February 17, 2025 • 30 mins
From an early age, Beth Thorne Stukes was immersed in the vibrant world of orange and blue, thanks to her mother, Barbara. But beyond the colors, Barbara passed down something even more enduring—a deep love for education and its power to transform lives.
“Mother is a Human Sciences grad,” said Stukes. “She just had the most wonderful time of her life as a student at Auburn.”
In a heartfelt tribute to their late mother, Stukes, alongside her sisters Barbara “Babs” Thorne Anderson ’88 and Rebecca “Becky” Thorne Carroll ’86, recently made a transformative gift to Auburn’s College of Human Sciences. Their generous lead donation is going to help fund the construction of a new cutting-edge academic facility which will be known as the Barbara Drummond Thorne Academic and Research Facility.
Stukes says the state-of-the-art building will be a lasting symbol of their mother’s legacy and commitment to education.
“I like to say Human Sciences bakes the cake of life,” explained Stukes. “Mother brought so much of what she learned as a food and nutrition major into being a home economics teacher before her four children came. She planted all those seeds.”
Like her mother, Stukes was an educator herself. She spent 16 years teaching in rural Walker County, touching the lives of students every day and preparing them for a better quality of life.
“I'm the oldest child in our family, which makes me a Bossy Flossy,” joked Stukes. “I'm a little nurturing, but we must make sure that our students are ready for this world today, that they can be nimble as they go through their life.”
Stukes’ joy of giving can also be traced back to her mother’s influence.
“I started going to Women's Philanthropy Board meetings with mom,” recalled Stukes. “I began to learn things that affect women and their lives and how to be a better steward of my time, talent, treasure and trust.”
That same spirit of intentionality continues to guide Stukes’ life. Her philanthropic support spans the breadth of Auburn’s mission, creating educational opportunities and resources for countless students.
“It’s very important for Auburn to create critical thinkers,” said Stukes. “We need to distribute that back to our state and our community so that all our children have a better head start. As a land grant university, that's our mission. That's why we're here. I'm very proud to say I don't think anybody's doing it better.”
Last year, Stukes’ steadfast commitment to education led her to be recognized as Alabama’s 2024 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Alabama Chapter.
This year, Stukes is serving as the chair of The Auburn University Foundation.
“When Auburn comes knocking on your door, you say yes,” said Stukes. “The more I've been engaged, the more I've learned to love Auburn and come to know about the great efforts our different units are making for good change that will benefit our community, our state and globally.”
Stukes finds immense joy in witnessing students thrive. By following in her family’s footsteps, she strives to leave a meaningful legacy herself and inspires others to do the same—an effort her mother would undoubtedly be proud of.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Hey, everybody, War Eagle!Welcome back to the Everything
Auburn podcast Dalton Odom here.
And I just want to give a huge shout outto my co-host Carter Gustin
held the fort down.
Couldn't be here last time,but he handled it like a champ.
Welcome back from injured reserve Dalton.
I am glad.
I think everybody involved, myselfincluded, am glad
(00:26):
that I am not the solo host anymore.
It was fun, I enjoyed it.
I'm glad that you're back.
I'm glad that Responsibility'snot all my shoulders anymore
because I've did it once.
Let's come back and keep doing ittogether.
I'm good. It was fun, but I'm good.
Yeah, that was,we dont have to get into it.
(00:48):
We're back.
You're back!You're back in. You're all good.
Healthy as can be, as can be.
But we're just chugging along.
Happy to be here today. To be back.
We have an incredible,incredible guests with us here today.
We have miss BethThorne Stukes with us here today.
The sticks.
How are you? I'm doing great. Is going in.
How are you guys?
We're doing great.
(01:09):
Welcome to the show. Glad you're here.
Joining us on our rinky dinklittle production we got over here.
It's my first production studio,so here's fine.
Hey. I'm glad.
Well,I am honored that you have decided to
to to bless us with your first podcastexperience.
My pleasure.
Well, welcome to it.
What we're doing iswe just want to get to know you better.
(01:32):
Right?
You've had such an incredible impacton Auburn, and, I think it's really great
what you've done.
And we want to get to know youa little bit better.
One thing that we mean, Daltonboth shares,
we have a deep love for Auburn.
And I think that's what we.
That's why we're both here.
We both graduated from Auburn.
I left Auburn a while ago, andI came back because I loved it so much.
(01:53):
And I think the first thingI want to know is why?
Why do you love Auburn so much?
You have you have a deep and caringand giving heart towards Auburn.
And it's clear how much you love it.
Where's that coming from?
For a long time, I didn't have a choice.
It was, you know, from birth.
It was a family.
My mother had the most wonderful timeof her life as a student here at Auburn.
(02:19):
And, my dad came for a year or twobefore he changed majors.
And went into dentistryinstead of textiles.
But, we were here a lotfor football, and we followed that.
So I really didn't have much exposureto anything else.
(02:43):
To tell you the truth,I mean, it was just.
Okay, here it is. This is us.
This is our family. Let's roll with it.
Do you have any good football memoriesfrom back in the day?
Stick out.
We. There were some different playersthat we loved.
I loved, loved like me.
(03:03):
My brother loved Mickey Zofko.
Later, sister.
Babs loved Fast Freddie,like we would just.
I guess that could becomea little bit of a competition.
Oh, yeah.
But the main thing,and I think his ties to your question is.
(03:24):
Or it's just always been a family thing.
Oh, yeah.
But, you know, back to the daysthat daddy just said get in the car.
And so we did.
And we arrived at. Indeed. Yeah.
And then when we when we were olderand we had choices of what to do
(03:49):
with our weekends and our Saturday,rarely did one of the four of us
chooseto not be with our siblings and all.
