| Auburn University | |
|---|---|
| Motto | For The Advancement of Science and Arts |
| Established | 1856 |
| Type | Public, Flagship, Polytechnic, Liberal Arts, Land-grant, Space-grant, Sea-grant |
| Endowment | US$410 million[1] |
| President | Jay Gogue, Ph.D.[2] |
| Admin. staff | 1,200 |
| Students | 25,469 [3] |
| Undergraduates | 20,446[3] |
| Postgraduates | 5,023[3] |
| Location | Auburn, Alabama, United States |
| Campus | Suburban 1,843 acres (7.45 km²)[4] |
| Former names | East Alabama Male College (1856–1872) Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (1872–1899) Alabama Polytechnic Institute (1899–1960) |
| Athletics | Auburn Tigers |
| Colors | Burnt Orange (PMS 158) and Navy Blue (PMS 289) [5] |
| Mascot | Aubie the Tiger (costumed) |
| Website | auburn.edu |
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state.[6] Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College,[7] a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1872, the college became the state's first public land-grant university under the Morrill Act and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.[8] In 1892, the college became the first four-year coeducational school in the state. The curriculum at the university originally focused on arts and agriculture. This trend changed under the guidance of Dr. William Leroy Broun, who taught classics and sciences and believed both disciplines were important in the overall growth of the university and the individual. The college was renamed the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) in 1899, largely because of Dr. Broun’s influence.[8] The college continued expanding, and in 1960 its name was officially changed to Auburn University to acknowledge the varied academic programs and larger curriculum of a major university. It had been popularly known as "Auburn" for many years.[9] Auburn is among the few American universities designated as a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research center.
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Auburn University was chartered by the Alabama Legislature as the East Alabama Male College on February 7, 1856, coming under the guidance of the Methodist Church in 1859.[10] The first president of the institution was Reverend William J. Sasnett, and the school opened its doors in 1859 to a student body of eighty and a faculty of ten. The early history of Auburn is inextricably linked with the Civil War and the Reconstruction-era South. Classes were held in "Old Main" until the college was closed due to the Civil War, when most of the students and faculty left to enlist. The campus was used as a training ground for the Confederate 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, was presented to Auburn in 1952 by brothers of Delta Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.[11] It sits today on the lawn next to Samford Hall.
The school was reopened in 1866 following the end of the Civil War and has been open ever since. In 1872, control of the institution was transferred from the Methodist Church to the State of Alabama for financial reasons. Alabama placed the school under the provisions of the Morrill Act as a land-grant institution, the first in the South to be established separate from the state university. This act provided for 240,000 acres (971 km²) of Federal land to be sold in order to provide funds for an agricultural and mechanical school. As a result, in 1872 the school was renamed to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.
Under the provisions of this act, 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 future officers. Each county in the state was allowed to nominate two cadets to attend the college free of charge.
In 1892, two historic events occurred: women were first admitted to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, and football was first played as a school sport. Eventually, football replaced polo as the main sport on campus. In 1899, the school name was again changed, this time to Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
On October 1, 1918, nearly all of Alabama Polytechnic Institute's able-bodied male students 18 or older voluntarily joined the United States Army 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. API struggled through the Great Depression, 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.
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 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 (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 and patriotic volunteers.
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 offer of free education. In the five-year period following the end of the war, enrollment at API more than doubled.
Recognizing the school had moved beyond its agricultural and mechanical roots, it was granted university status by the Alabama Legislature in 1960 and officially 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 had been popularly called "Auburn" for many years even before the official name change.
Like most universities in the American South, Auburn was racially segregated prior to 1963, with only white students being admitted. Integration went smoothly at Auburn, with the first African-American student being admitted in 1964, and the first doctoral degree being granted to an African-American in 1967.
