They’re back: Replica of Toomer’s Oak constructed in Auburn Art Page A3
Local farmers sell homegrown, homemade goods at The Market Page A5
Raising cents for Mr. Penny fund as he nears recovery Page A3
The Auburn Plainsman A Spirit That Is Not Afraid ThePlainsman.com
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Vol. 120, Issue 8, 8 Pages
ONLINE $4 million
Museum of Fine Art, 2005
$6 million
McWhorter Center, 2000
College of Agriculture, 2006
Puppy love Therapy dog presentation teaches value of animals
NEWS
$2.5 million
$5 million
Auburn University Campaign, 2007
$25 million
$3 million
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College of Engineering, 2001
College of Human Sciences, 2007
$2 million
College of Engineering, 2008
$40 million
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, 2013
Chelsea wooten/ Photo editor
In the community Councilman leads candlelight vigil at the Auburn Police Department
OPINIONS A6
Our View: Aviation management program should benefit from $40 million donation
SPORTS
Aerial view of campus showing multi-million dollar donations given in the past decade, the years they were given and to which fund the donations were given.
$40 million donation puts Harbert on map Largest donation in Auburn history adds Harbert name to College of Business Justin Ferguson NEWS REPORTER
The single largest donation in University history was officially announced during the Auburn University Board meeting the morning of Friday, June 21. After a unanimous vote to approve the $40 million donation, the College of Business received a new name and a boost toward its vision of national prominence. The college will now be known as the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business following the historic financial commitment from the Birmingham-based CEO and outgoing president pro tempore on the board of trustees. “This really is a significant change
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National Spotlight Nine swimmers competing at USA championships
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
July 2000 Earlon and Betty McWhorter donated $2.5 million to fund the McWhorter Center for Women’s Athletics
February 2001 Samuel Ginn donated $25 million to the College of Engineering, spearheading a $150 million campaign
INDEX News Intrigue Opinion Sports
A2 A5 A6 A7
There’s a tremendous sense of pride in having the college named for me and it being there after I’m long gone,” —Raymond J. Harbert CEO of Harbert ManagementCorporation
for us, going from an unnamed College of Business to the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business,” said Bill Hardgrave, dean of the College of Business. “Over time, what we hope to see is that migration from the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business to eventually what we see with others now, that (the
name) just becomes Harbert... and that attracts great students.” Harbert, a 1982 Auburn graduate, serves as chairman and CEO of Harbert Management Corporation, an independent investment firm. According to U.S. News & World Report, 42 of the top 50 ranked business
The decade in donations
June 2005 Albert and Jule Smith donated $4 million to the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art in addition to a $3 million donation in 1998
March 2006 Wayne McElrath donated $6 million to the College of Agriculture, paying for 50 full-ride scholarships
July 2007 Raymond and Kathryn Harbert donated $5 million to the AU campaign, raising funds for various University departments
November 2007 Joseph S. Bruno donated $3 million to the College of Human Sciences for a study abroad program in Arricia, Italy
» See Harbert A2
February 2008 Tom and Bettye Lowe donated $2 million to the College of Engineering toward the construction of Shelby Center
June 2013 Raymond and Kathryn Harbert donated $40 million toward the College of Business, leading to a college name change
Trustees pick design company for Toomer’s makeover, discuss University improvements Jeffrey Moore Writer
Tell us how you would put the Harbert donation to use Answer on Facebook, Twitter or ThePlainsman.com
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schools in America are named after benefactors. Auburn College of Business officials believe this gift and name change will give the college a new level of prestige. “There’s a tremendous sense of pride in having the college named for me and it being there after I’m long gone,” Harbert said. “The bigger sense of pride will be watching (Hardgrave) implement this vision and watching it become successful. When we are talking about the Harbert College in the same vein as some of the other well-known and great business schools, that will be when I’m particularly proud.”
Last Friday, the Board of Trustees approved the Consultant Selection Committee’s unanimous selection of jB+a Inc., a landscape architecture firm based in Atlanta, as the preferred firm for the Samford Park at Toomer’s Corner Landscape Redevelopment Project. While jB+a is the firm contracted by the University, it will be working hand in hand with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architecture, a prestigious firm that has designed several prominent projects and will take the lead in designing the project. Jeffrey Dumars, assistant director for campus planning and space management and member of the selection committee, said Nelson Byrd Woltz was more than qualified to spearhead the design effort.
“jB+a is the firm we’re going to contract with, but there’s another firm (Nelson Byrd Woltz) that’s the executive designer,” Dumars said. “They’re relatively famous. Nelson Byrd Woltz won the competition that did the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania, the flight that crashed on 9-11. They’ve done some pretty well-known work at the Univerisity of Virginia and some other projects.” Dumars said the selection process was intensive. “We held the public selection process, and it followed the Alabama Building Commission guidelines. We’re not required to follow these guidelines, but we did,” Dumars said. The selection committee posted a public request for proposal questionnaires, which would outline each potential firm’s proposals and qualifications, on the Alabama Building Commission’s
File
The Samford Park renovation was publicly chosen on A-Day, the Saturday before the trees’ removal.
website. The committee subsequently received proposal questionnaires from eight different firms from across the South.
» See Trustees A2
Trustees also change four departments to schools See A2 for the story