
Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
,
Planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
, and
Landscape Architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
** McWhorter School of
Building Science Building science is the science and technology-driven collection of knowledge in order to provide better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), energy-efficient built environments, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. ''Building physics, architec ...
** School of
Industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
and
Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
* Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, 1967 ** School of Accountancy ** Systems and Technology ** Finance ** Management ** Marketing * College of Education, 1915 ** Curriculum and Teaching ** Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology ** School of Kinesiology ** Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling * Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, 1872 **
Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
** Biosystems Engineering **
Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
**
Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
**
Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
and
Software Engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
**
Electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and
Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...
**
Industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
and
Systems Engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...
** Materials Engineering **
Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
**
Polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
and Fiber Engineering **
Wireless Engineering Wireless Engineering is the branch of engineering which addresses the design, application, and research of wireless communication systems and technologies. Overview Wireless engineering is an engineering subject dealing with engineering problems us ...
* College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 1984 *
Graduate School Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
, 1872 *
Honors College Honors colleges and honors programs are special accommodation constituent programs at public and private universities – and also public two-year institutions of higher learning – that include, among other things, supplemental or alternativ ...
, 1981 * College of
Human Sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...
, 1916 ** Consumer and Design Sciences ** Human Development and Family Studies ** Nutrition, Dietetics, and
Hospitality Management Hospitality management may refer to: *Hospitality industry *Hotel manager A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hote ...
* College of Liberal Arts, 1986 ** Art ** School of Communication and Journalism **
Communication Disorders A communication disorder is any disorder that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in dialogue effectively with others. The delays and disorders can range from simple sound substitution to t ...
** Economics ** English ** History ** Music ** Philosophy **
Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
** Psychology ** Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work ** Theatre * College of
Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
, 1979 * James Harrison College of Pharmacy, 1885 ** Drug Discovery and Development ** Health Outcomes Research and Policy ** Pharmacy Practice * College of Sciences and Mathematics, 1986 ** Biological Sciences ** Chemistry and Biochemistry ** Geology and Geography ** Mathematics and Statistics ** Physics * College of
Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
, 1907 ** Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology ** Clinical Sciences **
Pathobiology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...


Campus

The Auburn campus is primarily arranged in a grid-like pattern with several distinct building groups. The northern section of the central campus (bounded by Magnolia Ave. and Thach Ave.) contains most of the College of Engineering buildings, the Lowder business building, and the older administration buildings. The middle section of the central campus (bounded by Thach Ave. and Roosevelt Dr.) contains the College of Liberal Arts (except fine arts) and the College of Education, mostly within Haley Center. The southern section of the central campus (bounded by Roosevelt Dr. and Samford Ave.) contains the most of the buildings related to the College of Science and Mathematics, as well as fine arts buildings. Several erratic building spurts, beginning in the 1950s, have resulted in some exceptions to the subject clusters as described above. Growing interaction issues between pedestrians and vehicles led to the closure of a significant portion of Thach Avenue to vehicular traffic in 2004. A similarly sized portion of Roosevelt Drive was also closed to vehicles in 2005. In an effort to make a more appealing walkway, these two sections have been converted from asphalt to concrete. The general movement towards a pedestrian only campus is ongoing, but is often limited by the requirements for emergency and maintenance vehicular access. The current period of ongoing construction began around the year 2000. All recently constructed buildings have used a more traditional architectural style that is similar to the style of Samford Hall, Mary Martin Hall, and the Quad dorms. The Science Center complex was completed in 2005. This complex contains chemistry labs, traditional classrooms, and a large lecture hall. A new medical clinic opened behind the Hill dorm area. Taking the place of the old medical clinic and a few other older buildings, is the Shelby Center for Engineering Technology. Phase I of the Shelby Center opened in the Spring of 2008, with regular classes being held starting with the Summer 2008 term. A new Student Center opened in 2008.


Student life


Campus events

In 2019, Auburn was ranked #1 by ''
The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
's'' list of happiest students on college campuses thanks in part to its wide variety of campus activities and events. Campus activities and events begin with orientation and training sessions for new Auburn students. Auburn offers two orientation programs, Camp War Eagle and Successfully Orienting Students. Camp War Eagle is offered to incoming freshmen and guests of incoming freshmen, helping familiarize students with the orientation to college life and Auburn. Successfully Orienting Students is designed for college students transferring into Auburn from another academic institution. First-year Auburn students also have the opportunity to participate in seminars with other first-year students and learning communities. Other prominent campus events and activities include Welcome Week and Hey Day. Welcome Week is multi-day series of programs taking place over the first days of each semester period designed to welcome both new and returning students. Hey Day is one of Auburn's most longstanding traditions, dating back to World War II, where the entire campus community wears nametags and greet one another.


