How To Propose in RBD

When a couple gets engaged everyone’s first question is always the same: “How did he do it?”


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When an Auburn couple gets engaged everyone wants to know where it happened on campus. For Jared Batte, there was only one right place in Auburn to propose to Elizabeth Williams.

Ralph Brown Draughon Library, of course.

“I knew I wanted to make it somewhere on campus because Auburn is such a special place to both of us, but I didn’t want to do anything cliché and this seemed right, “ said Batte.

Batte said he asked her parents a few weeks before and enlisted the help of Elizabeth’s coworkers and friends to help make the proposal perfect and still keep it a complete surprise.

Williams thought Jan. 25 was just a normal afternoon at work. Little did she know the course of events that would happen when she picked up a letter at Samford Hall.

“I run errands there all the time, but this time there was a letter addressed to me,” said Williams. “When I opened it and saw that it told me to go to the third floor of the library, I started to figure out what was happening.”

When Williams went to the juvenile section of the library, she found Batte sitting there waiting for her. The letter gave her instructions to find her book.

Batte made a book of his and Elizabeth’s Top 10 Best Memories and assigned a call number for it so it ended up in her favorite section.

Williams said when they first began dating during sophomore year they spent a lot of late nights studying in the library. When they needed a break they would take turns reading from sections of Harry Potter books.

“He put our book between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, which are my two favorites of the series,” said Williams. “We spent so much time studying here when we first met, this was the perfect place to propose.”

Batte said he had the idea to make the book because it was something they could keep to remember the special day for years to come.

“I wanted something that we could keep that wasn’t just pictures or a video. The book is something we can put on a coffee table to show people,” said Batte.

After he popped the question, several friends appeared to take pictures and celebrate with the happy couple. Williams said she wasn’t sure when or how it was going to happen, but she said he pulled it off perfectly.

“My favorite part besides when he got down on one knee and asked was the book that he put it in the Harry Potter section, because those are very special to us,” said Williams. 

Photos by Camilla Deeter