At this site, Harold Franklin became the first African American student to register at Auburn University after Auburn president Ralph Brown Draughon, acting on a court order, accepted his application in 1963. Hoping to avoid conflicts like those that had occurred during desegregation at other universities across the South, Draughon scheduled registration for Saturday, Jan. 4, 1964, and closed the campus to the public. University officials and FBI agents met Franklin at the nearby Auburn Methodist Church to escort him to campus, but state troopers sent by Governor George Wallace blocked their access, forcing Franklin to proceed alone and unprotected. Some protesters assembled nearby, but no violence occurred, and registration concluded peacefully. A century of institutional segregation effectively ended that day, clearing the path for other African American students to enroll and attend Auburn University.