Dining

Auburn is currently constructing a $26 million Central Dining Hall spanning 48,000 square feet with capacity for more than 800 seats and eight different meal stations. The new Central Dining Hall is set to open in Fall 2021. Outside of the Central Dining Hall, Auburn students have a wide array of dining options including other dining halls in Foy Hall and The Village residential neighborhood. Students may also visit popular restaurant chains like
Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
and
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
in addition to locally owned and operated food trucks at various locations across campus. All Auburn students have access to meal plans, accessible to use at all on-campus dining locations. Students may choose to purchase plans with meal swipes for access to campus dining dollars or opt for a plan with more declining balance to use at standalone restaurants and food trucks, or a combination of both. Campus dining utilizes the popular mobile food ordering application,
Grubhub Grubhub Inc. is an American online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway since 2021. Grubhub has been criti ...
. Auburn campus dining is engaged in sustainability practices such as minimizing food waste and reducing food packaging, and campus dining also participates in a local campus community garden for both sustainability and freshness. Auburn is a leading institution nationally as it pertains to addressing and solving student food insecurity. All Auburn students have access to the Campus Food Pantry in the event students face food insecurity.


Housing

Auburn's initial Campus Master plan was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (July 24, 1870 – December 25, 1957) was an American landscape architect and city planner known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, t ...
in 1929. For most of the early history of Auburn, boarding houses and barracks made up most of the student housing. Even into the 1970s, boarding houses were still available in the community. It wasn't until the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
that Auburn began to construct the first buildings on campus that were residence halls in the modern sense. As the university gradually shifted away from agricultural and military instruction to more of an academic institution, more and more dorms began to replace the barracks and boarding houses. Auburn's on-campus student housing consists of 30 residence halls in nine residential neighborhoods, housing a total of 4,800 residents. On-campus residents are served by 79 resident assistants, 13 housing ambassadors and many other graduate assistants and full-time university employees. * The Quad is the oldest of the five housing complexes, dating to the Great Depression projects begun by the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
and located in Central Campus. Comprising ten buildings split into the Upper and Lower Quads, the Quad houses undergraduate students. Eight of the buildings are coed by floor, the remaining two are female-only. The Quad is located in the center of campus and primarily consists of double-occupancy rooms connected to a bathroom. * The Hill currently consists of six and houses mostly undergraduates. There are two high-rise, 6-story dormitories (Boyd and Sasnett), and all dorms are coed with gender-separated floors. The Hill residence halls are configured similarly to The Quad, primarily consisting of double-occupancy rooms connected to a bathroom. * The Village was constructed in 2009 and consists eight four-story buildings to accommodate 1,500 residents. Three buildings in The Village house members of Auburn's Panhellenic sororities. Most Village rooms are designed as suites with four single bedrooms, two bathrooms and a furnished common living and dining area with a kitchenette. *Cambridge Hall is a five-story residence hall at Auburn University housing 300 undergraduate students, located in close proximity to Rane Culinary Science Center currently under construction. Cambridge rooms are configured to be double occupancy rooms with open closets and a shared bathroom. * South Donahue opened in 2013 and is a five-story residence hall located on the corner of South Donahue and West Samford, right next to the baseball stadium. Most South Donahue suites include two separate bedrooms and private bathrooms, also equipped with a shared living room and kitchenette. Each bedroom has a double-sized bed, and each suite comes fit with a mounted flat-screen TV and its own washer and dryer units. *160 Ross is a luxury apartment community designed to combine the benefits of off campus living and on-campus housing. 160 Ross rooms are configured to be four bedroom/four bathroom or two bedroom/two bathroom apartments with a wide array of amenities and benefits.


Health, wellness and recreation

Auburn's one-of-a-kind campus recreation center features a five-story cardio tower, one-third of a mile indoor running track, basketball courts, an outdoor leisure pool, cardio and fitness zones, a rock climbing wall, weight training areas and outdoor recreation spaces. Athletic Business named the 240,000 square foot facility as one of its 2014 Facilities of Merit. Auburn's currently has more than 20 Club Sports, open to all Auburn University students without affiliation to the NCAA. The club sport programs range from sports like basketball and volleyball to clay shooting and water skiing. Auburn also offers Intramural Sports like flag football in a team setting. Auburn students also have access to a wide array of wellness programs, including a fully functional on-campus Medical Clinic featuring 40 exam rooms, digitized x-rays and cutting edge lab equipment. The university's Student Counseling and Psychological Services office, fully accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS) to provide health counseling, is also housed within the Medical Clinic. The Medical Clinic is also home to a student pharmacy, a women's health center, a massage therapy center and a chiropractic care center.


Student clubs and organizations

Auburn students have the opportunity to join more than 500 student organizations, with the organizations giving members the chance to explore and develop leadership skills. Some organizations on campus housed within the university's Student Involvement office include the Student Government Association, University Program Council, Emerge Student Leadership Program, Black Student Union, International Student Organization and the Graduate Student Council. Auburn's Student Involvement office also houses a number of service organizations such as Auburn University Dance Marathon, The Big Event, Beat Bama Food Drive and more. ''
The Auburn Plainsman The Auburn Plainsman is the student-run news organization for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It has notably received awards for excellence from the Associated Collegiate Press and is the most decorated student publication in the history of ...
'' is a student-run newspaper covering Auburn University and the Auburn community. The paper is the most decorated student publication, receiving more
National Pacemaker Awards The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer ...
, handed out by the
Associated Collegiate Press The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association. It awards the newspaper, mag ...
, than any other student news organization. As of 2021, The Auburn Plainsman is primarily an online publication, though some special editions are still carried out in print. Other student media organizations include Eagle Eye TV station, WEGL 91.1 FM radio, The Circle literary magazine and the Glomerata yearbook. More than 350 students are members of the Auburn University Marching Band, the 2004 recipient of the Sudler Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy, the most prestigious collegiate marching band award. The band features all components of a traditional marching band in addition to a majorette, dance and flag line as well as the Tiger Eyes visual ensemble.


