Samford University

In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, Alabama.{{cite book |title=Heritage of Perry County |last=Harris |first=W. Stuart |year=1991 |publisher=Perry County Historical and Preservation Society |location=Marion, Alabama |pages=70–92}}{{cite book |title=Some Early Alabama Churches |last=Wilson |first=Mabel Ponder |year=1973 |publisher=Alabama Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution |location=Marion, Alabama |isbn=978-0-88428-029-3 |pages=134–144}} It was named for the eighteenth-century English philanthropist John Howard.{{Cite web |last=Flynt |first=Sean A. |date=February 1, 2016 |title=Samford to Dedicate Statue to John Howard Feb. 13 |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2016/02/Samford-to-Dedicate-Statue-to-John-Howard-Feb-13 |access-date=2023-08-14 |website=Samford University |language=en}} Some of the land was donated by the Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the school's board of trustees for fifteen years and as its president for two years.{{cite web|url=http://samford.plannedgiving.org/samford/giving/2.html|title=DeVotie Legacy Society - Samford|website=samford.plannedgiving.org}}Mitchell Bennett Garrett, William R. Snell, Janet Snell, Sixty Years of Howard College, 1842-1902, Howard College, 1927, p. 19 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fUtOAAAAMAAJ&q=%22James+H.+DeVotie%22] The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron and both she and her son also gave land to establish the college.{{cite book|last=Flynt|first=Wayne|title=Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cm41b65DOEMC&pg=PA58|year=1998|publisher=University of Alabama Press|location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama|isbn=978-0-8173-0927-5|pages=58–59}} The university also honors the Reverend Milo P. Jewett and Edwin D. King as founders. King and Barron derived much of their wealth, with which they supported the college, from the people they enslaved.{{Cite book |last=Bass |first=S. Jonathan |title=From every stormy wind that blows: the idea of Howard College and the origins of Samford University |date=2024 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |isbn=978-0-8071-8177-5 |location=Baton Rouge |pages=24–26, 29}} The university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The college's first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a traditional curriculum of language, literature and sciences.{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1590|title=Samford University|date=July 7, 2008|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-date=November 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105135945/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1590|url-status=dead}} In those early years, the graduation addresses of several distinguished speakers were published, including those by Thomas G. Keen of Mobile, Joseph Walters Taylor, Noah K. Davis and Samuel Sterling Sherman.{{Cite web|url=http://blurblawg.typepad.com/files/howard-college-southern-scholar.pdf|title=Alfred L. Brophy, "The Southern Scholar: Howard College Before the Civil War", Cumberland Law Review 46 (2015): 289-309.|accessdate=7 August 2023}} In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the college's property, including its only building.{{cite web|url=http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/schools/marion-military-institute/history.html|title=Marion Military Institute|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002154906/https://www.goarmy.com/rotc/schools/marion-military-institute/history.html|url-status=dead}} While the college was still recovering from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a military hospital by the Confederate government in 1863. During this time, the college's remaining faculty offered basic instruction to soldiers recovering at the hospital. For a short period after the war, federal troops occupied the college and sheltered freed slaves on its campus.

In 1865, the college reopened. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, an attorney, former US Congressman and Confederate military officer, served as president from 1865 to 1868. He was committed to the cause of broader education, and supported expansion of normal school training.

In 1887, Howard College's board of trustees accepted an offer of land from the East Lake Land Company owned by Robert Jemison, Sr. and relocated to the newly developing community of East Lake, six miles from the center of Birmingham, Alabama, and moved the institution there.{{Cite book |last=Bass |first=S. Jonathan |title=From every stormy wind that blows: the idea of Howard College and the origins of Samford University |date=2024 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |isbn=978-0-8071-8208-6 |location=Baton Rouge |pages=181–203}} Faculty who remained in Marion formed Marion Military Institute (MMI) on the old campus.{{cite web|url=http://www.samford.edu/history/davis.html |title=President Harwell Goodwin Davis, History of Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama |access-date=2009-04-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610183533/http://www4.samford.edu/history/davis.html |archive-date=2010-06-10}} MMI continues to operate in Marion.

File:Samford University2.jpg

File:Cumberland School of Law Main Hall and Courtyard.jpg in 2006]]

In 1913, the college became fully and permanently coeducational. Howard College added its School of Music in 1914 and School of Education and Journalism the following year. The college introduced its Department of Pharmacy in 1927. At the time, it was the only program of its kind in the Southeastern United States.{{cite web |url=http://pharmacy.samford.edu/msop_aboutus.aspx?id=2147486685|title=History of the McWhorter School of Pharmacy|access-date=December 31, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231180158/http://pharmacy.samford.edu/msop_aboutus.aspx?id=2147486685 |archive-date=December 31, 2014}} During World War II, Howard College hosted a V-12 Navy College Training Program, allowing enlisted sailors to earn college degrees while receiving military training.{{cite web |url=http://library.samford.edu/archon/?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=14|title=Howard College Navy V-12 Program cadets at Berry Field|access-date=December 31, 2014}}

After the war, the number of veterans attending the college under the GI Bill boosted enrollment beyond capacity. The college moved to the Shades Valley in Homewood, Alabama. Construction on the new campus began in 1955. It opened in 1957.{{cite web|url=http://www.samford.edu/universityhistory/then-and-now.aspx|title=Then and Now|access-date=December 31, 2014}} In 1961, the college acquired Cumberland School of Law, one of the nation's oldest law schools.{{cite web|url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/04/cumberland_school_of_law_celeb.html|title=Cumberland School of Law celebrates 50 years at Samford University |date=April 8, 2012|author=Eric Velasco|access-date=December 31, 2014}}

