Auburn Pride is a campaign initiated by the student-athletes of Auburn University. The campaign was created last year by the leaders of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee with the help of Jay Jacobs, Auburn’s Athletic Director. After being challenged by Jacobs the student-athletes decided that after their playing days were over, they wanted to leave behind a legacy of sportsmanship and community service. Thus Auburn Pride was born.

Auburn Pride represents all 21 sports at Auburn University. The campaign’s code states that all coaches, staff, student-athletes and supporters will at all times show; accountability, understanding, belief, unity, respect and nobility. Together this spells Auburn. Accountability is to be responsible for one’s actions. Understanding is working to obtain knowledge in and out of the classroom. Belief is to be trustworthy and confident in yourself and others. Unity is teamwork through the pursuit of development and victory. Respect is to have dignity and honor while being considerate of others, and nobility is to have integrity and a moral purpose to do no harm. Every aspect of the campaign was designed by the student-athletes of Auburn University. It’s a true testament to Auburn University and what the athletic department stands for.

The campaign is now being carried out by Auburn’s Student Government Association. The SGA decided to step up and get behind the Auburn Pride campaign, so it could be promoted to students and fans as well as the athletes. President Lauren Hayes said, “Auburn fans are very proud of our spirit and our sportsmanship, and we’d really like to expand the campaign that the athletes started because sportsmanship is much more that just on the field it’s also in the stands.” The pep rally before the Auburn vs. LSU game was the first time the campaign was communicated to the student body.

The SGA is working hard to promote Auburn Pride. The Athletic Department provides the SGA with orange bracelets that signify the campaign. On the bracelets are the four main points of the campaign; competition, tradition, the moment and the opponent. These bracelets are passed out by the SGA to students whenever possible and are free. The bracelets are used to really try to promote school spirit. The SGA has also helped to purchase banners that are hung in the new student center at Auburn University. They are really working to advertise the campaign in any way possible.

The SGA is continually working to help better communicate and advertise the Auburn Pride campaign. Hayes says that the topic is constantly discussed in the cabinet and senate of the SGA. They hope to create a website for the campaign as well as possibly creating t-shirts for next year. The next step is rallying all Auburn Tiger fans behind the campaign. “We want to emphasize it at every Auburn athletic event,” said Hayes. They are trying to get articles into every publication they can to promote the Auburn Pride campaign. This isn’t just a one year campaign, but rather a new tradition in the making at Auburn University.