Greek life

Auburn's total Greek population is 7,541 members, or about 33.6% of all undergraduate students, as of Fall 2020. Auburn's Greek system was behind most of the nation's public college Greek systems with full integration, the first African-American student to be initiated into a historically white sorority happened in 2001. Integration of Auburn's historically white fraternities took place in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, several non-white students have been initiated into historically white Greek organizations at Auburn every year. In 2018, an African-American student became the first
person of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
president of a historically white Greek organization on campus. Interfraternity Council fraternities at Auburn are roughly divided into two separate areas: "Old Row" and "New Row". "Old Row" traditionally was made up of the fraternities whose houses were located along Magnolia Avenue on the north side of campus. "New Row" is made up of fraternities whose houses were located along Lem Morrison Drive southwest of campus. However, being an "Old Row" or "New Row" fraternity does not really depend on where the house is located but on the age of the fraternity. Therefore, there are some "Old Row" fraternities with houses on "New Row" Lem Morrison Drive because they moved there. Today's "Old Row" on and around Magnolia Avenue was once the "New Row", as the first generation of fraternity houses at Auburn were on or near College Street. Most of these houses were demolished by the end of the 1970s, and only the
Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...
and
Chi Phi Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternities and sororities, fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest o ...
fraternities remain. Some fraternity houses are not located on either "New Row" or "Old Row". Only Auburn's historically white fraternities have traditional Greek houses. Interfraternity Council fraternities:
Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdo ...
,
Alpha Gamma Rho Alpha Gamma Rho (), commonly known as AGR, is a social/professional, agriculture fraternity in the United States, currently with 71 collegiate chapters. Founding The fraternity considers the Morrill Act of 1862 to be the instrument of its incepti ...
,
Alpha Psi Alpha Psi () is a professional Veterinary Medicine fraternity started at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1907. History Founded by twenty-two students in Veterinary Medicine at the Ohio State University, Alpha Psi wa ...
,
Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity with 181 active chapters and provisional chapters. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest Greek letter fraternity in the United States. The f ...
,
Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...
,
Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
,
Beta Upsilon Chi Beta Upsilon Chi () is the largest Christian social fraternity in the United States. Since its founding at the University of Texas in 1985, ΒΥΧ has spread to twenty-nine campuses. According to the fraternity's official website, Beta Upsilon ...
,
Chi Phi Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternities and sororities, fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest o ...
,
Delta Chi Delta Chi () is an international Fraternities and sororities, Greek letter collegiate social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 30, 1922, Delta Chi be ...
,
Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...
,
Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...
,
Farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...
,
Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) i ...
,
Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...
,
Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...
,
Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
,
Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...
,
Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...
,
Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...
,
Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...
,
Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...
,
Pi Kappa Phi Pi Kappa Phi (), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston ...
,
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
,
Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlva ...
,
Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...
,
Sigma Tau Gamma Sigma Tau Gamma (), commonly known as Sig Tau, is a United States college social fraternity founded on June 28, 1920, at the University of Central Missouri (then known as Central Missouri State Teachers College). The fraternity was founded as a re ...
,
Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an internat ...
, and
Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across Nort ...
There are eighteen Panhellenic Council sororities represented at Auburn University. The Auburn Panhellenic community donates roughly $500,000 and over 60,000 hours to various philanthropies every year.
Sorority recruitment Sorority recruitment or rush is a process in which university undergraduate women join a sorority. It is a procedure that includes a number of themed rounds in which different events are included. The rounds are followed by preference night and ...
is a week-long process held by the Panhellenic Council in August of every year. Each Panhellenic Council sorority at Auburn has over 200 members. Panhellenic Council sororities are not based in traditional Greek houses like Auburn's historically white fraternities, but in The Village on campus in Magnolia Hall, Oak Hall, and Willow Hall. Each of the three buildings house six sororities. Each sorority has an individual "chapter" room on the first floor for meetings and a "hall" where members can live located above on the second, third, or fourth floor of the same building. Usually, the sorority's officers and members of the sophomore class live on the "hall".
Panhellenic Council The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumn ...
sororities:
Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across ...
,
Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a mem ...
,
Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...
,
Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...
,
Alpha Xi Delta Alpha Xi Delta (, often referred to as A-''"Zee"''-D ) is a women's fraternity founded on April 17, 1893. Baird's Manual is also available online hereThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, United Stat ...
,
Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
,
Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University by Sarah Ida Shaw, Eleanor Dorcas Pond, Isabel Morgan Breed, and Florence Isabelle Stewart. Tri Delta part ...
,
Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...
,
Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...
,
Gamma Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Man ...
,
Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta (), also known simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established for women. The main arch ...
,
Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...
,
Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
,
Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
,
Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ye ...
,
Sigma Kappa Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In 1874, Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, ...
,
Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority. Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...
, and
Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...
Although a few of Auburn's
National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...
(NPHC) organizations are inactive, all nine have been established on campus:
Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...
,
Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...
,
Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
,
Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...
,
Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...
,
Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...
,
Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...
,
Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875–1 ...
, and
Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently the 5th largest Black Greek Le ...
. In 2019, Auburn's Board of Trustees approved the building of a $250K NPHC Legacy Plaza on campus with the intentions of improving recruitment, representation and retention of black students at Auburn which have been on a decline since its all-time high in 2007. When the plaza is complete in 2022, Auburn will be the second SEC school ( Ole Miss the first) to have a NPHC Legacy Plaza. None of Auburn's NPHC organizations have traditional Greek houses so the plaza will be the first architectural indication of the NPHC presence on campus. Auburn's Multicultural Greek Council is composed of
Kappa Delta Chi Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie) is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina founded sorority in the United States. KDChi is a 501(c)(7) organization that prides itself on graduating all of its memb ...
and
Omega Delta Phi Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc. (), also known as O-D-Phi is a multicultural fraternity that was founded on November 25, 1987, at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Its seven founders known as the "Men of Vision" to fraternity members want ...
. Both were established on campus in 2016 and have no architectural presence at Auburn.