This is where we gathered my sixth grade.
Students used to say,why do you love Auburn
football so much?
(04:12):
Well, y'all,it's really not the football that I love
is the fact that when I get there,my people are going to.
Yeah,and we're going to spend the weekend.
Yeah, well, we're talking,we're talking,
what, two episodes ago to Kurt Sasser,and he has
this thing he says all the time, which is,Oh, gosh, I'm going to butcher it.
Trying to quote him so that,I know Auburn and Auburn knows me,
(04:35):
and it's that family thingwe talked to him.
We've talked about with every guestwe've had, on the podcast thus far about
how much of a family thing it is.
It's something that,I mean, we all feel it, and it's
we people always talk about Auburnin such a reverent way, and it's like,
I don't really know how to explain it,but it's it's that it's family.
It's, we're talking about in the officewith somebody that day and, it's like,
(04:55):
you know, when you're like,thinking about a meal, your mom or
your grandmother used to make something,and I miss that.
It's like that feeling you have,that's all. Brick.
I agree, the a lot of people,I think, around the country at different
universe states refer to their familyand the closeness in their ties.
I'm not sure they all live it outas well as we did.
(05:18):
Right?
I think I would agree with that naturallyto us. And
from the student experience, people,you know
have had wonderful student experiencesthat generations
to the fact that we'vewe've had character
building sports experiences.
(05:40):
You know, you have to, you have toget in there and hang in there, right?
Yeah.
It's it's a fight, isn't it?
So, you know, and I'm, I'mspeaking with,
quite a few years of experience on that.
Okay.
So, you know,you're talking about your family.
(06:01):
What?
I'm talking about the Auburn family.
A what would you say to those people?
Were the biggest mentors in your lifethat got you to do where you're at now?
Is leading the foundationboard for the university
that that's the biggest influencethat they that they play,
the biggest influence, and wantingto give back in the way that you do now.
Well, the parental influence has beenhuge and I am so fortunate
(06:23):
that, had parentsthat were engaged in our local community,
local church.
So, I witnessedthe fact that my parents were engaged
in this they period,and that they realized
how important communionwas, big time.
(06:48):
Yeah.
And, so they obviously or my,my greatest mentors, but I've had
my aunts and uncles were great mentors.
I mean, we have an extendedfamily business, that is,
we have some childrennow that are fifth generation.
They're obviously not working.
(07:10):
They're still in their cribs.
But congratulations!When you own a family business,
the the sacrifices that have been made.
Long days at the office.
I can imagine my aunts took on a greaterresponsibility at their homes.
(07:33):
You know, so I got I got to seewhat family looks like,
what extended family looks like.
And then I have been really blessedwith, great, strong
(07:54):
women in my life.
And, I don't carry the flag of.
Look at me, hear me roar.
It is just that.
So I taught school.
There's so manyfemales in that profession.
And when I retired fromteaching school
(08:14):
I became involved in some Bible studieswith strong women,
women who had really had somesome tragedies,
some hard situations in their life.
And I looked at them with their joyand I looked at them
with the accomplishmentsthey had in our community.
(08:38):
So there was no excuse.
They pulled no card on you for anything.
So my, my example was and my mentors,they just been dive in and let's get it
done.
Job's gotta get done.
Someone's got to do it.
Yeah that makes sense.
So it's interesting.
So my wife is as a former teacher, and,I know a big part of
(09:03):
being a teacheris just love and care for these kiddos.
You know, whichever age it is.
I know it's a big part of it.
From my wife, and having already heard youtalk, can tell it's a big part of it,
for you. And thenformer teacher.
Retired teacher. And now.
But you're still giving back to students.
You're still creating opportunitiesfor students,
(09:24):
just different types of students,you know?
Now they're Auburn College students,and it's just it's that same,
that same kind of process,just a different or same result,
different process, I guess.
Is that kind of alwaysbeen some of the bleeding heart for you
with these, these kids and children's andand education and furthering education,
creating opportunities for studentsand the future.
(09:47):
I don't know that I knew it was,oh, I like that.
I'm not sure.
Okay.
I knew I was supposed to be a teacher.
I had I had worked in Park Park and Rec,and I coached swimming.
I've been a swimmer.
And I'm the oldest child in our family,which makes me ballsy
for seeking the first babysitter.
(10:09):
Yeah. Nurturing, maybe.
The idea of helping a student.
Whether they were a fourth graderor a sixth grader.
To nurture them, too.
We hear this all the time, but it's true.
A better quality of life.
(10:31):
To see if I could have some influenceon them being prepared for life.
Yeah.
And for taking care of themselvesand your families.
Well then here we are at Auburnand that's, that's our job
here for our studentsto have a great student experience
(10:54):
because they put a lot of time, hard workand money into this process.
Dang skippy.
We must make sure that our studentsare ready for this world today,
that they can be nimbleas they go through their life.
(11:15):
That's a good oneand their quality of life.
It is just so importantand one of the hats that I wear
when I'm not in Auburn is,a Community Foundation board member.
For County.
I see the challenges of a rural stateand a rural county
(11:41):
and a rural state.
I think that real. Yeah.
Yeah. That's.
So now as a volunteer there.
But I saw that as a teacher.
So when I look at Auburn I thinkwhat can her students do
in their communities.
(12:01):
In the state of Alabama as a land grant.
That's that's our mission, that'swhy we're here.
Yeah. That's why we're here. Mission.
And I'm very proud to sayI don't think anybody's doing it better.
There's always room for us to improve.
Yeah.
A lot of challengesthat are truly outside our doors.
(12:27):
That's. Yeah.
