18-year-old among more than 1,400 Auburn University students to receive degrees at summer commencement ceremonies

As 18-year-old Mariannah Harding straightened her master’s regalia on Samford Lawn, she reflected on the time she spent in Auburn University’s most iconic building.

“I watered the plants in Samford Hall,” she said. “I remember looking outside, watching students take their graduation pictures. And now, here I am.”

You read that right: At just 18, Harding is graduating from Auburn with a Master of Agriculture in Horticulture with a public horticulture certificate during commencement ceremonies on Aug. 5. She’s the eighth child in her family to have started undergraduate collegiate studies by age 12.

The educational model built by parents Kip and Mona Lisa Harding was successful for not one but all of their children. The couple even used the journals Mona Lisa kept over the years as the foundation for a book, “The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family’s Method to College Ready by Age Twelve.”

Harding was one of more than 1,400 Auburn students to receive their degrees during summer commencement. To learn more about her story, visit the College of Agriculture website.

Graduates and guests heard from Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts, Provost Vini Nathan and keynote speaker, Marc Walley, a 1985 graduate of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment and president and chief executive officer of Forest Investment Associates.

For the Walley family, Auburn is everything. He met his wife, Penny, while they were Auburn students, and their two daughters have since followed in their footsteps as graduates. In total, more than 30 members of Walley’s family are Auburn graduates.

“You could safely say that our family believes the words of the Auburn Creed are on par with the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address,” he said. “The message is timeless, iconic and profound.”

Walley mentioned the creed throughout his speech, focusing on George Petrie’s reference to “the human touch” and urging its importance to the graduates.

“Genuine relationships are transformational, and real connection is made with the human touch,” Walley said. “The human touch requires extra effort. It requires hard work.

“The human touch is the Auburn touch, and the world needs it. I challenge you to pass it along, to share it and to work as hard at the human touch as anything else in your life.”

The ceremony for Harbert College of Business, College of Education and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering graduates took place at 9 a.m. CT, with the College of Agriculture, College of Architecture, Design and Construction, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, College of Human Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Nursing and College of Sciences and Mathematics following at the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Of the 1,441 degrees conferred, 846 were bachelor’s degrees, 403 were master’s degrees and 169 were doctorates. In addition, Auburn awarded 22 specialist degrees and one Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

More information about Auburn’s celebrations can be found on the commencement website.