Everyone knows Aubie, the mascot for Auburn University. Aubie is often referred to as the, “living spirit of Auburn,” and he is known for his admirable school spirit and love for Auburn.
Aubie began as a cartoon that first appeared in the Auburn/Hardin-Simmons football program. Aubie was first brought to life at a basketball game on Feb 28, 1979. That was the first time anyone had seen him in person and not just as a cartoon.
Aubie typically has about 1,000 appearances each year – including football games, campus gatherings and community events.
“He’s the most lovable tiger,” said Riley Ferguson, senior in marketing.
Ferguson is one of four of Aubie’s directors. The Aubie directors are responsible for handling the day-to-day logistics of Aubie, and their main goal is to help bring Aubie to life. They are also in charge of Aubie Committee, which is a committee dedicated to making props and costumes for Aubie.
“Aubie Committee is this really cool event that we have every Tuesday before a home game. We get to invite the community in to help us Aubie directors make props for gameday. It makes us feel really connected to the community and it helps Aubie get ready for game day,” said Aubie Director Madi McDougald, senior in visual media.
According to McDougald, working with Aubie is a hard job that requires a lot of long hours and work behind the scenes. But she said it is one of her favorite things to do and she would not trade it for the world.
“[Aubie Committee] has been such a fun experience. It’s great to have the student body come and help Aubie and bring his ideas to life. They help him prepare for game day and use their creative sides,” Ferguson said. “It’s really cool to get to know people and be plugged in in more ways than one.”
Aubie Committee is composed of students from all walks of campus, and Aubie of course.
“I wanted to come to Aubie Committee because I heard that there were going to be crafts and Aubie, and those are like, my love languages,” said Madelyn Kipp, freshman in speech pathology. “Aubie is the epitome of school spirit. Coming to last year’s games, he was what I kept my eye on most of the time. He always encapsulates Auburn energy.”
Many students had similar reasons for coming to Aubie Committee: their desire to work with Aubie.
“Aubie is the pride of Auburn. He’s very energetic and he hypes everybody up. He brings life to every event that he goes to, he’s the life of Auburn. My favorite thing about Aubie is his head bobbles,” said Hope Youngblood, freshman in accounting.
Other students enjoyed the creativity of working for Aubie Committee.
“Working for Aubie Committee is really fun and it's really satisfying to see your work on the field because you really get to see how you impact the stadium,” said Alisa Mason, sophomore in pre-flight.
Mason said she worked on Aubie Committee last year as a freshman and was excited to be returning. Her favorite thing about Aubie is how unifying he is, and she recalled seeing him drive by on her first day at Auburn -- a moment she will never forget.
Many students across Auburn have similar stories. On the first day of classes for the fall semester, Aubie rides in a golf cart with Auburn’s President Christopher Roberts.
Aubie is also famous for being inducted into the National Mascot Hall of Fame and his Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) Mascot National Championship winnings.
“He goes and competes at UCA Nationals every year and he’s won 10 times. He’s the winningest mascot. Everyone loves him – he’s often imitated, never duplicated,” Ferguson said.
According to the Aubie directors, working with Aubie has been a fun, positive experience.
“Being in charge of Aubie is so much more than you’d imagine, but so much fun. Aubie means everything good about Auburn. He stands for everything pure and fun. Aubie is ultimately joyful, he has a positive attitude all the time,” said Aubie Committee Director Jennifer Jordan, junior in dietetics.
After all, women love him, children adore him and men want to be him.
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Sam Vise, junior in journalism, is the community reporter for The Auburn Plainsman.
