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Kate Asbury Larkin
Alumni Programs Manager
334-844-1149 | kateasburylarkin@auburn.edu

My Job
Alumni Programs Manager
Oversee the programs, events, and services of the Office of Alumni Affairs and the Auburn Alumni Association, including Auburn Clubs, Golden Eagles Reunion, Lifetime Achievement Awards, MAIN (Minority Alumni Involvement Now), Professorships and awards, scholarships, War Eagle Travelers, international alumni, career services, the Student Alumni Association (SAA), and the Student Alumni Board (SAB).

Hometown
Born and raised in Opelika

Education
Opelika High School ‘78
Ole Miss ‘82 - Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations; Minor in Sociology
Troy State University ‘87 - Master of Science in Personnel Management

Career
I worked in the Auburn Athletic Department (sports information and non-revenue sports) way back in the mid-80s, then I joined Ellis-Harper Advertising in Auburn as a copywriter where, ironically, I won an award for the 1987 membership campaign for the Auburn Alumni Association! Who knew? After raising children for a few years, I was named the first-ever public relations coordinator for the Opelika City Schools system where I worked for almost 14 years (1994-2007) before joining the Alabama Primary Health Care Association last year as Director of Communications and Member Services. It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger again!

Family
I have two teenagers: a daughter, Anna Asbury, who is in her second year at Southern Union State Community College (but will soon be an Auburn Tiger). She is a talented pianist and has her own business painting quotes on canvases. My son, Bo (named for Bo Jackson), is a senior at Opelika High School and is great at videography and editing (yes, he’s for hire). He has had the opportunity to video and edit professionally and is very talented - and I’m not just saying that because I’m his mother! My parents, Anna and Harris Asbury, also live in Opelika as does my only brother, Wake (‘79) and his wife Joan (‘81), who was an AU cheerleader. They have four children; a daughter, Tyler Grogan (‘06) and her husband, Will of Atlanta; and three sons, Field, a senior at AU; Lucas, a freshman at AU; and Duncan, a 9th grader at Opelika High School. I am truly blessed with an incredible family!

Community Service
I was honored to serve as the 2008-09 president of the Board of Directors for United Way of Lee County and now serve as immediate past president; I am an active member of First United Methodist Church of Opelika where I serve on the Staff Parish Committee and have done the Children’s Time on Sunday mornings for almost 20 years (best I can figure). But my favorite way to serve is just to help others – one person at a time – it’s my passion!

Why I Love Living in This Community
When I offered to help a new friend I had met, who had relocated to Opelika with her three children, move from one local apartment to another, I borrowed a truck and set aside my whole Saturday to get the job done. It took less than an hour. This family had as close to nothing as you could have and still have something: two worn, single mattresses and one box spring (for four people), two old, used loveseats (one had been her bed for over four months), a small table with no chairs, two stools, a recliner, and a TV. She had sold everything to afford the gas to move from the mid-west to Opelika so she could keep her children together. It bothered me so much I couldn’t sleep that night, so I got up and made a bare minimum list of what I thought she had to have to establish a decent, livable home. The list was typed into an email and sent to my precious friends and family – and that was all it took. In less than 48 hours, everything on that list - plus so much more - had been either donated or financed (no money was requested in the email)! That Thursday morning, the oldest son (16) slipped a key to me and when my friend left to take the children to school and go to work, a group of “God’s Angels” quickly sprang into action picking up all the items from “the list”, unloading at the apartment, hauling the old stuff to the dump, arranging the like-new furniture and other décor; making runs to local stores to purchase new mattress sets, lamps and shades, plants, candles, and other household goods and necessities; installing the washer and dryer; putting together a daybed (with no instructions), and making up beds (complete with dust ruffles, throw pillows, and stuffed animals); hanging curtains, clocks, pictures and other wall décor; stocking cabinets, drawers, closets, dressers, chests, and even the fridge; etc., etc., ETC. And then, within a matter of hours, as quickly as they “appeared”, the Angels were gone. When my friend returned home that afternoon with her two youngest children (ages 12 and 14) – all three totally unaware that anything had happened while they were away - she opened the door to a completely furnished and beautifully decorated home! Needless to say, they were completely shocked, overwhelmed, and excited beyond words. My friend collapsed in tears - right onto her gorgeous, new, full-sized bed! It was the most heart-warming, most God-filled moment I have ever experienced! It took three days to go from one email to creating a whole home. 3 days. It was Opelika’s very own Surprise Extreme Makeover! Who needs Ty Pennington when you live in a community like that?

Favorite Quote
I love quotes, so it’s really hard for me to narrow it all the way down to just one, but I’ll go with that great Methodist, John Wesley: Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. It’s my own personal mission statement.