Auburn alumni describe experience of studying law in Tuscaloosa

Many Auburn graduates choose to continue their education by going to graduate school, and many of them choose to move to another school. Currently, 34 Auburn graduates have decided to study law a few hours away at the University of Alabama’s law school.

“They want Auburn students because Auburn students end up being some of the best students here, being tremendous assets at the school,” Collin Keller said.

Keller is in his second year of law school at Alabama and graduated Auburn with a bachelor of arts in political science.

“The law school is on the periphery in some ways of the University of Alabama’s campus,” said Keller, “The undergrad and graduate school experiences in and of themselves, are going to be inherently different.”

Richmond Gunter graduated in spring 2015 with a bachelor of arts in finance and is now in his third year of law school at Alabama. Gunter was Auburn's SGA’s treasurer from March 2014 to March 2015.

Law school students at Alabama typically do not go to Alabama’s main campus area. “You can basically live at the law school,” said Kristen Vigilant, “you have lockers, you have the café, you honestly don’t have to leave.”

Vigilant graduated from Auburn in the spring of 2015 with a B.A. in political science, and she is now in her third year of studying law.

“We have an Auburn group, which is neat,” Keller said. “It is special to have a group of people who are now in law school who all went to Auburn, and you share that bond.”

Keller said that the Auburn alumni often watch Auburn football together, and they take an annual photo in front of the law school in Auburn apparel.

“We go out to the front of the law school on one of the main streets, and, you know, people will honk; they will yell out the window at us,” Jake MacKay said. "Of course, even on campus, people will give you a hard time about it, but you’re surrounded by Alabama fans, so what do you expect?”

MacKay graduated from Auburn in the spring of 2016 with a B.A. in mechanical engineering, and he is currently in his second year of law school.

MacKay said that a lot of law students will go to baseball games as a study break, and Vigilant said that she has gone to the student bar association’s tailgates.

“At Alabama it’s just huge, and [tailgating] is so spread out; its across the whole campus, and it has a different feeling,” Vigilant said.

MacKay said that gameday at the University has a different atmosphere compared to Auburn’s.

“It’s much more football oriented than tailgating oriented,” MacKay said, “they still tailgate, but everybody’s there for the football game.”

Vigilant said that Auburn alumni in their second and third years will help out former Auburn students during their first year.

“On Wednesday afternoon, we’re all getting together with the [first year students] to help them understand how to study for finals,” Vigilant said.

Keller said that the Tuscaloosa amphitheater and the Black Warrior are the two things he likes most about Tuscaloosa.

“One of the biggest things I like is, one, the river,” MacKay said. “The river’s beautiful, you know, it kind of pushes right up against campus. There’s a river walk.”

Vigilant also said that the river is one of her favorite parts about the University of Alabama.

“The food scene in Tuscaloosa is actually pretty impressive,” said Vigilant. “I think some of the Birmingham 'new foodie' scene kind of seeped into Tuscaloosa a little bit.”

“They have an outdoor amphitheater that’s on the river,“ MacKay said. “All of these big name concerts come in, Willie Nelson was here a couple weeks ago.”

The Tuscaloosa amphitheater is located only a few minutes from Alabama’s campus and holds 7,470 seats.

“To me, Tuscaloosa and Auburn couldn’t be any more different," MacKay said. "Auburn has this small town feel where you feel like you can walk anywhere. At Tuscaloosa, it feels like the campus is a campus surrounded by an actual city, and then, in Auburn, it kind of feels like Auburn and the town are kind of one.”

Over 50 percent of Alabama’s student population is from out of state, and MacKay said that this creates a different culture from Auburn.

“That really changes the feel of the student population,” MacKay said, “where at Auburn you have a little bit more of the down-home southern feel to the school.”

“I miss my classmates and my friends more than anything,” MacKay said, “I just miss the charm of the town and being able to walk everywhere.”

Keller said that two thing he misses most from Auburn is the “camaraderie and friendships” and “the friendliness of the town.”