Crisis Management: Auburn people helping Auburn people

When disaster struck for incoming freshmen at Auburn University in August 2021, Room2Room Movers stepped up to handle one of the most challenging move-in seasons ever.

When a dorm closure was announced just days before incoming students' arrival, Room2Room coordinated with university housing to help students and families navigate last-minute changes.

In August 2021, less than one week before freshman move-in, Cambridge Hall at Auburn University was closed indefinitely due to unforeseen circumstances which displaced approximately 280 incoming freshmen. While parents were frantically scrambling, trying to find a room close to campus where their students could stay, the university was also scrambling to help find suitable housing. Auburn University quickly secured available space in the community for the freshmen hoping to begin their first semester. At that point, Room2Room sprang into action.

Not only was this new business venture a great way for student movers to earn money to help pay for school and extracurricular activities, but it was also a great way to ensure parents that the movers coming in and out of the daughter's and son's dorm rooms and apartments were people they could trust and feel safe with.

Now three years later and thousands of moves behind them, this young team of Auburn students and recent graduates came through again by combining their entrepreneurial spirit with their love for Auburn to create a crisis management plan with the only goal being, "How can we help." That is who Brooks Fuller is and that is the way every member of the Room2Room team operates.

It is a certainty that even with the best laid out plans something unforeseen can happen. The Cambridge case was a difficult situation for everyone involved, but once again, we were reassured that the Auburn spirit is alive and well, and that when such unforeseen circumstances occur, the Auburn Family will be ready to kick into high gear to make things happen.

In this crisis, Room2Room Movers combined their entrepreneurial spirit with the spirit that is Auburn and that culture resulted in an unselfish resolve to take care of fellow Auburn students. They stepped up to the plate and didn't quit until the job was done. They simply did what Auburn people always do.

This story originally appeared on the Auburn University New Venture Accelerator newsroom.