Auburn Engineering’s Academic Excellence Program kicks off 25th anniversary year

The Engineering Academic Excellence Program, or AEP, officially kicked off its 25th anniversary year with a celebration held on the Gavin Garden outside the Brown-Kopel Center on Friday. In front of an audience of nearly 300 alumni, students and supporters, Christopher B. Roberts, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, alongside Kenneth Kelly, 1990 graduate and chair of the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, welcomed guests to the celebration and set the stage for an evening of reflection and excitement for the year ahead.

“What started as the summer Minority Introduction to Engineering Program and grew into the Minority Engineering Program in 1996 has blossomed into the Academic Excellence Program,” Roberts said. “AEP has played an integral role in the recruitment, retention and development of underrepresented students here in the College of Engineering for the past 25 years.”

Kelly, the first African American chair of the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, emphasized the impact that AEP has had on the experience of Auburn’s underrepresented engineering student body.

“To date, more than a thousand African American engineering undergraduates have completed a bachelor’s program at Auburn, and with the support of AEP and the program’s dedicated advocates, I know the future holds even greater accomplishments,” Kelly said.

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