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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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6/2/95                                    Roy Summerford 
(summero@mail.auburn.edu)

AU ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT LEADER PREPARES TO STEP DOWN

     AUBURN -- Earl "Buddy" Weaver was ready for a temporary change 
when Auburn University President William Muse made a special request in 
the spring of 1994.
     What the Brewton timberland developer got was one of the biggest 
challenges of his life, as he took over the reins of the university's 
Alumni and Development Office shortly before Auburn went public with the 
largest fund-raising campaign in Alabama higher education history.
     Sticking to his pledge to serve for one year, Weaver leaves 
office as Auburn's vice president for Alumni and Development on June 30, 
with Auburn less than $45 million from its $175 million comprehensive 
campaign goal, and with a personal sense of accomplishment that is 
different from anything he encountered in the private sector. 
     The university is in the final stages of a search for a permanent 
vice president of Alumni and Development.
       Weaver agreed to step in last spring when the search process 
and the planning for the capital campaign's public phase began to 
overlap.  "I might stay on a week or two longer if necessary to ease the 
transition, but I am making plans to get back to Brewton at the end of 
June," he said.
     "I don't think many people expected me to give up my business for 
a year and take this job," said Weaver, who has a doctorate in education 
from Auburn and is president of the AU Foundation.  "But I really wanted 
to do it for a year because I saw the chance to do some good and it was 
the kind of thing I used to dream about when I was younger."
     Weaver admits he had some doubts at first.
      "I tried to figure out a way to say no, but I just couldn't 
bring myself to do so," he said.  "After all, how many people in their 
mid-50s in the middle of their business career get to come back and serve 
their alma mater as a vice president, especially  when they can do 
something to help make a difference and still get back to their business 
a year later?"
     So, he and wife Sandra packed their suitcases and moved to 
Auburn, where they had spent the first 18 months of their married life.
     The timing was ideal for the university, Muse said. He credits 
Weaver with bringing a high level of leadership to Alumni and 
Development, as well as with getting the public phase of the 
comprehensive campaign, Campaign Auburn: The Next Generation, off to a 
good start.
     "Buddy was the perfect person for the kind of challenge we were 
facing," said Muse. "Having worked with him through the Foundation, I 
knew he would be the ideal person to lead our Alumni and Development 
operations during a transition period, and we needed someone with his 
strengths at the helm for the start of Campaign Auburn last September.
     "Few people could have accomplished as much in so short a time," 
Muse added. "Auburn is grateful that he stepped forward when he did."
     Weaver said his situation was unique because of his role as 
president of the AU Foundation Board, which provides leadership for 
private fund-raising efforts of the university.
      "I was like a lot of our alumni in that I had a background of 
being involved with the university through alumni activities and later 
through development activities, but I don't know of anyone anywhere who 
has served both as a foundation president for a university and a vice 
president of that university at the same time," he said.  "This was a 
unique situation."
     The experience gives him new insights for his continued service 
as AU Foundation president, Weaver said.  "I have seen concrete evidence 
of the good that the university does. It has been inspiring to see 
scholarship agreements come through and then see students receiving 
scholarships. I have seen how tough it is to get enough money for 
students to go to school on, and I appreciate much more the value of 
endowments. Private support really makes a difference."
     His early experience as a teacher at Auburn High School and a 
teacher and school system administrator in Escambia County helped him to 
appreciate the role of educators, and his doctorate gave him some 
insights into university administration. But Weaver left the education 
field for private business in the 1970s and never expected to return.
     "Fifteen or 20 years ago, about the time I finally got my 
doctorate, I thought I would never use my education credentials again, 
but you never know what the future will hold."
     Despite his previous experience, Weaver said, "There's no way you 
can really grasp what a university is like until you have been part of 
one. I had a lot of experience in Alumni and Development, and I felt like 
I knew as much about the university as an outsider could expect to know, 
but I still didn't know as much as I probably needed to know.
     "A university is different from any kind of business organization 
Ñ there's just nothing else like it," he added.
     The Brewton businessman said he is confident Auburn's Alumni and 
Development operations will continue on a steady course.
      "Whoever comes in next has a real chance to get this operation 
moving forward in a good manner," he says. "These are extremely talented 
and hardworking people, and one of the things that I am most satisfied 
with having accomplished is that morale is very high right now."
     Weaver said he is also pleased with the growing appreciation of 
Alumni and Development throughout the university community.  "I hope 
we've gained the confidence of the whole community over the past year. 
The response I've received from all quarters has been encouraging.
     "If I can leave having enhanced the respect for the operation 
throughout the university community, I will consider my mission 
accomplished," Weaver added.
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