Student services and resources

Auburn students have access to a wide variety of resources for various needs and concerns. As it pertains to academics, students have access to college-specific academic advisors, peer tutoring study partners, supplemental instruction sessions and The Miller Writing Center. If needed, students may also request academic assistance through the Office of Accessibility to best accommodate their respective learning needs. The Auburn Office of Inclusion and Diversity is designed to help fulfill a university's strategic planning mission of “ stablishingdiversity as a core value at Auburn University." This office manages student excellence programs, education and training sessions, a cross cultural center and women's initiatives. Auburn also has an ongoing Presidential Task Force for Opportunity and Equity designed to address disparities in recruitment and retention, as well as implement campus-wide diversity, equity and inclusion training. The Auburn Cares office assesses the needs of students in the event of a crisis, emergency or unexpected difficulty. The office guides students through such a crisis while helping connect them with appropriate resources, assistance and action plans. The Veterans Resource Center serves all military-affiliated students at Auburn. The resource center connects student veterans with one another while providing them with additional opportunities and resources to successfully transition into the Auburn community.


Athletics

Auburn University's sports teams are known as the Tigers, and they participate in
Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
of the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
and in the Western Division of the 14-member
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
(SEC). "
War Eagle War Eagle is a battle cry, yell, or motto of Auburn University and supporters of Auburn University sports teams, especially the Auburn Tigers football team. War Eagle is a greeting or salutation among the Auburn Family (e.g., students, alumni, fa ...
" is the battle cry and greeting used by the Auburn Family (students, alumni, and fans). Auburn has won a total of 21 intercollegiate national championships (including 17 NCAA Championships), which includes two
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
(1957, 2010), eight men's swimming and diving (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009), five women's swimming and diving (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), five
equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
(2008, 2011,2013, 2016, 2018), and one women's outdoor track and field (2006) title. Auburn has also won a total of 70
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
championships, including 51 men's titles and 19 women's titles. Auburn's colors of orange and blue were chosen by Dr. George Petrie, Auburn's first football coach, based on those of his alma mater, the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
.


