A tradition born of Petrie’s pen, the Auburn Creed has an extensive presence on Auburn’s campus. In celebration of the Creed, the Office of Student Conduct began launching an annual Be The Creed campaign during the 2015-2016 school year.
“The goal for the campaign is to promote honesty, respect, and good decision making with Auburn students.” said Allison Moran, Coordinator of Student Conduct and head of the Be the Creed campaign.
One significant component of the campaign is the selection of a Be The Creed Honoree. Be the Creed Honorees are nominated and chosen students who reflect the values of the Creed. Faculty, staff, or students may nominate a potential Be The Creed Honoree through the Office of Student Conduct. The nominations, due in mid-February, are then reviewed by a selection committee who names the Honoree(s).
In the two years since the award’s inception, there have been three Honorees: Brian Westbrook, Shelby Segrest, and Curry Cates.
“In 2016 we had two Honorees, in 2017 we had one Honoree, and I think it will depend on the selection pool for how many, if we have one or two, Honorees we have for this coming year.” Moran said.
Brian Westbrook was nominated for the 2016 Be The Creed Honoree award by his advisor in COSAM for working with other students to visit people in the hospital with extended stays who would not otherwise be expecting visitors.
“I think Auburn men and women are among the finest in the world.” Westbrook said. “There are many deserving students at Auburn doing everything from providing food to the food insecure in Auburn and Opelika to running charities across the world. It is an honor to be recognized among such a great group.”
Westbrook graduated from Auburn in 2016 and is now a UAB medical student.
“I think the values exemplified - hard work, honesty, sympathy, respect, helpfulness, obedience and good sportsmanship - are universal.” Westbrook said. “You will never be frowned on for your hard work, your sympathy toward your fellow man, your honesty and so forth. Recognizing and promoting those values are important.”
Also designated as an Honoree in 2016, Shelby Segrest was selected for her work as Vice-President of Best Buddies of Auburn, an organization that pairs college students with disabled people in the community.
“Until I became an honoree, I never put much thought into whether or not I was living out the Auburn Creed and I think many Auburn Students are like that.” Segrest said. “I simply did what The Lord had called me to do by loving others in the same way that Christ has.”
Segrest graduated in 2017 and is currently finishing up a six-month internship in Uganda with Four Corners Ministries.
“God gives us different skills and gifts and when we use these gifts, we tend to live out different parts of the Creed.” Segrest said. “Whether we are working skillfully, behaving honestly and truthfully, being obedient, or showing sympathy to others, all of us have the ability to live out the Creed by doing what God has called us to.”
Curry Cates, current senior, earned the honor in 2017 after he completed a peripheral stem cell donation to a young man in Paris with acute myelogenous leukemia through Be The Match, a national marrow donation program.
“Primarily, I believe it is crucial to put others before yourself; the so called ‘human touch.’” Cates said. “By putting others before yourself you are able to serve in ways that you couldn’t imagine.”
Living these words, Cates traveled to Washington, D.C., to make his donation.
“I believe the Creed is something that stays with you for life, even long after your time at Auburn has come to an end.” Cates said. “The Creed lays out a ‘map,’ if you will, of how each Auburn Tiger should strive to live. It is our responsibility as Auburn men and women to live as the Creed should have us to live and to shed only positive light on the University that we all love.”
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