Sunday was another day of commencement ceremonies as the University awarded about 1,020 more degrees to new graduates.
The Colleges of Education and Human Sciences and the School of Nursing held their graduation ceremonies at 1 p.m. The College of Agriculture, the College of Architecture, Design and Construction and the College of Sciences and Mathematics held their ceremonies at 5 p.m.
Audiences crowded into the Auburn Arena to hear speakers such as President Jay Gouge and 1969 graduate David Housel, a former Plainsman adviser and athletics director.
"Today you'll be joining a group of Auburn graduates that goes back to 1856," Gouge said to the students.
Housel, former news editor for The Huntsville News, journalism professor from 1972-1980, athletics director from 1994-2005 and author of six books such as "Auburn Saturdays to Remember," took the stage as he began his commencement speech.
Housel encouraged students not to give up on four main things: themselves, their fellow man, learning and Auburn.
"Never give up on yourself," Housel told graduates. "You're capable of making everything you touch better. Do it."
He then told graduates to never give up on their fellow man, or the power of forgiveness. Housel quoted Shakespeare, saying humans were not made to forget, but to forgive.
"In forgiving we no longer allow the hurt, grudges and anger of the past, the scars and bruises of the past, to cripple our relationships with others," Housel said. "And we no longer allow the past to rob us of the joys and happiness the future is sure to hold."
Housel continued by telling the crowd never to give up on learning. He told graduates that earning a degree doesn't mean they have all the answers, but rather that they have successfully completed a course of study that has prepared them to start looking for the answers.
"This is but a beginning," Housel said.
Lastly, Housel encouraged graduates not to give up on their alma mater, Auburn University.
For more than 160 years, he told graduates, Auburn men and women have tried to make auburn better, awaiting the next generation's arrival. He then said that it was now the graduates' responsibility to make Auburn better for their sons and daughters.
"Auburn has made you who you are," Housel said, wrapping up the commencement speech. "Believe in Auburn, love it and make it better."
On Saturday, the University awarded about 1,160 new degrees to students in the College of Business, University College, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.
The College of Liberal Arts will award about 474 degrees tomorrow during its ceremony at 10 a.m.
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