I want our students to go back.
A lot of people sayI want them to go out into the world.
I don't I want.
I want them to stay close to home.
Us help out.
Mom and dad.
Help out.
Good Ole mom and dad.
They poured into you.
Now you're going to pour in to them. It.
(12:51):
Is 100%.
And it's a hard thingbecause that's not something that like
I know that somethingyou ever going to fully achieve.
Like it's alwayssomething you're working towards.
But you still got to work towards it.
You know, it's oh, you're alwaysthere's always room to grow.
There's always progress to be made.
There's always people to help.
(13:11):
But you gotta keep.
I mean, it's hard when that's like,where's the finish line, I don't know.
Yes. It is really hardwhen the finish line
is is not very clear.
Numberone, it's hard to count your successes.
Yeah.
(13:32):
That finish line isn't very clear.
And for us,we have to keep pushing past that.
So it keeps moving,and the world keeps changing.
And the things that we use usingto meet those goals.
You're changing all around us.
(13:53):
You guys know how fast the world ischanging, though.
Too fast.
I used to feel like I kept up with it.
And then now suddenlyI'm starting to feel
I'm getting a little bit olderand it's like, it's.
The throw in.
But I think when I was born,the idea was that
(14:14):
we would double the knowledgeof the world in 20 years.
It would take 20 years to do that.
This is back 60s JFK era, whatever.
But now look in a nanosecondI mean that happens every week.
(14:35):
Yes. Not for me but for other people.
I mean we have just knowledgeat our fingertips now.
And you can knowledge can double overnightor with the snap of a finger,
but at the same time towe become so dependent on it.
Yeah.
I heard someone describe as,they're talking about Back to the Future,
(14:57):
the movie.
And the thing about all these flying carsand all this stuff,
because the thought was that, like,we would solve the energy
problem, we'd have no it and it would bethat would be solved.
But we didn't solve that problem.
We end up solving information.
That was the problem we solved becausewe have it in our pocket everywhere.
And that's that's just the why.
Like, I think it's funnywatching old movies and so like,
(15:17):
what they think the future looks likeand how different it really is,
is because we solved the problem thatwe didn't think we were going to solve.
We solved the different one,which is a good thing to have done,
but it has definitely made growth.
And that knowledge and that quicknessand change happen so fast.
Now the exponential growth, the,I mean, the time coming at us so fast
(15:41):
and the change is coming at us so quickly.
So I think how very importantit is for us to create critical thinkers
and some one that doesn'tget totally thrown off their game
because.
(16:03):
What, you went to schoolfor the degree you earned,
the things you learned in those classes,that's not going to last for a lifetime
like it didwhen my parents, came here.
That's true.
To have to really be ableto go with it, stay attuned to it.
(16:26):
And it requirescontinue it every day, all day
long of your life.
Oh that's. No. Yeah,that's real true. Yeah.
Speaking of growth and changeand continuing that mission
of furthering education,you and your sisters have teamed up
and you guys have givena generous donation to the university,
(16:48):
to the College of Human Sciences.
They're they're buildinga new state of the art facility that's
named after your mother, which is awesome.
So would you mind speaking on thata little bit?
Why did you guys decideto honor your mother?
And you know why?
The College of Human Sciencesor Mothers of Human Sciences
grant and our,I like to say human
(17:11):
sciences makes the cake of life.
Love that.
Oh, all our other units.
I need to get that on a pillow. Yeah.
That's a we'll do ita podcast extra.
But we do.
We get to food, shelter, clothing.
(17:33):
Oh, in fourth grade, because I taught it.
You guys learn food, shelter, clothing,the necessities for life.
Yeah.
So we start with that.
You know, our flour, our eggs are butter.
Our milk in the College of Human Sciences.
But then we add some great things to that.
We we look at family development.
(17:55):
We look at healthy families.
Families look different.
Every family is different and unique.
There is not one cut out.
That all families did not even close.
That's right. They're all unique.
So we're looking athow do we make sure our children
(18:22):
have the best chance.
Yeah.
From 0 to 5, 95%of brain development occurs.
Don't we need to know that? Right?
Sure we do.
We don't need to.
Just no need to know itin the classrooms at all.
(18:42):
We need to know how to distribute that.
Again back to our state.
In our community so that all of ourchildren have a better head start.
And while we, we do clothingcannot be good looking.
(19:02):
Hey I made one I love it.
Not you know.
And if we're going to eat healthy food,can it be good?
Come on. Hey, look,we recognize where the.
You know, AuburnUniversity is located in the south. Yes.
I will be eating well, I tell you that.
(19:22):
And I will eat it if it tastes good.
That is how it goes.
That food, shelter, clothing,your relationships
with other people, with our community.
We're just knocking it out of the park.
In the College of Human Sciences,mother brought so much of what she learned
as a food to nutrition major,as a home economics teacher
(19:46):
before her four children came.
She she left.
She planted all the seeds andjust about, again,
(20:06):
quality of life things.
She sits right hereevery time I eat a hot dog.
And she's like, yeah.
And so do you.
Do you know what was in it?
Because I don't know what's in a hot dog.
I don't know, it'sanother one of the world's great to say.
Or I choose not to research what's.
(20:27):
That's right.
Ignorance is bliss sometimes,man. It's fine.
So you heard,at the College of Human Sciences.
Did I just see mother's life?
So, I don't know, maybe Marilyn.
What,the college did for her at that time, and,
(20:55):
it's back to the Auburn family.
Nobody does it better.
There's just nobody better than my mom.
Everybody loves her mom.
They should they should they should,but nobody’s mamma is better than my mom.
That's right. That's right.
So it's it'sit it's a good match.
