[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]This isn’t so much my story as it is the story of all the Auburn women in my family.
My mother (Gay Pittman neé Gibson) graduated from Auburn in 1976 and all my life has told me great stories about life on the plains. One of my first clear memories is of lying in bed as a child and hearing Mom holler and cheer while she listened to Auburn Football on the radio . . . I knew that if the Tigers got a touchdown, Mom would make enough noise to wake up the baby in the next room!
But Auburn was never just about football to Mom. She also told stories about her Great Uncles Daniel Dekalb Gibson and Upshaw Gibson – the first in our family to attend AU.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”15980″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Later on, after a little digging, I discovered that Daniel Dekalb had graduated in 1915, was president of his class and had majored in Animal Husbandry – the same thing that I did almost 100 years later (although it’s called Animal Sciences now)!
Upshaw Gibson was a bit of a trouble maker, and didn’t quite manage to graduate, but he did distinguish himself on the football field with the 1918 team. More than anything, though, Mom always talked about her father’s cousin, Danny Sue Conner.
Danny Sue is one of the great Auburn women (in the photo, 2nd from left). She is Daniel Dekalb Gibson’s daughter, was on the first majorette team on the Plains, has strong ties with Dr. Cary (founder of the College of Veterinary Medicine), and still lives in the loveliest village.
When I, and later on my two sisters, got to Auburn, Mom made sure that Danny Sue was one of the first people we met. And just like she did when Mom was at school, Danny Sue took me under her wing and helped contribute to an awesome college experience.
The Auburn women in my life have had a profound influence on me and I am proud to be a part of their legacy and of Auburn’s legacy.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]