Auburn University

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — A new golden eagle will be joining Auburn University's avian air force.

"Aurea" joins the bald eagle Spirit. The pair will soar over Jordan-Hare Stadium before home games, The Opelika-Auburn News reported .

Aurea was brought to the Southeastern Raptor Center in Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016, after being found near Selma, Alabama, with an injury to its right wing.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologized Thursday for wearing blackface decades ago, becoming the latest politician to face scrutiny over racially insensitive photos and actions from their university days.

Ivey, 74, issued the apology after a 1967 radio interview surfaced in which her now-ex-husband describes her actions at Auburn University, where she was vice president of the student government association.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University trustees advised then-President Steven Leath to focus on communication, collaboration and morale several months before his sudden departure from the university, according to university records.

Alabama leads the nation in few things, but the state has recently gained a new point of pride. Eighteen-year-old Seth Maddox of Geraldine is the 2019 World Champion of Microsoft PowerPoint. Yes, you read that right.

Maddox won the national prize in software literacy competition last June, and on Wednesday was declared world champion.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach Chuck Person has avoided prison in a bribery scandal that has touched some of the biggest schools in college basketball.

Person was sentenced on Wednesday to 200 hours of community service during the two years the Probation Department will supervise him. Judge Loretta A. Preska said "no purpose would be served by incarceration."

Sentencing guidelines called for two years in prison, though three other coaches who pleaded guilty to the same charge also received lenient sentences.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University's old president has been approved to come back as its new, interim president.

Auburn trustees on Monday unanimously approved Jay Gogue to fill the position on an interim basis.

Gogue replaces Steven Leath, who left in late June after about two years on the job. The university hasn't publicly explained the reasons for his departure, other than to say both sides agreed to it.

Gogue was Auburn's president for a decade ending in 2017, when Leath took over the position.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Police have charged a 16-year-old with two counts of manslaughter in the car crash that killed Auburn broadcaster Rod Bramblett and his wife.

A police statement says Johnston Edward Taylor, of Auburn, was arrested Monday in connection with the May 25 accident. Police say test results showed that Taylor was driving "well over" the 55 mph speed limit and had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash.

The 53-year-old Bramblett and his 52-year-old wife, Paula, died as a result of injuries from the crash.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Jay Gogue may return to Auburn University as interim president after Steven Leath's resignation.

The executive committee of the board of trustees voted Sunday to recommend that the former university president temporarily lead the school during a full search for a replacement.

Gogue retired after 10 years as the university's president in 2016.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — A man opened fire on police responding to a call about a domestic disturbance in an Alabama mobile home park, killing one officer and wounding two others, authorities said Monday.

An intense manhunt led to his arrest hours later, not far from the Arrow Head Trailer Park, which is only a few miles from the campus of Auburn University, where students had been warned to be on alert. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency described 29-year-old Grady Wayne Wilkes as armed and extremely dangerous, wearing camouflage body armor and a helmet.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — A college gymnast is asking social media users to stop sharing the video of her devastating leg injuries because "my pain is not your entertainment."

Auburn senior Samantha Cerio wrote on Twitter Wednesday that seeing her "knees bent unnaturally in real life was horrible enough," but she says continuing to see the video and photos because people feel entitled to repost them "is not okay."

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville is joining the Republican race to win back the Alabama Senate seat from Democrat Doug Jones in 2020.

Tuberville announced his candidacy Saturday on Twitter, saying: "After more than a year of listening to Alabama's citizens, I have heard your concerns and hopes for a better tomorrow. I am humbled to announce the next step -- I will be a @GOP candidate for US Senate. I invite you to join my team."

Already in the GOP race is Bradley Byrne, a congressman. The primary is set for March 3, 2020.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University is receiving $43 million in federal financing for a new agricultural science facility aimed at improving food production in Alabama.

WSFA-TV reports the money, approved by Congress, will help establish a new USDA Agricultural Research Soil Dynamics Laboratory on campus.

Auburn spokesman Preston Sparks says the facility's research will focus on improving the sustainable use of soil and water resources for crop and livestock production.

Former Congressman Jo Bonner has been named as Gov. Kay Ivey's new chief of staff.

Ivey announced the change Tuesday, just one day after her inauguration for her first full term.

Steve Pelham, Ivey's longtime chief of staff, is leaving to take a position at Auburn University.

Ivey's office said Pelham will be the university's vice president for economic development and chief of staff to Auburn University President Steven Leath.

“Another Slice of Life”

Author: Thom Gossom, Jr.  

