Students, teachers
On ring night, students can choose to have their rings placed in a container that is rolled over the seal from 6:56 p.m., or 18:56 in military time, until the current graduation year. While the rings are over the seal, they absorb the history of Auburn as well as the famous curse, held deep within the seal.
A few days after the ceremony, participating students will go to the president’s fountain and wash their rings, the only revered reversal of the curse. After rinsing, students will put the rings on with the Auburn University side faced inward and will turn it the other way at graduation.
SGA member Abhi Gulati, sophomore in software engineering, talked about how much time goes into planning the Ring Night and the ceremony's events, sharing what the event means to him.
“The date has been set for the past year or so, next year’s date has already been set. So we plan this pretty ahead of time,” Gulati said. “As someone who has worked a lot for the last year, it’s really been cool to see a lot of older people, alumni from 30 to 40 years ago come back with their rings."
Ring night began this year with a few members of Navy ROTC moving the ring onto the seal. Then the audience heard from two speakers, including Kate Larkin, an Auburn Alumni associate.
“Once your feet touch the soil, you know you are home,” Larkin said, sharing what the spirit of Auburn truly meant for her.
The ceremony concluded with Anna Hill, senior in communication disorders, singing the alma mater while the crowd gathered around the seal as one Auburn Family. Following the song, students and parents stuck around for pictures with Aubie and the ring, while waiting for the clock to strike 20:18 symbolizing the time for the rings to be removed.
“I graduated in 1958, my daughter went here, and now my granddaughter goes here,” said Reeves Sims. “It means a lot to be here.”
While some students came from a legacy of Auburn graduates, others came with friends or other loved ones to partake in the festivities. Kathryn Higginbotham, junior in nursing, shared what initially drew her to the ceremony.
“It was for the memories,” Higginbotham said.
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