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Auburn University

Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a  located in . With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest  in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as theEast Alabama Male College, a private  school affiliated with the . In 1872, the  became the state's first  under the   and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1892, the college became the first four-yearlschool 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.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. In 1964, under Federal Court mandate AU admitted its first African American Student. It had been popularly known as "Auburn" for many years. Auburn is among the few American universities designated as a  research center.

History

Auburn University was chartered by the Alabama Legislature as the East Alabama Male College on February 7, 1856, coming under the guidance of the  in 1859.The first president of the institution was Reverend  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  and the 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 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 was presented to Auburn in 1952 by brothers of Delta Chapter of the fraternity.It sits today on the lawn next to .

Name change: Auburn

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, Auburn was  prior to 1963, with only white students being admitted. Integration went smoothly at Auburn, with the first African-American student, Harold A. Franklin, 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 . There are also more than 6,000 students at the  satellite campus established in 1967.