A resolution was passed by the Alabama House of Representatives encouraging the Board of Trustees to name the center of student life after Dean Emeritus James E. Foy almost 30 years ago. Last week history repeated itself.
A resolution to name the new Student Center after Foy passed unanimously in the Alabama House of Representatives.
"I think the people of the house felt like what Auburn has done is wrong and Dean Foy's name needs to be restored to the new building," said Representative Barry Mask, who was one of the presenters of the resolution that passed in a vote 99-0.
Mask, an Auburn alumnus and first Aubie, said he thinks the unanimous vote will send a message to the Board of Trustees.
"I don't know why the administration is being so hardheaded about this," Mask said. "It would be a win-win situation to go ahead and name the building for Dean Foy and if a donor comes along later add their name to it."
A similar resolution did not pass in the SGA Senate this November.
"I think it's vindication for me and the 10 other senators knowing that we weren't alone in our fight," said former SGA senator Brandon Demyan who presented the SGA resolution.
Former SGA President Lauren Hayes said the resolution is a student issue, not a legislative issue.
"It's not taxpayers' money that's going toward it," Hayes said. "I think, not to say that the legislature didn't spend a lot of time on it, but I think the students really studied both sides of the issue."
Demyan said while the resolution is not a law, it is a recommendation.
Auburn University President Jay Gogue said the naming of buildings is an issue involving the BOT and they will consider the resolution before their next meeting.
While the issue fell out of the spotlight for a while, Demyan said the resolution has given it new energy.
"For a while there, with the end of the semester and everything, we kind of went silent really because there wasn't anything happening that we knew of," said Nathan Payne, creator of the Facebook group, Petition to Save Foy.
More than 3,000 students have joined the group.
"Hopefully this will actually encourage more people to join and to continue spreading the message," said Payne, who graduated from Auburn in December in political science.
Hayes said she thinks the new SGA Senate will concentrate on other issues.
"They're probably not going to spend a great deal of time on it because there are really just a lot of issues they want to focus on," Hayes said. "Since this one just was focused upon a few months ago, and we really spent a lot of time on it."
Payne said he's glad the resolution is bringing more attention to the issue.
"This is truly a great way to continue his legacy long into the future at Auburn," Payne said. "That's really the whole thing that we've been saying since we first started this movement and we've just kind of perplexed as to how anybody could really be against it."
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