Football

Auburn named
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as the new football head coach in November 2022. Other past coaches include George Petrie,
John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...
,
Mike Donahue Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, soccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head fo ...
,
Jack Meagher John Francis Meagher (July 5, 1894 – December 7, 1968) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. Meagher played football for the University of Notre Dame in 1916, rising ...
, Ralph "Shug" Jordan,
Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...
,
Terry Bowden Terry Wilson Bowden (; born February 24, 1956) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bowden was previously head coach at Salem University (1983–1985), Samford University (1987 ...
,
Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football co ...
,
Gene Chizik Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is currently the Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 ...
and
Gus Malzahn Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...
. Auburn played its first game in 1892 against the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
at
Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's ...
in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
starting what is currently the oldest college football rivalry in the
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
. Auburn's first perfect season came in
1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...
, when the Tigers went 8–0, claiming a second SIAA conference championship and the first national championship in school history. The Tigers' first bowl appearance was in 1937 in the sixth
Bacardi Bowl The Bacardi Bowl was a college football bowl game played seven times in Havana, Cuba, at Almandares Park and La Tropical Stadium. The games were also referred to as the Rhumba Bowl and were the foremost event of Cuba’s annual National Sports ...
played in
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. AU football has won twelve SEC Conference Championships, and since the division of the conference in 1992, eight western division championships and six trips to the SEC Championship game. Auburn plays arch-rival
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
each year in a game known as the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...
. In
1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
, Auburn was coached by "Shug" Jordan to a 10–0 record and was awarded the AP National Championship. Ohio State University was first in the UPI coaches' poll. Auburn was ineligible for a bowl game, however, having been placed on probation by the Southeastern Conference. Three Auburn players, Pat Sullivan in 1971,
Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...
in 1985, and
Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL ...
in 2010 have won the
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
. The Trophy's namesake,
John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...
, coached at Auburn from 1895 until 1899. Auburn is the only school where Heisman coached (among others,
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
and Clemson) that has produced multiple Heisman Trophy winners. Auburn's
Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium i ...
has a capacity of 87,451 ranking as the ninth-largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA . Auburn went 11–0 under Terry Bowden in 1993, but was on probation and not allowed to play in the SEC Championship game. Auburn completed the 2004 football season with a 13–0 record winning the Southeastern Conference, SEC championship, the school's first conference title since 1989 and the first outright title since 1987. The 2004 team was led by quarterback Jason Campbell, running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown, and cornerback Carlos Rogers (American football), Carlos Rogers, all subsequently drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. The team's new offensive coordinator, Al Borges, led the team to use the west coast offense, west coast style offense which maximized the use of both star running backs. However, the Tigers were ranked behind two other undefeated teams, 2004 USC Trojans football team, Southern California and 2004 Oklahoma Sooners football team, Oklahoma, that played in the Bowl Championship Series, BCS championship game. Prior to the 2008 season, Tony Franklin was hired as offensive coordinator to put Auburn into the spread offense. He was fired, however, following the sixth game of the season that ended in a loss to Vanderbilt. Tommy Tuberville then resigned as head coach after the season. On December 13, 2008, it was reported that
Gene Chizik Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is currently the Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 ...
had been hired as Auburn's new head coach. Coach Gene Chizik then hired
Gus Malzahn Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...
as the Tigers' new Offensive Coordinator. In 2010 Auburn Tigers football team, 2010, Auburn defeated 2010 Oregon Ducks football team, Oregon 22–19 in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game to secure the school's second national championship. The Tigers finished the season with a 14–0 record, including comeback wins over 2010 Clemson Tigers football team, Clemson, 2010 South Carolina Gamecocks football team, South Carolina, 2010 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Georgia, and 2010 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Alabama. The Tigers trailed the Tide 24–0 in Tuscaloosa, but managed a 28–27 comeback victory in the 75th edition of the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...
. Auburn would again defeat South Carolina 56–17 in the 2010 SEC Championship Game, claiming the school's eleventh conference championship. The Tigers were led by head coach Gene Chizik, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner
Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL ...
, and defensive tackle and Lombardi Award winner Nick Fairley. In Malzahn's first season as head coach (2013), Auburn had two miraculous finishes in the final minute against Georgia and Alabama to win the SEC West. They went on to win the 2013 SEC Championship Game over Missouri and fell short in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game to the Florida State Seminoles 34–31 in Pasadena, California. In addition to the 1913, 1957, and 2010 championships, Auburn's 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993, and 2004 teams have also been recognized as national champions by various ranking organizations.


Swimming and diving

In the last decade under head coaches David Marsh (swimming coach), David Marsh, Richard Quick and co-head coach Brett Hawke, Auburn's Swimming (sport), swimming and Diving (sport), diving program has become preeminent in the SEC and nationally, with consecutive NCAA championships for both the men and women in 2003 and 2004, then again in 2006 and 2007. Since 1982, only eight teams have claimed national championships in women's swimming and diving. Auburn and Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia each won nine straight (five Auburn, four Georgia) between 1999 and 2007. The men won their fifth consecutive national title in 2007, and the women also won the national title, in their case for the second straight year. The Auburn women have now won five national championships in the last six years. , the Auburn men have won the SEC Championship fifteen out of the last sixteen years, including the last thirteen in a row, and also won eight NCAA national championships (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009). AU swimmers have represented the U.S. and several other countries in recent Olympic Games. Auburn's most famous swimmer is Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines, and also Brazilian César Cielo Filho, bronze(100m freestyle) and gold medal(50m freestyle) at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. As the most successful female Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry (swimming for her home country of Zimbabwe) who won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. While the football team is far more well known nationally and in the media, Auburn swimming and diving is the most dominant athletics program for the university.


Men's basketball

The Auburn men's basketball team has enjoyed off-and-on success over the years. Its best known player is Charles Barkley. Other professional basketball players from Auburn are John Mengelt, Rex Fredicks, Edward "Fast Eddie" Johnson Jr., Eddie Johnson, Mike Mitchell (basketball, born 1956), Mike Mitchell, Chuck Person, Chris Morris (basketball player), Chris Morris, Wesley Person, Chris Porter (basketball), Chris Porter, Mamadou N'Diaye (basketball, born 1975), Mamadou N'diaye, Jamison Brewer, Moochie Norris, Marquis Daniels, and Pat Burke. In 2017-18 they shared the SEC Regular Season title with Tennessee and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tourney before losing to Clemson. In 2018–2019, Auburn won the SEC Tournament championship and advanced to the Final Four.


