Architecture Student to Serve as CADC’s Spring Commencement Marshal

Architecture senior Anna Claire Priest will represent the College of Architecture, Design and Construction as the student marshal for the spring 2022 commencement ceremony on May 6.

From Saltillo, Mississippi, Priest was involved with many organizations during her time at Auburn. She was a member of the Auburn University Honors College, the Auburn University chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and CADC Ambassadors. CADC Administrator for Recruitment, Katherine Buck Chastain, remembers Anna Claire as a student worker in the recruitment office as well as an outstanding CADC Ambassador for the college. “Anna Claire is an exceptional student who not only excels in the classroom but is an outstanding representative of the CADC for prospective students, families and our alumni. She has a passion for serving others that is unmatched. I am honored to have had the chance to see her grow through the past five years into the amazing person she is today.”

When asked to define what is most successful about Auburn architecture, Anna Claire names the Rural Studio the best part of the program. Priest, along with a team of thesis students, dedicated her final year of architecture school to designing and constructing two emergency shelter units for people experiencing homelessness in Uniontown, Alabama. Priest credits Rural Studio with offering college students opportunities and challenges that other architecture students don’t have, and Anna Claire says her time at Rural Studio has steered her toward a future career located at the intersection of supportive housing, adaptive reuse, and sustainability. After graduation, Anna Claire plans to pursue licensure after the completion of her team’s thesis project at Rural Studio.