EDITORIAL | An open letter: To all those who make the Auburn Family possible

It’s easy to think of the Auburn Family as only the people who you sit next to in class or go to football games with. The truth is that the Auburn Family is so much more than the students or even the alumni. 

There are almost 14,000 employees at Auburn University, a vast majority of them working behind the scenes to ensure that the Auburn experience can be what it is. 

This Thanksgiving, we want to bring those people into the light and thank them for all the unseen hours, unthanked tasks and unquenchable loyalty to the Auburn Family. 

Each of you are a vital part of the Auburn Family – the backbone of it. 

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family – we would not have this wonderful campus without you who work for hours upon hours keeping it clean and beautiful. 

Thank you for doing the work that causes us to never have to think about our campus being disheveled or dirty. Thank you for enabling us to focus on our studies, the thrill of athletic games or the beauty around us.

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family — we would not have food in our stomachs without you who invest hours each day to make meals and create a nourishing experience for our minds and bodies. 

Thank you for going the extra mile to ask us how life is going, to cheer us on or even to smile at the end of a long shift. Thank you for your organization and tender care on our behalf. 

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family — we would not always have a way to get where we need to go without you who drive the same route for hours each day as you care for our safety and wellbeing. 

Thank you for memorizing those directions. Thank you for continuing to serve day after day, drive after drive. Thank you for caring about our destination and for providing safety and resources. 

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family — we would not be getting this education without you who utilize your mind and care about enriching ours. 

Thank you for choosing to work here and invest in us. Thank you for all the work we do not see. Thank you for devoting your knowledge to us and for making us into better versions of ourselves. 

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family — we would not be here if it weren’t for you who believed in us and provided the amazing opportunity to attend Auburn. 

Thank you for the financial and emotional support you provide. Thank you for believing in us and for the incredible gift of your trust and confidence. Thank you for embracing our new home and loving it too. Thank you for providing the experience that we will never forget, that will leave its mark forever. 

Each of you are a part of the Auburn Family — we would not have a functional organization without you who work behind closed doors for our greater good. 

Thank you for being present in countless meetings and doing work that is hardly seen. Thank you for spending time away from your kids to pour into other people's kids. Thank you for everything you have invested in Auburn, including your ability to think ahead and see things that not many of us see. 

Each of you are unsung heroes, and we owe so much of our enjoyment and success to you. 

Thank you for your sacrifice, loyalty, hard work, patience, perspective, for carrying burdens, for hardly getting any sleep, for caring enough to do the same task over and over again, for giving us safety and wellbeing, for believing in us, for enabling our dreams and futures, for acting as the backbone of this incredible entity: the Auburn Family.