Women's basketball

The Auburn University women's basketball team has been consistently competitive both nationally and within the SEC. Despite playing in the same conference as perennial powerhouse Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball, Tennessee and other competitive programs such as LSU Lady Tigers basketball, LSU, Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball, Georgia, and Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball, Vanderbilt, Auburn has won four regular season SEC championships and four SEC Tournament championships. AU has made sixteen appearances in the NCAA women's basketball tournament and only once, in their first appearance in 1982, have the Tigers lost in the first round. Auburn played in three consecutive National Championship games from 1988 to 1990 and won the Women's National Invitation Tournament, WNIT in 2003. When Coach Joe Ciampi retired at the end of the 2003–2004 season, Auburn hired former Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball, Purdue and U.S. National and Olympic team head coach, Nell Fortner. Standout former Auburn players include: Ruthie Bolton, Vickie Orr, Carolyn Jones-Young, Carolyn Jones, Chantel Tremitiere, Lauretta Freeman, Monique Morehouse, and DeWanna Bonner.


Baseball

Auburn Baseball has won six SEC championships, three SEC Tournament championships, appeared in sixteen NCAA Regionals and reached the College World Series (CWS) four times. After a disappointing 2003–2004 season, former Auburn assistant coach Tom Slater was named head coach. He was replaced in 2008 by John Pawlowski. Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park is considered one of the finest facilities in college baseball and has a seating capacity of 4,096, not including lawn areas. In addition to
Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...
, Auburn has supplied several other players to Major League Baseball, including Frank Thomas (designated hitter), Frank Thomas, Gregg Olson, Scott Sullivan (baseball), Scott Sullivan, Tim Hudson, Mark Bellhorn, Jack Baker (baseball), Jack Baker, Terry Leach, Josh Hancock, Gabe Gross, Steven Register, Trey Wingenter, David Ross (baseball), David Ross and Josh Donaldson.


Women's golf

Auburn's Women's Golf team has risen to be extremely competitive in the NCAA in recent years. Since 1999, they hold an 854–167–13 (.826 win percentage) record. The team has been in five NCAA finals and finished second in 2002 and then third in 2005. The program has a total of seven SEC Championships (1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2009). The seven titles is third all time for Women's golf. In October 2005, Auburn was named the #3 team nationally out of 229 total teams since 1999 by ''GolfWeek'' magazine. Auburn's highest finish in the NCAA tournament was a tie for 2nd in 2002. Since 1996, the team has been headed by Coach Kim Evans, a 1981 alumna, who has turned the program into one of the most competitive in the nation. Coach Evans has helped develop All-Americans, SEC Players of the Year as well as three SEC Freshman of the Year. She has led the Tigers to eight-straight NCAA appearances. She is by far the winningest Coach in Auburn Golf History, having over 1100 wins and winning six of Auburn's seven total SEC Titles. Evans was named National Coach of the Year in 2003 and has coached 8 individual All-Americans while at Auburn.


Track and field

The Auburn women's track and field team won its first national title in 2006 at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scoring 57 points to win over the University of Southern California, which finished second with 38.5 points. Auburn posted All-American performances in nine events, including two individual national champions and three second-place finishers, and broke two school records during the four-day event. Auburn's men's team finished second at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships and at the 1978, 1997 and 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships. The women's team finished 14th (2002, 2003) at the Outdoor Championships and seventh (2003) at the Indoor Championships.


Equestrian

Auburn's equestrian team captured the 2006 national championship, the first equestrian national championship in school history. Senior Kelly Gottfried and junior Whitney Kimble posted team-high scores in their respective divisions as the Auburn equestrian team clinched the overall national championship at the 2006 Varsity Equestrian Championships at the EXPO/New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2008, the Auburn equestrian team captured the 2008 Hunt Seat National Championship. Over fences riders finished 12–1–1 overall for the week. Auburn has also consistently been highly ranked in the Women's Intercollegiate Equestrian National Coaches Poll as well. The Auburn equestrian team most recently captured the 2019 national championship.


Notable club sports


Wrestling

At the conclusion of the 1980-1981 NCAA Wrestling season, Auburn University became the first SEC team to place Top 10 in the country. Coached by Ohio wrestling legend Tom Milkovich, Auburn claimed the SEC title enroute to a historic season boasting three All-Americans and 6 NCAA qualifiers. However, with the emergence of Title IX and the decline of wrestling in the SEC, Auburn found itself without a varsity program after the 1980-81 season. Since 1997 Auburn has competed in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) as the Auburn University Wrestling Club, placing 24 All-Americans, a National Champion, and six Top-10 finishes at the Division 1 National Championships. Auburn, headed by President Justin King, looks to further this success in its 26th year of membership in the NCWA.


Rugby

The Auburn University Rugby Football Club was founded in 1973. Auburn plays Division 1 college rugby in the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference against traditional SEC rivals such as Alabama and Georgia. Auburn rugby is one of only two club sports at Auburn with an endowment fund, resulting in the university allocating additional resources to rugby.


Traditions

Auburn University has many traditions including a creed, an alma mater, a fight song, a battle cry, a mascot and several notable game-day traditions including an eagle flying over the football field.


Colors

The official colors are:


Fight song

Auburn University's fight song, War Eagle#"War Eagle" as Auburn's fight song, "War Eagle", was written in 1954 and 1955 by Robert Allen (song composer), Robert Allen and Al Stillman. It was introduced at the beginning of the 1955 Auburn Tigers football team, 1955 football season and served as the official fight song since.


