Auburn experience shapes former Tennessee mayor's life

Jenny Hunt, a 1984 personnel management and industrial relations graduate, remembers everything from her time as an Auburn student — walks across campus, supportive faculty members, a caring dorm mother and the university’s biggest sports stars.

Auburn has always been an everything school for Hunt.

“I began at Auburn the last year Doug Barfield was the head football coach,” she said. “Then we went into the Pat Dye years and then we had Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley. I always tell people that I was at Auburn during a golden time.”

But it wasn’t just about sports. On the Plains, Hunt found a home away from home and a surrogate family on campus, in her dorm and in the classroom.

“It was just easy to get to know everyone,” she said. “And my professors were so welcoming. You felt like you were being challenged but cheered on at the same time.”

Hunt’s Auburn experience changed her life. This is why she and her husband Joe give financially to Auburn — to change the lives of current and future generations of students.

“I’m proud to tell people I went to Auburn and proud to support the university and the Harbert College of Business today,” she said. “They’re doing amazing things for students. It doesn’t seem to matter whether a student is in supply chain management, finance, accounting, marketing or something else, they’re leaving Auburn, going out into the world and making a huge impact.”

The real Auburn Family

Hunt began her Auburn story as a young child, long before she stepped foot on campus.

“I saw an Auburn game on television one night and when the camera panned out to the campus, I turned to my mom and dad and said, ‘that’s where I’m going,’” she said. “And from that moment on, it stuck. That’s where I wanted to be.”

Years later, on a perfect fall day, she visited Auburn’s campus, with her family of Georgia Tech and University of Tennessee alumni in tow. Although she knew she had made the right choice, it wasn’t until her father died suddenly in her sophomore year that she realized just how special Auburn really was. She was overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, compassion and support.

“In that moment, I realized, this is what family does for family. It just pulls you through the hard times,” she said. “I had always heard people talk about the Auburn Family but then I experienced the Auburn Family for myself, and I knew — this thing is real.”

Branching out beyond the Plains

The first notch on Hunt’s career belt was working in marketing for Turner Broadcasting System in Atlanta. As first jobs often are, it was heavy on lessons and light on salary.

A chance encounter with a friend of a friend who knew her father, a legend in the Georgia insurance industry, led to a job change. Soon after, while working in the insurance business, she met her husband. They eventually settled in an idyllic Tennessee community named Bell Buckle. That’s where she found more than a new home. She found a new purpose.

“We fell in love with that area,” she said. “It really was our little town.”

Hunt threw herself into the community — seeing problems, finding solutions — rolling up her sleeves and using the skills she learned at Auburn.

“Auburn instilled so many different values in me,” she said. “Not just to work hard and do my best but also to find work I enjoy and to know the ‘why’ behind what I’m doing.”

She championed the conversion of an abandoned property into a community park, and before she knew it, was serving on the newly created park board, helping her beloved community.

“I taught myself how to be a grant writer,” she said. “I knew I could because I had such an incredible education at Auburn, particularly with writing. So, honing the skills I learned in school helped my little town receive more than $15 million in grant money.”

Next came a position on the city’s Board of Aldermen, a stint as vice-mayor and then three terms as mayor. In addition to creating the community park, her achievements included bringing a police department to the town, building the first community website, tackling environmental and conservation challenges and much more, all while continuing to secure grants for the small town.

Today, she and her husband have moved to be closer to grandchildren and start new adventures, but her connection to the community that challenged her and gave her meaningful work for 30 years remains strong.

It’s difficult to keep a secret in a small town but the city surprised her by naming the community park the Bell Buckle Jenny Hunt Park during her last town meeting as mayor.

 “I think maybe next to Auburn football’s Kick Six, that was a top moment for me,” she said. “Being able to create that park where there was basically a rice paddy field before, that’s a wonderful legacy.”

A connection that matters

Connection is important to Hunt. She has stayed linked to Auburn since graduating, through sports, alumni activities, as a parent of a student, and as a donor.

It’s not just the impact Auburn had on her own life that created the bond, but also the influence it had on her youngest daughter who received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Harbert College of Business. High-impact student experiences such as study abroad programs have had a significant effect on both her children’s lives — and created more family memories.

During fall 2010, her oldest daughter, who attended Wake Forest University, asked her parents to visit during her study abroad semester in England. Hunt explained why that just wasn’t going to happen.

“I told her, ‘I planned my wedding and your and your sister’s births around Auburn’s football season so you can’t possibly think I’m going to miss our national championship season,’” she said.

But that doesn’t mean she didn’t notice the powerful way both daughters’ study abroad experiences affected them. And that experience directed the couple’s giving to Auburn.

“Joe and I both saw a real turning point in their growth and maturity from their study abroad experiences. They went from just being college students to becoming people who were going to do something with their lives in the world,” she said. “So, after seeing what study abroad did for our girls, we wanted to make that life-changing experience possible for more students at Auburn.”

That is her philosophy about giving back. She knows firsthand the power of the Auburn experience. How could she not give that to others?

“It’s so gratifying knowing you’re doing something to help someone else,” she said. “We have been so blessed, so we just want to do it because it’s the right thing to do. As my grandmother always said, ‘just go where the need is.’”

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