At 2 p.m. in the Auburn Arena, 681 Auburn students received their diplomas officially graduating from the University and becoming alumni.
The colleges included in the afternoon's ceremony included the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, the College of Human Sciences, the School of Nursing and the College of Science and Mathematics.
The speaker for the second ceremony, Susan Story, is the same speaker as the earlier commencement ceremony. Story is a 1981 graduate and president and CEO of American Water Works.
Story served as CEO of American Water Works, the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company since May 2014, and she spent 31 years at Southern Company, where she served as CEO of Southern Company Services and president and CEO of Gulf Power Company.
Story also serves as the lead director for Raymond James Financial, is on the Dominion Energy board of directors and is on the Moffitt Cancer Center Board of Advisors.
During her commencement speech, Story shared her story as a first-generation college student in her family and the work it took for her to reach the place she’s at today.
“There are some out there that will say that the American dream is dead," Story said during her speech. "They’re wrong, it’s not, and I’m a living example.”
The College of Architecture, Design and Construction awarded 149 degrees this afternoon. The College of Human Sciences awarded 136 degrees, the schools of Nursing awarded 97 degrees and the College of Science and Mathematics awarded 299 degrees.
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