A Home
For over 100 years, the building known as Katharine Cooper Cater Hall has served as the home for dozens of leaders at Auburn University. Housing four presidents and many deans of women, the "Social Center", as it has been referred, has become the home for the Honors College at Auburn University.
The Presidents
Designed by Joseph Hudnut, the two-story neo-classical building is on the National Register of Historic Places. When the building was constructed in 1915, it was simply known as the President's Mansion. Over a 17-year span, four Auburn presidents called this mansion their home: Charles Coleman Thach, Spright Dowell, Bradford Knapp, and Luther Noble Duncan. In 1938, the new president's home was built just half a mile away on the corner of College and Samford.
The Namesake
Beginning in 1938, multiple deans of women, along with various staff members, have lived and worked in Cater Hall. At the time, it was known as the "Social Center" and served as a setting for a multitude of social events. When Katharine Cooper Cater became the dean of women in 1946, her new home and office hosted numerous receptions, meetings, and student parties. As the late 70s came around, the building transformed into administrative offices and a variety of campus departments and was renamed Katharine Cooper Cater Hall in 1980,
The Present
Today, Cater Hall is home to the Honors College at Auburn University. Upholding one of the many Auburn traditions, student organizations still have "callouts" on the porches and balconies of this beloved building. In 2015, Katharine Cooper Cater Hall celebrated its 100th anniversary with an adaptive reuse renovation to revitalize and bring about new life in the heart of campus.