Hey Day

In the 1950s and '60s Auburn designated a day on campus called "Hey Day" that encouraged students to interact with each other and simply say "hey". Auburn reinstated this tradition in 1985 and has continued to evolve until this day. On Hey Days now, students are asked to put on name tags, handed out by student body leaders, and encouraged to say "hey" to whomever may pass them by during the day.


Auburn's Eagles

Auburn has currently two eagles in their flight program for educational initiatives. One of these educational programs is known as the pregame flight program where the eagle handlers set an eagle free before Auburn takes the field at
Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium i ...
. The eagle then proceeds to fly around the stadium and eventually land in the middle of the field. Auburn has two different species of eagle that have flown: the golden eagle and the bald eagle. Spirit is the only bald eagle Auburn has used for its pregame flight program. His first flight was in 2000. Spirit was found as a baby with an injured beak and nursed back to health before being given to Auburn for further rehabilitation in 1998. Unfortunately, Spirit's beak was damaged to the point that it is impossible for his release back into the wild. Tiger, also known as War Eagle VI, was born in 1980 in captivity and given to Auburn University in 1986. Tiger's first flight before an Auburn football game came against Wyoming in 2000. She retired after the Georgia game in 2006. Throughout Tiger's career, she flew many different flights and at many different venues including the 2002 Winter Olympics. Tiger died at the age of 34 in 2014. Auburn's first Flight program eagle until 2019 was Nova, War Eagle VII. His first flight came before Auburn's game against Kentucky in 2004. He was born at the Montgomery zoo and given to Auburn a year later.


Aubie the Tiger

Auburn's mascot, Aubie the tiger, has been around since 1959. He made his first appearance that year on the October 3 gameday football program versus Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football, Hardin-Simmons College. Aubie was the creation of ''Birmingham Post-Herald'' artist Phil Neel and was the focal point of Auburn's football programs for 18 years. Auburn Football experienced good luck while Aubie remained on the cover, ending with a 23–2–1 home record and 63–16–2 overall record while he was on the program cover. Aubie the tiger is still currently Auburn's official mascot and has won the most National Mascot titles in the contest's history, with ten.


Auburn Football Tiger Walk

Auburn's Tiger Walk began in the 1960s, after fans would try to stop the players and get autographs before the games. It has since evolved into the spectacle, where fans line Donahue Drive to cheer on the team as they make their way from the athletic complex to the field. The highest point of the tiger walk came in 1989, when Auburn and Alabama played each other for the first time away from Legion Field in Birmingham. It is estimated that around 20,000 Auburn fans came out and lined the street to cheer on the team that day.


War Eagle chant theories

During Auburn's game against Georgia in 1892, a civil war veteran in the stands brought his pet eagle that he found on a battleground during the war. The eagle during the game flew away from the soldier and began circling the field in the air. As all this went on, Auburn began marching down the field to eventually score the game-winning touchdown. At the end of the game, the eagle dove into the ground and subsequently died; however, the Auburn faithful took the eagle as an omen of success and coined the phrase "War Eagle" in turn. During a pep rally in 1913, a cheerleader said that the team would have to fight the whole game because the game meant "war". At the same time of the rally, an eagle emblem fell on a student's military hat. When asked what it was, he yelled it was a "War Eagle". During a game against the Carlisle Indian Team in 1914, Auburn attempted to single out Carlisle's toughest player, Bald Eagle. To tire him out, they began running the ball his way during every play, by saying "bald eagle", while in formation. The crowd mistook this and began yelling "War Eagle", instead, leading to Auburn's player, Lucy Hairston, to yell "War Eagle" at the end of the game, after he scored the game-winning touchdown. After a battle, the Saxon warriors would yell "War Eagle", when the buzzards started to circle the battlefields. Some believe that Auburn coined its battle cry from this practice by the Saxons.


Toomer's Corner

The tradition of Toilet papering, rolling Toomer's Corner on Auburn's campus after winning home and big away games is thought to have originated in the 1950s. The tradition is thought to have spawned from when the owner of Toomer's Drugs, Sheldon Toomer, would Ticker tape parade, toss his receipt paper into the trees to signal an Auburn road victory. This iconic tradition was ranked by ''USA Today'' as the "Best Sports Tradition". In November 2010, following Auburn's victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide football, University of Alabama in the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...
, an Alabama supporter poisoned the large Quercus virginiana, live oak trees at Toomer's Corner using the herbicide Spike 80DF (tebuthiuron). The 83-85-year-old trees did not survive, and in the years since have been replaced several times (once following a fire in 2016) with the most recent replacements being planted in 2017.


