West Georgia Auburn Club reaches $1 million goal

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Capping off a campaign across multiple years, the West Georgia Auburn Club achieved its campaign goal to raise $1 million for a scholarship endowment this summer.

Not only will the million-dollar endowment be self-sustaining, providing scholarship opportunities to West Georgia Auburn students indefinitely, but the size of the endowment means the club can increase the annual scholarship awards to an even more meaningful value and time frame.

Scholarships from the endowment will be awarded to students through the Charles D. Hudson Memorial Scholarship Award, which the club created in 2007 to honor the local Auburn graduate and supporter through scholarships for out-of-state students from Troup, Harris and Meriwether counties to attend Auburn.

Upon becoming officially enrolled at Auburn, every student from these counties who meet the academic criteria are automatically added to the eligibility pool, regardless of class year, so the one-year scholarship is not limited to incoming freshmen. To date, the West Georgia Auburn Club has awarded 18 scholarships to area students from seven different high schools.

"The Charles D. Hudson Memorial Scholarship was crucial in laying the foundation for my college success," said Ben Key, a 2011 LaGrange High School graduate and 2015 Auburn alumnus. "Thanks to the generous donations, that scholarship was the sole reason I was able to attend Auburn University as an out-of-state student. It allowed me to finish my first year successfully and set me up for my continuing education."

"As I was finishing high school, I knew that I wanted to follow in my parents’ and brother’s footsteps and be a part of the Auburn Family. How we were going to make that happen was not very clear," said Emily Pauley, a 2016 Hudson scholarship recipient and current student-cheerleader at Auburn. "I love Auburn and have had a wonderful experience making my own Auburn memories. I will be starting nursing school in the fall and am also excited to serve as a 2017-2018 Auburn cheerleader! Thank you to the West Georgia Auburn Club for your continued support."

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.