(21:16):
Okay. That works for me.
So you kind of alreadytalked about a little bit but there's such
I just it just it's just oozing from youyou this joy
that you have of giving and helping.
Why, you know, there's so many waysthere are to help.
Why why is it,I guess this the way you choose to help?
(21:37):
And then how would you maybe encourageothers who have opportunities to help?
To do so, to help Auburn,to help your neighbor,
to help whoever.
It's a big one.
I know.
Here.
Just by total accident. Mistake.
You know, somebody reached out,but I started going to women's
(21:57):
philanthropy board meetings with mom.
And it's a great program.
And,I I began to learn things that affect
women and their livesso that they are better stewards
of their time, talent, treasureof their trust and how,
(22:25):
how we can come off the sidelines.
And let me say, I want every personto have their best life.
Oh, man.
And what my best life looks likedoes not have to look like your best life.
(22:47):
My siblings, who I amjust as close to as you can be.
And there's some times that we're so closeand so the same that it's ridiculous
in the since it happened that way.
Freedom for our best life.
(23:11):
Chosen for different paths.
So that should be the same for everyone.
But the gospel according to Beth is.
Oh, yeah. That if you'reon this earth sucking up the air,
it should be better when you leave itthan when you got here.
(23:32):
And everyone has gifts and talents.
It's about finding wherethose gifts and talents best fit.
I don't know thatI'm in the right place at all,
but Auburn's asked me a couple of timesto take on a couple of roles, and
(23:55):
when all one comes knocking on your door,you say they're hard to say no to.
In that I really are. Yeah. Yes.
And the more I've been engaged,the more I have to learn to,
I've heard people I have met,the more I know about our different units
(24:19):
and the great efforts they are making forgood change.
That will come and that will benefitour community, our state and globally.
It's like we can fix it all.
We can fix it all. I believe it now.
(24:41):
I believe it.
Let our people go to work.
Let's havelet's get a lot of grant research money.
Let's look into these things.
Let's be data driven and let'slet's just have tremendous impact, right.
And volunteeringleads to philanthropy very often.
(25:06):
No, that makes sense. Yes.
And so the more you knowabout a good organization,
the easier it is to support itwith your time talent.
Just look different for every generation.
You know right nowphilanthropically at Auburn University.
(25:29):
We're looking at peoplethat are my parents age
where they my generationmy sons generation
and the generations of my niecesand nephews, all of different.
So we have to learn all those languagesand we have to speak to people
(25:52):
where they are and introduce themto the coolest thing going,
which is Auburn University.
I, I'm in support of that.
I mean it's it's such a cool thingbecause I found
I had no idea what to do in my lifewhen I went to Auburn.
I, I truly had no idea.
I was like, I was I'll figure it out.
(26:13):
And I did, against all odds, I did.
I found like my life's passion and like Ifound what I was put on this earth to do.
Yeah.
You know, I went from whatboth of you just said.
I keep thinking of when I came to Auburn,I very quickly learned a saying.
If you have Auburn,Auburn will love you back.
And I've heard that the entire time.
It's true.
And like Carter said, he leftand then came back Auburn.
(26:36):
I, I never left when I graduatedand so it's it's true.
And you know, just to kind of wrap thingsup, I think that you're
the embodiment of, you know, giving backand and loving Auburn back.
And right before you came in here earlier,there was a
one of the student workers in the spacethat we're in here in the student center.
(26:56):
She said she actually was on the podcastand we told her it was you.
And she said, oh, one of my best friendsworks as a major in human sciences.
Like, make sure I don'tthank you like they're bad.
So yeah, that was the five minuteswhere you walked in.
And I know so many students.
I have a lot of friendswho are alumni of human sciences,
and they're so passionate and so proudto be from the College of Human Sciences.
(27:18):
So, just on their behalf and on Auburn'sbehalf, just thank you
for all that you do for this university.
That just means the world to Carterand I just a whole bunch of Auburn
men and women.
Auburn has allowedme to live my best life.
I think thatand that's, you know,
I think I could say the same.
(27:38):
I hope you know,and that's I'm not even 30.
And I feel very confidentin saying that I'm close.
I'm mad at you, so don't worry about,hey, I move.
And that's it's a really awesome thingthat it's allowed, like, me
to find my passion. And Dalton,I know you feel the same way.
And there's so many people,coworkers and friends.
(27:58):
Like, I know so many people that wentto Auburn who stayed in Auburn, who
you can't make somebody who knows Auburn.
It just cannot stop talking about it,you know?
And, I lived when I,when I moved away for a couple years.
And I live in ayou see, I lived up in South Carolina
and I see Auburn shirts all the time.
I mean, it's just peoplehave this reverence and this love for it.
(28:19):
It's just different.
You know, it's it's very different.
Is it Pat Dye who has the Alabama fanslove Alabama football.
Auburn fans love Auburn.
I believe it is packed.
And it's so profound and so true.
And it's and it's it's there'sI just I'm so thankful for Auburn.
And that's why I wanted to come backand try to make it
make people believe about Auburnthe way I feel about.
(28:40):
All right.
Hey, next time I come here.
Oh, oh, have the questions.
Oh, perfect.
That's a good story.
Hey, I mean, if you want to.
You want to come back for that?
I will, I will answer any questions.
You know, they pick two peoplewho are unwilling to stop talking.
(29:01):
Yeah.
To be on this thing.
So, yeah, it'sbring it on a good podcast.
It gets turned on its headevery now and then. We're the.
So I, I, Ithink that was a little bit of a fear
when me and Dalton took this thingand kind of started doing it is because,
by the book might not be the best wayto describe the two of us.