Selected organizations


Media and publications

* ''
The Auburn Plainsman The Auburn Plainsman is the student-run news organization for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It has notably received awards for excellence from the Associated Collegiate Press and is the most decorated student publication in the history of ...
'' – the university's student-run newspaper, has won 23
National Pacemaker Awards The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer ...
from the
Associated Collegiate Press The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association. It awards the newspaper, mag ...
since 1966. Only the University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas' student paper has won more. * WEGL, WEGL 91.1 FM – The Auburn campus radio station which is open to students of all majors as well as faculty and staff who wish to DJ. * Eagle Eye TV – Auburn University's on-campus news station that is run by students and that airs on-campus, off-campus, and on-demand via eagleeyeauburn.com. * ''The Auburn Circle'' – The student general-interest magazine. ''The Circle'' publishes poetry, art, photography, fiction, nonfiction, and architectural and industrial design from Auburn students, faculty, staff, and alumni. * ''The Glomerata'' – Auburn University's student-run yearbook which began production in 1897. Its name is derived from the conglomeration of Auburn. * ''Southern Humanities Review'' – One of the leading literary journals in the region, ''The Southern Humanities Review'' has been published at the university by members of the English faculty, graduate students in English, and the Southern Humanities Council since 1967, publishing the work of nationally known authors such as Kent Nelson and R. T. Smith. * ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'' – Auburn hosts the encyclopedia's editorial offices and servers and the Alabama Humanities Foundation holds copyright to the encyclopedia's original content. * Auburn University Office of Communications and Marketing – Auburn University's news outlet for media related to the accomplishments of university faculty, staff and students. * Auburn University's official YouTube channel – Auburn University's YouTube channel was announced on January 15, 2008. It contains a wide variety of videos, from promotional to educational. AU's Office of Communications and Marketing manages the content on the university's YouTube Channel.


General interest

* Auburn University Student Space Program (AUSSP) – The AUSSP is a student-led, faculty-mentored program to design, build, launch, and operate spacecraft. Participants launch high-altitude balloons to the edge of space to test engineering and science instruments, they build small satellites that orbit Earth, and they are working with other universities on missions to the moon and Mars. The AUSSP is made of three groups: the Auburn High Altitude Balloon (AHAB) group, the AubieSat-1 (Small Satellite) group, and the management group – involving students who are not majoring in the sciences or engineering. Many students take Directed Reading in Physics (PHYS 4930) and get credit for participating in AUSSP. * United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) – Auburn University is the WFP's lead academic partner in a recently launched student "War on Hunger" campaign. In 2004, the WFP tasked Auburn University with heading the first student-led War on Hunger effort. Auburn then founded the Committee of 19 which has led campus and community hunger awareness events and developed a War on Hunger model for use on campuses across the country. The Committee of 19 recently hosted a War on Hunger Summit at which representatives from 29 universities were in attendance. * Cooperative education, Cooperative Education (Co-Op) – Co-Op at Auburn University is a planned and supervised program alternating semesters of full-time college classroom instruction with semesters of full-time paid work assignments. These work assignments are closely related to the student's academic program. Thousands of Auburn University graduates, especially engineering majors, have supported themselves financially while studying at Auburn by participating in Co-op. This educational program prepares students for professional careers by combining academic training with practical work experience in industry, business, and government. * The Sol of Auburn – Auburn University's Solar Car Team – recently participated in the North American Solar Challenge 2005. On July 27, 2005, Auburn's car crossed the finish line in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 4th place in Stock Class, 12th Place overall. The SOL of Auburn is the only solar car in Alabama, and the project is organized by Auburn University's College of Engineering with a team of four faculty and over twenty undergraduate students. * The War Eagle Flying Team (WEFT) – A student organization made up of both pilots and non-pilots. Most team members are Professional Flight Management, Aviation Management, or Aerospace Engineering majors. WEFT competes with other flying teams at the annual National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) sponsored Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON). * Auburn University Computer Gaming Club – One of the oldest University Sponsored Computer Gaming Clubs in the U.S. Weekly meetings and semesterly LAN parties. * Samford Hall Clock Tower – Information on the Samford Hall Clock Tower, a well known symbol of Auburn University. It includes information on the bell and carillon.


Notable alumni and faculty members


Alumni

Auburn has a diverse group of alumni, in many different industries. Some of its prominent alumni include Apple CEO Tim Cook, MacArthur Genius and 2004 AIA Gold Medal recipient
Samuel Mockbee Samuel "Sambo" Mockbee (December 23, 1944 – December 30, 2001) was an American architect and a co-founder of the Auburn University Rural Studio program in Hale County, Alabama. After establishing a regular architectural practice in his native Mi ...
, National Security Agency and Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command Michael S. Rogers, Academy Award winner
Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors Gu ...
, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, NBA star Charles Barkley, NFL quarterback
Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL ...
, NFL star and MLB player
Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...
, Alabama governor Kay Ivey, Tennessee governor Bill Lee (Tennessee politician), Bill Lee, NASA astronauts Ken Mattingly, Jim Voss and Jan Davis, bestselling author James Redfield, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and world-renowned modernist architect Paul Rudolph (architect), Paul Rudolph.


See also

* Auburn University Chapel * Donald E. Davis Arboretum * Luther Duncan * List of forestry universities and colleges


Notes


References


External links

*
Auburn Athletics website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Auburn University Auburn University, 1856 establishments in Alabama Alabama Cooperative Extension System Buildings and structures in Auburn, Alabama Education in Lee County, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1856 Landmarks in Alabama Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Public universities and colleges in Alabama