Today, Auburn has grown since its founding to have an on-campus enrollment of over 25,000 students and a faculty of almost 1,200 at the main campus in Auburn.[12] There are also over 6,000 students at the Auburn University Montgomery satellite campus established in 1967.
| University rankings (overall) | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[13] | 116 |
| U.S. News & World Report[14] | 82 |
| Washington Monthly[15] | 93 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[16] | 401–500 |
| Times[17] | 351–400 |
| Auburn rankings | |
|---|---|
| USNWR National University[18] | 82 |
| USNWR National Top Publics[19] | 36 |
| USNWR Business schools[20] | 63 |
| USNWR Education[21] | 71 |
| USNWR Engineering[22] | 70 |
| USNWR Veterinary Medicine[23] | 15 |
| USNWR Pharmacy[24] | 24 |
| USNWR Public Affairs[25] | 57 |
| USNWR RehabilitationCounseling[26] | 17 |
| USNWR Audiology[25] | 46 |
| USNWR psychology[25] | 103 |
| USNWR Clinical psychology[25] | 83 |
| USNWR Computer Science[25] | 91 |
| USNWR Biology[25] | 100 |
| USNWR English[25] | 94 |
Auburn has traditionally been rated highly by academic ranking services, and has been listed as one of the top 50 public universities for 17 consecutive years.[27] The 2011 edition of U.S. News and World Reports ranks Auburn as the 85th university in the nation among public and private schools and 38th among public universities.[28] Auburn was the only college or university in Alabama included in the inaugural edition (1981) of the widely respected Peterson's Guides to America's 296 Most Competitive Colleges.
Auburn is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which is currently composed of 11 of the largest Southern public universities in the US and one private university, Vanderbilt. Among the other 10 peer public universities; the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, and the University of Alabama are ranked ahead of Auburn in the 2011 edition of U.S. News & World Report.[29] This high ranking and reputation for academic quality is in spite of the fact that Auburn's $378.6 million endowment being currently the second smallest of the 12 SEC universities.[30] An attempt to increase the endowment by $500 million began in 2005 with the "It Begins at Auburn" campaign. As of August 2006, the campaign had raised $523 million, making it the largest campaign in university history.[31]
The university currently consists of thirteen schools and colleges. Programs in architecture, pharmacy, veterinary science, engineering, forestry, and business have been ranked among the best in the country.
The journal DesignIntelligence in its 2009 edition of "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools" ranked Auburn's undergraduate Architecture program No. 12 and Industrial Design program No. 7 nationally, and the deans of Architecture schools ranked the Architecture program the second most admired. In addition, Auburn's graduate Landscape Architecture program was ranked No. 14 nationally and Industrial Design program 5th.
The Department of Foundations, Leadership and Technology of the College of Education was ranked 7th in the nation by Academic Analytics in 2008.
Auburn University's College of Architecture pioneered the joining of architecture and interior design curriculum with the nation's first interior architecture degree program. The Dual Degree Architecture & Interior Architecture degree was the first in the nation as well. Auburn University's College of Architecture, Design, and Construction also pioneered the nations first Design Build Master's Degree program, hence capitalizing on The College of Architecture, Design and Construction'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 Oprah Winfrey, numerous Architectural and Construction periodicals as well. Of critical mention here is the School's Rural Studio program, founded by the late Samuel Mockbee.
The Ginn College of Engineering has a 134-year tradition of engineering education, consistently ranking in the nation's top 20 engineering programs in terms of numbers of engineers graduating annually. The college has a combined enrollment of close to 4,000. Auburn's College of Engineering offers majors in civil, mechanical, electrical, industrial and systems engineering, polymer and fiber engineering, aerospace, agricultural, bio-systems, materials, chemical engineering, computer science, and software engineering, and—more recently—began a program in wireless engineering after receiving a donation from alumnus Samuel L. Ginn. In 2001, Ginn, a noted US pioneer in wireless communication, 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 US in terms of the number of undergraduate degrees awarded on annual basis. The Ginn College of Engineering is now focused on growing the graduate programs, and recent rankings demonstrate the increasing profile of graduate engineering education at Auburn. The Ginn College of Engineering was recently ranked 60th nationally overall and 35th among public universities that offer doctoral programs in engineering by U.S. News and World Report. Last year, the College ranked 67th among all engineering programs and 40th among such programs at public universities. "America's Best Graduate Schools 2006" ranks the Ginn College of Engineering's graduate program in the Top 100 graduate engineering programs in the US. Auburn's Industrial and Systems Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering were all ranked in the top 100.
