Auburn civil engineering alumnus announces scholarship program for hometown students

Patrick Duke believes in giving back. He believes in opportunity. He believes in Hueytown. He believes in Auburn. And he loves it.

Duke, a 1994 Hueytown High School graduate and a 1999 Auburn University civil engineering graduate, recently announced the creation of an Auburn University engineering scholarship at his high school alma mater in Hueytown. 

The scholarship — named “For Htown — Class of 1994” — was established to empower every graduating class of Hueytown High School to create a lasting legacy of opportunity by establishing endowed scholarships. Duke’s goal is to ensure future generations of Hueytown students have access to resources needed to pursue their dreams of higher education and achieve their full potential.

“There is not a day that goes by when I do not think of Hueytown and Auburn,” Duke said. “Together, they have contributed to my success and my happiness."

In addition to the scholarship announcement, Duke also spoke to a group of seniors about the impact of Dennis Weatherby, former administrator and founder of Auburn’s Center for Inspiring Engineering Excellence (CI2E). He also went on mention Hueytown classmates — Joe White and Sederic Parker — who graduated with an engineering degree from Auburn.

Duke and White both belong to Auburn’s Weatherby Society, which has raised more than $3.4 million for CI2E. 

Parker has a scholarship at Auburn named in his honor.

“Two of our members of the Weatherby Society formed the Sederic Parker Memorial Endowed Scholarship because they met Sederic while studying engineering at Auburn and loved him, as we all did. Sederic was an amazing human being with a beautiful family. He was a football player, exceptional student and, most importantly, a Hueytown High School graduate and Auburn Engineer,” Duke said. “Why does this matter?  It matters because sitting in this audience today is a future Joe White, a future Sederic Parker and a future Dennis Weatherby.”

Accompanying Duke at the Hueytown announcement were Hueytown Class of 1994 graduate and Talladega College alumnus Carmen Davis and Auburn Engineering students Carmen Davis, Jamie Gandy, Ryan Montgomery and Tylan Rudolph.

“I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Patrick Duke for the past several years due to his involvement and support of Auburn Engineering and the Center for Inspiring Engineering Excellence,” said Rudolph, a senior in industrial and systems engineering. “When meeting Patrick, you learn very quickly that he is from Hueytown, he’s an Auburn graduate and he’s staunchly passionate about both. Today was a powerfully inspirational moment for us to see firsthand the generosity of our Auburn Engineering alumni and to let these students know they, too, can achieve anything they set their mind to.”

Hueytown High School Principal Ryan Howard said he is beyond grateful and humbled that alumni such as Duke choose to heavily invest back into the community he grew up in, and the people who make it special.

"We are so thankful that Patrick has established this endowed scholarship at Auburn, providing a phenomenal opportunity for our students,” Howard said. “Just as he laid out today, I hope this gift inspires many Hueytown High School classes in the future to also invest back into our students.”

Duke agrees.

"Today is the day we set ourselves apart through self-determination and a sense of purpose. Today is the day we begin to honor our community and we ensure everyone in the past and future who have graduated from Hueytown High School know they are worthy, know that they are loved, know that they are indeed uniquely positioned to be whatever they desire to be,” Duke said. “This program will be our start, but it won't be our finish. We will inspire a movement that has never been seen in Jefferson County or Alabama. Let's now work together to make this happen."