(29:21):
We get it done. But.
And mine's a little bit over here.
It's like not always, you know? It's.
It's fine, I promise.
Well, a, we'rejust getting on in time, but, like, again,
just like Dalton said, once said,thank you.
Thank you for coming.
Thanks for spending some timewith us and chit chat with us.
(29:42):
We had some great timeand it's just it's so invigorating hearing
someone talk about Auburnthe way you talk about Auburn.
You know, it's it'sI take it for granted sometimes.
I'm here every day, you know.
And I get to see it every day.
And I live it every day.
And it's it'shard to take it for granted to hear
someone talk about Auburnthe way you talk about Auburn.
So thank you very much for that.
That's just it's it's reinvigorate my dayand my week, which is great.
(30:07):
And just thank you very much.
Thank you for joining us onEverything Auburn!
My name is Carter. He's Dalton.
Thank you Beth for joining us so much.
Thank you today.
And thank you for listening.
If you want to hear some of our olderepisodes,
we get a whole bunch of episodes.
We talked to so many differentawesome members of the Auburn family.
Go visit our podcast hub.
Go listen to us on podcast.
(30:27):
Watch us on YouTube if you want to seeour pretty shining faces.
And we'll be back againnext month with another wonderful
member of the Auburn family.
Until then, WarEagle, War Eagle, War Eagle!
Hey, everybody, War Eagle!Welcome back to the Everything
Auburn podcast Dalton Odom here.
And I just want to give a huge shout outto my co-host Carter Gustin
held the fort down.
Couldn't be here last time,but he handled it like a champ.
Welcome back from injured reserve Dalton.
I am glad.
I think everybody involved, myselfincluded, am glad
(00:26):
that I am not the solo host anymore.
It was fun, I enjoyed it.
I'm glad that you're back.
I'm glad that Responsibility'snot all my shoulders anymore
because I've did it once.
Let's come back and keep doing ittogether.
I'm good. It was fun, but I'm good.
Yeah, that was,we dont have to get into it.
(00:48):
We're back.
You're back!You're back in. You're all good.
Healthy as can be, as can be.
But we're just chugging along.
Happy to be here today. To be back.
We have an incredible,incredible guests with us here today.
We have miss BethThorne Stukes with us here today.
The sticks.
How are you? I'm doing great. Is going in.
How are you guys?
We're doing great.
(01:09):
Welcome to the show. Glad you're here.
Joining us on our rinky dinklittle production we got over here.
It's my first production studio,so here's fine.
Hey. I'm glad.
Well,I am honored that you have decided to
to to bless us with your first podcastexperience.
My pleasure.
Well, welcome to it.
What we're doing iswe just want to get to know you better.
(01:32):
Right?
You've had such an incredible impacton Auburn, and, I think it's really great
what you've done.
And we want to get to know youa little bit better.
One thing that we mean, Daltonboth shares,
we have a deep love for Auburn.
And I think that's what we.
That's why we're both here.
We both graduated from Auburn.
I left Auburn a while ago, andI came back because I loved it so much.
(01:53):
And I think the first thingI want to know is why?
Why do you love Auburn so much?
You have you have a deep and caringand giving heart towards Auburn.
And it's clear how much you love it.
Where's that coming from?
For a long time, I didn't have a choice.
It was, you know, from birth.
It was a family.
My mother had the most wonderful timeof her life as a student here at Auburn.
(02:19):
And, my dad came for a year or twobefore he changed majors.
And went into dentistryinstead of textiles.
But, we were here a lotfor football, and we followed that.
So I really didn't have much exposureto anything else.
(02:43):
To tell you the truth,I mean, it was just.
Okay, here it is. This is us.
This is our family. Let's roll with it.
Do you have any good football memoriesfrom back in the day?
Stick out.
We. There were some different playersthat we loved.
I loved, loved like me.
(03:03):
My brother loved Mickey Zofko.
Later, sister.
Babs loved Fast Freddie,like we would just.
I guess that could becomea little bit of a competition.
Oh, yeah.
But the main thing,and I think his ties to your question is.
(03:24):
Or it's just always been a family thing.
Oh, yeah.
But, you know, back to the daysthat daddy just said get in the car.
And so we did.
And we arrived at. Indeed. Yeah.
And then when we when we were olderand we had choices of what to do
(03:49):
with our weekends and our Saturday,rarely did one of the four of us
chooseto not be with our siblings and all.
This is where we gathered my sixth grade.
Students used to say,why do you love Auburn
football so much?
(04:12):
Well, y'all,it's really not the football that I love
is the fact that when I get there,my people are going to.
Yeah,and we're going to spend the weekend.
Yeah, well, we're talking,we're talking,
what, two episodes ago to Kurt Sasser,and he has
this thing he says all the time, which is,Oh, gosh, I'm going to butcher it.
Trying to quote him so that,I know Auburn and Auburn knows me,
(04:35):
and it's that family thingwe talked to him.
We've talked about with every guestwe've had, on the podcast thus far about
how much of a family thing it is.
It's something that,I mean, we all feel it, and it's
we people always talk about Auburnin such a reverent way, and it's like,
I don't really know how to explain it,but it's it's that it's family.
It's, we're talking about in the officewith somebody that day and, it's like,
(04:55):
you know, when you're like,thinking about a meal, your mom or
your grandmother used to make something,and I miss that.
It's like that feeling you have,that's all. Brick.
I agree, the a lot of people,I think, around the country at different
universe states refer to their familyand the closeness in their ties.
I'm not sure they all live it outas well as we did.
(05:18):
Right?
I think I would agree with that naturallyto us. And
from the student experience, people,you know
have had wonderful student experiencesthat generations
to the fact that we'vewe've had character
building sports experiences.
