AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. With more than 25, 000 students and 1, 200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state.

In 1892, the college became the first four-year coeducational school 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.

Auburn has traditionally been rated highly by academic ranking services, and has been listed as one of the top 50 public universities for 17 consecutive years.

Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1872, the college became the state's first public land-grant university under the Morrill Act and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.

Auburn University was chartered by the Alabama Legislature as the East Alabama Male College on May 6, 1856, coming under the guidance of the Methodist Church in 1859.

The first president of the institution was Reverend William J. Sasnett, 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 Civil War and the Reconstruction-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 Confederate Army, and "Old Main" served as a hospital for Confederate wounded.