Auburn also boasts strong programs in veterinary medicine, mathematics, science, agriculture, and journalism. The university's core curriculum has likewise been recognized as one of the best in the nation.[citation required]
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 and World Report magazine in the top ten percent of the nation's more than 750 MBA Programs. The Ludwig von Mises Institute offices were once located in the business department of Auburn University, and the LvMI continues to work with the university on many levels.[32]
Nationally recognized ROTC programs are available in three branches of service: Air Force, Army, and Navy/Marine Corps, the latter being the only one of its kind in Alabama. Each of these three ROTC units is ranked among the top ten in the nation. Over 100 officers that attended Auburn have reached flag rank (general or admiral), including one, Carl Epting Mundy Jr., who served as Commandant of the US Marine Corps. 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 many outstanding ROTC graduates commissioned through Auburn, two masters degree alumni from Auburn, four-star generals Hugh Shelton and Richard Myers, served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 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 fame) and one current and one former director of the Kennedy Space Center. 1972 Auburn Mechanical Engineering graduate Jim Kennedy, currently director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, was previously deputy director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (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 423-acre (1.71 km2) Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport, 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. 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 both the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI).[33] Created over 65 years ago, Auburn's flight program is also the second oldest university flight program in the United States.[33]
Auburn University has been recognized as having some of the best agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and poultry science programs in the South. The Old Rotation 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 as a biofuel was the source of its mention in the 2006 State of the Union Address.
The university recently began a Master of Real Estate Development program.[34] This is one of the few in the Southeast, with primary competition with the University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of South Florida, and Clemson University. 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.
Date indicated is year of founding
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. [35][36]
Auburn's initial Campus Master plan was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. 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 that Auburn began to construct the first buildings on campus that were "dorms" in the modern sense of the word. 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 first dorms were hardly luxurious. Magnolia Dormitory, built in the 1950s and demolished in 1987, was once used by the state of Alabama in its defense against a lawsuit brought by state prison inmates. The inmates claimed that housing two men in a cell of particularly small dimensions constituted 'cruel and unusual punishment.' The state argued in court that students at Auburn actually paid to live in even smaller living spaces—at Magnolia Dorm. The inmates lost the case. Its "twin", Noble Hall, used exclusively for women, was demolished in 2005 and was condemned during at least the final year in which it was inhabited.
In the last thirty years, the city of Auburn has experienced a rapid growth in the number of apartment complexes constructed. Most Auburn students today live off-campus in the apartment complexes and condos, which surround the immediate area around the university. Only 19 percent of all undergraduate students at Auburn live on campus.[37]
Auburn's on-campus student housing consists of four complexes located at various locations over campus – "The Quad", "The Village", "The Hill", and "The Extension". "The Quad" is the oldest of the four, dating to the Great Depression projects begun by the Works Progress Administration and located in Central Campus. Made up of ten buildings, the Quad houses undergraduate students. Eight of the buildings are coed by floor, the remaining two are female-only.
"The Hill" is made up of 12 buildings and is located in South Campus. The Hill houses mostly undergraduates. There are two high-rise, 6-story dormitories (Boyd and Sasnett), and all dorms are coed (but have gender-separated floors) with the exception of Leischuck and Hall M (home of the M Gym, the campus's only exercise center that charges extra fees), which are female only. All of the Hill dormitories were used to house sororities until 2009. The sororities are now housed in the newly completed village. "The Hill" is the cheapest on-campus housing at Auburn due to the substandard nature of Terrell dining hall, located in the middle of "The Hill" dormitories.
"The Extension" is a block of six buildings (labeled A, B, C, D, E, and F), each consisting of two-bedroom apartments, housing undergraduates. The extension closed in 2009, but has been re-opened for the 2010–2011 school year.
"The Village," formerly known as married student housing, recently housed a variety of students, to include undergraduates, graduates, and married students. In May 2006, this housing complex was closed to students and was demolished during the summer and early fall of 2006; however, in 2009 it was rebuilt into 8 4-story buildings to accommodate 1,700 residents. This area now houses sororities and undergrads.[38]
Greek associated students make up roughly 24 percent of undergraduate men and 34 percent of women at Auburn.
Male Greeks in 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 doesn't 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 two fraternity houses remain on College Street today.
There are seventeen social sororities represented at Auburn University. Sorority recruitment is a week-long process held by the Panhellenic Council in August every year. Sororities are located not in individual houses like Auburn fraternities, but in the designated dorms located in The Village. This has the unintended side effect of keeping dues for these sororities among the lowest in the nation. Each dorm has a sorority "chapter" room within it for the sorority designated to that dorm.