(05:40):
You know, you have to, you have toget in there and hang in there, right?
Yeah.
It's it's a fight, isn't it?
So, you know, and I'm, I'mspeaking with,
quite a few years of experience on that.
Okay.
So, you know,you're talking about your family.
(06:01):
What?
I'm talking about the Auburn family.
A what would you say to those people?
Were the biggest mentors in your lifethat got you to do where you're at now?
Is leading the foundationboard for the university
that that's the biggest influencethat they that they play,
the biggest influence, and wantingto give back in the way that you do now.
Well, the parental influence has beenhuge and I am so fortunate
(06:23):
that, had parentsthat were engaged in our local community,
local church.
So, I witnessedthe fact that my parents were engaged
in this they period,and that they realized
how important communionwas, big time.
(06:48):
Yeah.
And, so they obviously or my,my greatest mentors, but I've had
my aunts and uncles were great mentors.
I mean, we have an extendedfamily business, that is,
we have some childrennow that are fifth generation.
They're obviously not working.
(07:10):
They're still in their cribs.
But congratulations!When you own a family business,
the the sacrifices that have been made.
Long days at the office.
I can imagine my aunts took on a greaterresponsibility at their homes.
(07:33):
You know, so I got I got to seewhat family looks like,
what extended family looks like.
And then I have been really blessedwith, great, strong
(07:54):
women in my life.
And, I don't carry the flag of.
Look at me, hear me roar.
It is just that.
So I taught school.
There's so manyfemales in that profession.
And when I retired fromteaching school
(08:14):
I became involved in some Bible studieswith strong women,
women who had really had somesome tragedies,
some hard situations in their life.
And I looked at them with their joyand I looked at them
with the accomplishmentsthey had in our community.
(08:38):
So there was no excuse.
They pulled no card on you for anything.
So my, my example was and my mentors,they just been dive in and let's get it
done.
Job's gotta get done.
Someone's got to do it.
Yeah that makes sense.
So it's interesting.
So my wife is as a former teacher, and,I know a big part of
(09:03):
being a teacheris just love and care for these kiddos.
You know, whichever age it is.
I know it's a big part of it.
From my wife, and having already heard youtalk, can tell it's a big part of it,
for you. And thenformer teacher.
Retired teacher. And now.
But you're still giving back to students.
You're still creating opportunitiesfor students,
(09:24):
just different types of students,you know?
Now they're Auburn College students,and it's just it's that same,
that same kind of process,just a different or same result,
different process, I guess.
Is that kind of alwaysbeen some of the bleeding heart for you
with these, these kids and children's andand education and furthering education,
creating opportunities for studentsand the future.
(09:47):
I don't know that I knew it was,oh, I like that.
I'm not sure.
Okay.
I knew I was supposed to be a teacher.
I had I had worked in Park Park and Rec,and I coached swimming.
I've been a swimmer.
And I'm the oldest child in our family,which makes me ballsy
for seeking the first babysitter.
(10:09):
Yeah. Nurturing, maybe.
The idea of helping a student.
Whether they were a fourth graderor a sixth grader.
To nurture them, too.
We hear this all the time, but it's true.
A better quality of life.
(10:31):
To see if I could have some influenceon them being prepared for life.
Yeah.
And for taking care of themselvesand your families.
Well then here we are at Auburnand that's, that's our job
here for our studentsto have a great student experience
(10:54):
because they put a lot of time, hard workand money into this process.
Dang skippy.
We must make sure that our studentsare ready for this world today,
that they can be nimbleas they go through their life.
(11:15):
That's a good oneand their quality of life.
It is just so importantand one of the hats that I wear
when I'm not in Auburn is,a Community Foundation board member.
For County.
I see the challenges of a rural stateand a rural county
(11:41):
and a rural state.
I think that real. Yeah.
Yeah. That's.
So now as a volunteer there.
But I saw that as a teacher.
So when I look at Auburn I thinkwhat can her students do
in their communities.
(12:01):
In the state of Alabama as a land grant.
That's that's our mission, that'swhy we're here.
Yeah. That's why we're here. Mission.
And I'm very proud to sayI don't think anybody's doing it better.
There's always room for us to improve.
Yeah.
A lot of challengesthat are truly outside our doors.
(12:27):
That's. Yeah.
I want our students to go back.
A lot of people sayI want them to go out into the world.
I don't I want.
I want them to stay close to home.
Us help out.
Mom and dad.
Help out.
Good Ole mom and dad.
They poured into you.
Now you're going to pour in to them. It.
(12:51):
Is 100%.
And it's a hard thingbecause that's not something that like
I know that somethingyou ever going to fully achieve.
Like it's alwayssomething you're working towards.
But you still got to work towards it.
You know, it's oh, you're alwaysthere's always room to grow.
There's always progress to be made.
There's always people to help.
(13:11):
But you gotta keep.
I mean, it's hard when that's like,where's the finish line, I don't know.
Yes. It is really hardwhen the finish line
is is not very clear.
Numberone, it's hard to count your successes.
Yeah.
(13:32):
That finish line isn't very clear.
And for us,we have to keep pushing past that.
So it keeps moving,and the world keeps changing.
And the things that we use usingto meet those goals.
You're changing all around us.
(13:53):
You guys know how fast the world ischanging, though.
Too fast.
I used to feel like I kept up with it.
And then now suddenlyI'm starting to feel
I'm getting a little bit olderand it's like, it's.
The throw in.
But I think when I was born,the idea was that
(14:14):
we would double the knowledgeof the world in 20 years.
It would take 20 years to do that.