Publisher: Aquarius Press

Pages: 98

Price: $14.35

Thom Gossom is a name familiar to many Alabamans. In 1975, He was the first black athlete to graduate from Auburn University, having played on the championship team quarterbacked by Pat Sullivan.

Gossom went on to have a career in film and TV acting with a recurring role in “In the Heat of the Night” and guest star appearances on “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” and many others.

 A nonprofit organization is helping Auburn University students with unplanned pregnancies. 

The Opelika-Auburn News reports that Baby Steps was created to provide support to Auburn University students for mothers and fathers who are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. The nonprofit is renting a five-bedroom house opened in September and is located near the university's campus.

The road map is in place for the 2017 college football postseason. Here's the picture for Alabama's colleges and universities, as well as the bowl games that will be taking place across Alabama this year:

A team of 21 scientists will conduct a study to estimate the number of red snapper in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The panel of researchers from universities and state and federal agencies was convened by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and awarded $9.5 million in federal funds. The project will receive another $2.5 million from the universities involved.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross highlighted the importance of the long-term sustainability of the red snapper fishery for communities along the Gulf Coast:

Auburn University is proposing an undergraduate degree in sustainability.

Trustees this month approved a new program in sustainable biomaterials and packaging. Officials plan to open enrollment next fall if the plan is approved by the Alabama Commissioner on Higher Education.

A statement from the school says the program would be one of the first of 

  its kind in the Southeast. It would prepare students for careers in the new bio-based industry that's coming up with alternatives to petroleum-based products.

Two men who worked for a company that runs the transit system at Auburn University are facing charges after a student was allegedly raped on one of the buses.

The Alabama Board of Education has named former Superintendent Ed Richardson as interim superintendent of education.   

 Board members by an 8-1 vote picked Richardson to temporarily take the helm of public schools following the resignation of Superintendent Michael Sentance.

Alabama is getting the chance to celebrate its state history in Auburn this weekend.

The Alabama Historical Association is holding its 70th annual meeting at Auburn University this weekend. The meeting is open to anyone who shares an interest in Alabama’s history from its founding and through modern times. It will feature papers on Alabama history and tours of historic houses and sites around Auburn University. The meeting will also feature two keynote speakers, whose speeches will be themed around Alabama’s upcoming Bicentennial and the state’s history during World War One.

University trustees are set to vote on a new president of Auburn University today. Some say that selection process should be more transparent.

The trustees will hold a special meeting later today to name a new president.

The Opelika-Auburn News reports no candidates have been announced in the search to replace Auburn President Jay Gogue. That means there's been no chance for any prospective new administrators to meet with the university community.

 Auburn University is once again replacing its landmark oak trees at Toomer's Corner.

A university statement says workers will plant new trees on Saturday because of damage caused by a fire in September.  

The current trees were planted there after a University of Alabama fan poisoned the original Toomer's oaks.

Toomer's Corner is a traditional gathering for Auburn fans to celebrate football victories by rolling the trees with toilet paper. A German man pleaded guilty last month to setting fire to paper on one of the trees after a game.

Auburn University is planning to build to a brand-new $28 million facility at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

According to Al.com, the Auburn University's board of trustees meeting agenda states the project for the 44,000-square foot facility will begin May and end in July 2018 if approved at a meeting this Friday.

Some of the best athletes in college football are in Mobile this week, gearing up for the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The game is a chance for standout athletes to practice and play before a host of NFL scouts, before NFL teams draft their next class of players in April. A few of this year’s top prospects, including University of Alabama defenders Jonathan Allen and Reuben Foster, have opted to sit out this year’s Senior Bowl. But the roster still includes four Crimson Tide players, two players from Auburn, and one athlete from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

Former Alabama Governor Albert Brewer has died at the age of 88.

Brewer was known for reshaping Alabama’s public education system during a fill-in term as governor after the death of Lurleen Wallace, then championing constitutional reform as an elder statesman of Alabama politics.

Current Alabama Governor Robert Bentley released a statement yesterday saying the state had lost a great leader.

Wayne Flynt, an expert in Southern history at Auburn University, calls Brewer “the only governor we had who ever came close to being a ‘New South’ governor.”

The Beat Bama Food Drive is Auburn University’s counterpart to Alabama’s Beat Auburn Beat Hunger. The food drive collects money and food for the Food Bank of East Alabama.

The organizers of the food drive encourage all student organizations on the Auburn campus to get involved. Food donations are supplemented with money from benefit nights and a cornhole tournament.

Caroline Jager is the President of the Beat Bama Food Drive. She says the food drive is best summed up by its motto: “Educate, Unite, Serve.”