Auburn University's sports teams are known as the Tigers, and they participate in Division I-A of the NCAA and in the Western Division of the 13-member Southeastern Conference (SEC). Auburn has won a total of 18 intercollegiate national championships (including 16 NCAA Championships), which includes 2 football (1957, 2010), 8 men's swimming and diving (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009), 5 women's swimming and diving (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), 2 equestrian (2008, 2011), and 1 women's outdoor track and field (2006) titles. Auburn has also won a total of 70 Southeastern Conference championships, including 51 men's titles and 19 women's titles. Auburn's colors of burnt orange and navy blue were chosen by Dr. George Petrie, Auburn's first football coach, based on those of his alma mater, the University of Virginia.
Auburn's football program is currently coached by Gene Chizik. Past coaches include George Petrie, John Heisman, Mike Donahue, Ralph "Shug" Jordan, Pat Dye, Terry Bowden and Tommy Tuberville.
Auburn played its first game in 1892 against the University of Georgia at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia starting what is currently the oldest college football rivalry in the Deep South. The Tigers' first bowl appearance was in 1937 in the sixth Bacardi Bowl played in Havana, Cuba. AU football has won seven SEC Conference Championships, and since the division of the conference in 1992, seven western division championships and four trips to the SEC Championship game. Auburn plays arch-rival Alabama each year in a game known as the Iron Bowl.
In 1957, 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 in 1985, and Cam Newton in 2010 have won the Heisman Trophy. The Trophy's namesake, John Heisman, coached at Auburn from 1895 until 1899. Auburn is the only school where Heisman coached (among others, Georgia Tech and Clemson) that has produced a Heisman Trophy winner. Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium has a capacity of 87,451 ranking as the ninth-largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA as of September 2006.
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 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, 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 style offense which maximized the use of both star running backs. However, the Tigers were ranked behind two other undefeated teams, Southern California and Oklahoma, that played in the 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 had been hired as Auburn's new head coach.[39] Coach Gene Chizik then hired Gus Malzahn as the Tigers' new Offensive Coordinator.
In 2010, Auburn defeated 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 Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia, and 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. 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, and defensive tackle and Lombardi Award winner Nick Fairley.
In addition to the 1957 and 2010 championships, Auburn's 1913, 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993, and 2004 teams have also been recognized as national champions by various ranking organizations.[40]
In the last decade under head coaches David Marsh, Richard Quick and co-head coach Brett Hawke, Auburn's swimming and 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 8 teams have claimed national championships in women's swimming and diving. Auburn and 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. As of 2009, 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).[41] Coach Marsh, who has been a U.S. Olympic coach, is considered one of the top three swim coaches in the world, and 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.
The Auburn men's basketball team has enjoyed off-and-on success over the years. Its best known player is Charles Barkley. Other NBA players from Auburn are John Mengelt, Rex Fredicks, Eddie Johnson, Mike Mitchell, Chuck Person, Chris Morris, Wesley Person, Chris Porter, Mamadou N'diaye, Jamison Brewer, Moochie Norris, Marquis Daniels, and Pat Burke. The Auburn University Board of Trustees approved the building of a new $92.5 million basketball arena and practice facility. Groundbreaking for the new arena occurred in the summer of 2008 with the facility opening prior to the 2010–11 season.
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 and other competitive programs such as LSU, Georgia, and 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 1988–1990 and won the Women's NIT in 2003. When Coach Joe Ciampi retired at the end of the 2003–2004 season, Auburn hired former Purdue and U.S. National and Olympic team head coach, Nell Fortner. Standout former Auburn players include: Ruthie Bolton, Vickie Orr, Carolyn Jones, Chantel Tremitiere, Monique Morehouse, and DeWanna Bonner.
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, Auburn has supplied several other players to Major League Baseball, including Frank Thomas, Gregg Olson, Scott Sullivan, Tim Hudson, Mark Bellhorn, Jack Baker, Terry Leach, Josh Hancock, Gabe Gross, and Steven Register.
Auburn's Women's Golf team has risen to be extremely competitive in the NCAA in recent years. Since 1999, they hold a 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.[42] 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.[43]
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.
The Auburn women's track and field team won its first ever 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.
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, N.M. 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 consistenly been highly ranked in the Women's Intercollegiate Equestrian National Coaches Poll as well.
Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement and convocation, and athletic games are: War Eagle the Auburn University fight song.