This is back 60s JFK era, whatever.
But now look in a nanosecondI mean that happens every week.
(14:35):
Yes. Not for me but for other people.
I mean we have just knowledgeat our fingertips now.
And you can knowledge can double overnightor with the snap of a finger,
but at the same time towe become so dependent on it.
Yeah.
I heard someone describe as,they're talking about Back to the Future,
(14:57):
the movie.
And the thing about all these flying carsand all this stuff,
because the thought was that, like,we would solve the energy
problem, we'd have no it and it would bethat would be solved.
But we didn't solve that problem.
We end up solving information.
That was the problem we solved becausewe have it in our pocket everywhere.
And that's that's just the why.
Like, I think it's funnywatching old movies and so like,
(15:17):
what they think the future looks likeand how different it really is,
is because we solved the problem thatwe didn't think we were going to solve.
We solved the different one,which is a good thing to have done,
but it has definitely made growth.
And that knowledge and that quicknessand change happen so fast.
Now the exponential growth, the,I mean, the time coming at us so fast
(15:41):
and the change is coming at us so quickly.
So I think how very importantit is for us to create critical thinkers
and some one that doesn'tget totally thrown off their game
because.
(16:03):
What, you went to schoolfor the degree you earned,
the things you learned in those classes,that's not going to last for a lifetime
like it didwhen my parents, came here.
That's true.
To have to really be ableto go with it, stay attuned to it.
(16:26):
And it requirescontinue it every day, all day
long of your life.
Oh that's. No. Yeah,that's real true. Yeah.
Speaking of growth and changeand continuing that mission
of furthering education,you and your sisters have teamed up
and you guys have givena generous donation to the university,
(16:48):
to the College of Human Sciences.
They're they're buildinga new state of the art facility that's
named after your mother, which is awesome.
So would you mind speaking on thata little bit?
Why did you guys decideto honor your mother?
And you know why?
The College of Human Sciencesor Mothers of Human Sciences
grant and our,I like to say human
(17:11):
sciences makes the cake of life.
Love that.
Oh, all our other units.
I need to get that on a pillow. Yeah.
That's a we'll do ita podcast extra.
But we do.
We get to food, shelter, clothing.
(17:33):
Oh, in fourth grade, because I taught it.
You guys learn food, shelter, clothing,the necessities for life.
Yeah.
So we start with that.
You know, our flour, our eggs are butter.
Our milk in the College of Human Sciences.
But then we add some great things to that.
We we look at family development.
(17:55):
We look at healthy families.
Families look different.
Every family is different and unique.
There is not one cut out.
That all families did not even close.
That's right. They're all unique.
So we're looking athow do we make sure our children
(18:22):
have the best chance.
Yeah.
From 0 to 5, 95%of brain development occurs.
Don't we need to know that? Right?
Sure we do.
We don't need to.
Just no need to know itin the classrooms at all.
(18:42):
We need to know how to distribute that.
Again back to our state.
In our community so that all of ourchildren have a better head start.
And while we, we do clothingcannot be good looking.
(19:02):
Hey I made one I love it.
Not you know.
And if we're going to eat healthy food,can it be good?
Come on. Hey, look,we recognize where the.
You know, AuburnUniversity is located in the south. Yes.
I will be eating well, I tell you that.
(19:22):
And I will eat it if it tastes good.
That is how it goes.
That food, shelter, clothing,your relationships
with other people, with our community.
We're just knocking it out of the park.
In the College of Human Sciences,mother brought so much of what she learned
as a food to nutrition major,as a home economics teacher
(19:46):
before her four children came.
She she left.
She planted all the seeds andjust about, again,
(20:06):
quality of life things.
She sits right hereevery time I eat a hot dog.
And she's like, yeah.
And so do you.
Do you know what was in it?
Because I don't know what's in a hot dog.
I don't know, it'sanother one of the world's great to say.
Or I choose not to research what's.
(20:27):
That's right.
Ignorance is bliss sometimes,man. It's fine.
So you heard,at the College of Human Sciences.
Did I just see mother's life?
So, I don't know, maybe Marilyn.
What,the college did for her at that time, and,
(20:55):
it's back to the Auburn family.
Nobody does it better.
There's just nobody better than my mom.
Everybody loves her mom.
They should they should they should,but nobody’s mamma is better than my mom.
That's right. That's right.
So it's it'sit it's a good match.
(21:16):
Okay. That works for me.
So you kind of alreadytalked about a little bit but there's such
I just it just it's just oozing from youyou this joy
that you have of giving and helping.
Why, you know, there's so many waysthere are to help.
Why why is it,I guess this the way you choose to help?
(21:37):
And then how would you maybe encourageothers who have opportunities to help?
To do so, to help Auburn,to help your neighbor,
to help whoever.
It's a big one.
I know.
Here.
Just by total accident. Mistake.
You know, somebody reached out,but I started going to women's
(21:57):
philanthropy board meetings with mom.
And it's a great program.
And,I I began to learn things that affect
women and their livesso that they are better stewards
of their time, talent, treasureof their trust and how,
(22:25):
how we can come off the sidelines.
And let me say, I want every personto have their best life.
Oh, man.
And what my best life looks likedoes not have to look like your best life.
(22:47):
My siblings, who I amjust as close to as you can be.
And there's some times that we're so closeand so the same that it's ridiculous
in the since it happened that way.
Freedom for our best life.
(23:11):
Chosen for different paths.
So that should be the same for everyone.
But the gospel according to Beth is.
Oh, yeah. That if you'reon this earth sucking up the air,
it should be better when you leave itthan when you got here.
(23:32):
And everyone has gifts and talents.
It's about finding wherethose gifts and talents best fit.
I don't know thatI'm in the right place at all,
but Auburn's asked me a couple of timesto take on a couple of roles, and
(23:55):
when all one comes knocking on your door,you say they're hard to say no to.
In that I really are. Yeah. Yes.
And the more I've been engaged,the more I have to learn to,
I've heard people I have met,the more I know about our different units
(24:19):
and the great efforts they are making forgood change.
That will come and that will benefitour community, our state and globally.
It's like we can fix it all.
We can fix it all. I believe it now.
(24:41):
I believe it.
Let our people go to work.
Let's havelet's get a lot of grant research money.
Let's look into these things.
Let's be data driven and let'slet's just have tremendous impact, right.
And volunteeringleads to philanthropy very often.
(25:06):
No, that makes sense. Yes.
And so the more you knowabout a good organization,
the easier it is to support itwith your time talent.
Just look different for every generation.
You know right nowphilanthropically at Auburn University.
(25:29):
We're looking at peoplethat are my parents age
where they my generationmy sons generation
and the generations of my niecesand nephews, all of different.
So we have to learn all those languagesand we have to speak to people
(25:52):
where they are and introduce themto the coolest thing going,
which is Auburn University.
I, I'm in support of that.
I mean it's it's such a cool thingbecause I found
I had no idea what to do in my lifewhen I went to Auburn.
I, I truly had no idea.
I was like, I was I'll figure it out.
(26:13):
And I did, against all odds, I did.
I found like my life's passion and like Ifound what I was put on this earth to do.
Yeah.
You know, I went from whatboth of you just said.
I keep thinking of when I came to Auburn,I very quickly learned a saying.
If you have Auburn,Auburn will love you back.
And I've heard that the entire time.
It's true.
And like Carter said, he leftand then came back Auburn.
(26:36):
I, I never left when I graduatedand so it's it's true.
And you know, just to kind of wrap thingsup, I think that you're
the embodiment of, you know, giving backand and loving Auburn back.
And right before you came in here earlier,there was a
one of the student workers in the spacethat we're in here in the student center.
(26:56):
She said she actually was on the podcastand we told her it was you.
And she said, oh, one of my best friendsworks as a major in human sciences.
Like, make sure I don'tthank you like they're bad.
So yeah, that was the five minuteswhere you walked in.
And I know so many students.
I have a lot of friendswho are alumni of human sciences,
and they're so passionate and so proudto be from the College of Human Sciences.
(27:18):
So, just on their behalf and on Auburn'sbehalf, just thank you
for all that you do for this university.
That just means the world to Carterand I just a whole bunch of Auburn
men and women.
Auburn has allowedme to live my best life.
I think thatand that's, you know,
I think I could say the same.
(27:38):
I hope you know,and that's I'm not even 30.
And I feel very confidentin saying that I'm close.
I'm mad at you, so don't worry about,hey, I move.
And that's it's a really awesome thingthat it's allowed, like, me
to find my passion. And Dalton,I know you feel the same way.
And there's so many people,coworkers and friends.
(27:58):
Like, I know so many people that wentto Auburn who stayed in Auburn, who
you can't make somebody who knows Auburn.
It just cannot stop talking about it,you know?
And, I lived when I,when I moved away for a couple years.
And I live in ayou see, I lived up in South Carolina
and I see Auburn shirts all the time.
I mean, it's just peoplehave this reverence and this love for it.
(28:19):
It's just different.
You know, it's it's very different.
Is it Pat Dye who has the Alabama fanslove Alabama football.
Auburn fans love Auburn.
I believe it is packed.
And it's so profound and so true.
And it's and it's it's there'sI just I'm so thankful for Auburn.
And that's why I wanted to come backand try to make it
make people believe about Auburnthe way I feel about.
(28:40):
All right.
Hey, next time I come here.
Oh, oh, have the questions.
Oh, perfect.
That's a good story.
Hey, I mean, if you want to.
You want to come back for that?
I will, I will answer any questions.
You know, they pick two peoplewho are unwilling to stop talking.
(29:01):
Yeah.
To be on this thing.
So, yeah, it'sbring it on a good podcast.
It gets turned on its headevery now and then. We're the.
So I, I, Ithink that was a little bit of a fear
when me and Dalton took this thingand kind of started doing it is because,
by the book might not be the best wayto describe the two of us.
(29:21):
We get it done. But.
And mine's a little bit over here.
It's like not always, you know? It's.
It's fine, I promise.
Well, a, we'rejust getting on in time, but, like, again,
just like Dalton said, once said,thank you.
Thank you for coming.
Thanks for spending some timewith us and chit chat with us.
(29:42):
We had some great timeand it's just it's so invigorating hearing
someone talk about Auburnthe way you talk about Auburn.
You know, it's it'sI take it for granted sometimes.
I'm here every day, you know.
And I get to see it every day.
And I live it every day.
And it's it'shard to take it for granted to hear
someone talk about Auburnthe way you talk about Auburn.
So thank you very much for that.
That's just it's it's reinvigorate my dayand my week, which is great.
(30:07):
And just thank you very much.
Thank you for joining us onEverything Auburn!
My name is Carter. He's Dalton.
Thank you Beth for joining us so much.
Thank you today.
And thank you for listening.
If you want to hear some of our olderepisodes,
we get a whole bunch of episodes.
We talked to so many differentawesome members of the Auburn family.
Go visit our podcast hub.
Go listen to us on podcast.
(30:27):
Watch us on YouTube if you want to seeour pretty shining faces.
And we'll be back againnext month with another wonderful
member of the Auburn family.
Until then, WarEagle, War Eagle, War Eagle!
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