In addition to the law school, Howard College added a new school of business and reorganized to achieve university status in 1965. Since the name "Howard University" was already in use by a school in Washington, D.C., Howard College was renamed as "Samford University" in honor of Frank Park Samford, a longtime trustee of the school. In 1973, the university acquired Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing.{{cite web |url=https://www.samford.edu/nursing/history/|title=History|access-date=December 31, 2014}} Samford University established a study center in 1984 for students to study abroad in Kensington, England.{{cite web |url=http://www.samford.edu/pubs/belltower/May2005/timeline.html|title=Timeline of Major Accomplishments During the Presidency of Thomas E. Corts|date=May 2005|access-date=December 31, 2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231175414/http://www.samford.edu/pubs/belltower/May2005/timeline.html|archive-date=December 31, 2014}} On September 21, 1989, a Samford University professor, William Lee Slagle, fatally stabbed one of his debating team students and escaped. Slagle was finally captured six months later.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/7164deb617cba8105d2dd57723675acb|title=University Debate Coach Sentenced in Death of His Top Student|website=Associated Press }}

In 1994, Samford's board of trustees voted to allow the board to elect its own members. This gave the university formal independence from the Alabama Baptist State Convention, but until 2017 convention leaders retained ex officio seats on the board, were consulted on trustee selection, and the new trustees were presented to the convention for affirmation. Convention leaders are still invited to the board's meetings.{{Cite web|last=Flynt|first=Sean|date=July 7, 2008|title=Samford University|url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1590|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-14|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=November 28, 2017|title=Ala. Baptists spotlight CP, Samford relationship|url=https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/ala-baptists-spotlight-cp-samford-relationship/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-14|website=Baptist Press|language=en-US}} The university's corporate expression of faith commitment remains The Statement of the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963, without amendment.{{Cite book |title=Samford University Undergraduate Catalog: 2023-2024 Academic Year |date=August 7, 2023 |publisher=Samford University |location=Birmingham, Alabama |pages=9}}

As a private, segregated institution, Samford University was to some degree insulated from the activities of leaders and protesters of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and early 1960s. The officers of the Samford Student Government Association challenged a segregated concert held on campus by the Birmingham Symphony by inviting as guests the student government officers of nearby Miles College,{{cite book|last=Flynt|first=Wayne Flynt|author-link=Wayne Flynt|title=Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfwRIggZV3MC&q=Samford+segregated+concert+birmingham+Symphony+miles&pg=PA113|year=2011|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0817317546|page=113}} a historically black school.

Segregation by private universities was outlawed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Initially, the school's leaders declined to express their commitment to desegregation. For example, the university declined to apply for the NDEA Student Loan Program for 1965-66 because it would have to affirm desegregation.{{Cite journal|last=Center|first=Lauren|date=Spring 2020|title=The Role of Finances and Religion in Samford University's Desegregation|journal=Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa|volume=44|pages=83}} Cumberland School of Law faced the greatest immediate risk of losing accreditation. In 1967, it admitted Samford's first black student, Audrey Lattimore Gaston.{{cite book|last=Flynt|first=Wayne Flynt|author-link=Wayne Flynt|title=Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfwRIggZV3MC&pg=PA116|year=2011|publisher=University of Alabama Press |isbn=978-0817317546|page=116}} The entire university proceeded with desegregation.{{cite web|url=http://www.samford.edu/history/wright2.html |access-date=April 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618054941/http://www4.samford.edu/history/wright2.html |archive-date=June 18, 2010 |title=Presidents of Samford University}} In the fall of 1969 Elizabeth Sloan Ragland became the first African American student to live on campus.{{Cite web|title=Elizabeth Sloan-Ragland, Award Winner|url=https://www.samford.edu/events/50thAnniversary/awards/Elizabeth-Sloan-Ragland|access-date=2020-07-09|website=Samford University|language=en}} On June 1, 2020, the university announced the installation of a memorial honoring "the sacrifices of many African Americans for the mission and vision of Samford University even in days when their efforts were invisible or barely acknowledged." It specifically named Gaston and an enslaved servant named Harry who died while saving students from the 1854 fire.{{Cite web|title=New Memorial Affirms University's Commitment to Remembrance and Reconciliation|url=https://www.samford.edu/news/updates/reconciliation-memorial|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Samford University|language=en}} A public dedication of the memorial was held on February 15, 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-16 |title=Samford dedicates racial reconciliation memorial {{!}} The Alabama Baptist |url=https://thealabamabaptist.org/samford-dedicates-racial-reconciliation-memorial/,%20https://thealabamabaptist.org/samford-dedicates-racial-reconciliation-memorial/ |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=thealabamabaptist.org |language=en-US }}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2021, the university announced the creation of a "a four-year cohort experience for leaders among Samford’s multicultural student body" and named it in honor of Ragland.{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Morgan |date=March 21, 2021 |title=Samford Announces New Scholars Experience for Multicultural Students |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2021/03/Samford-Announces-New-Scholars-Experience-for-Multicultural-Students |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Samford University |language=en}} In 2024, the university announced a new residence hall would be named in honor of Gaston.{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2024 |title=Historic Nods to Gaston, Mann: Samford Unveils Names for New Residence Halls |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2024/09/Historic-nods-to-Gaston-Mann-Samford-unveils-names-for-new-residence-halls |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Samford University |language=en}}

Andrew Westmoreland was appointed president of the university in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.otmj.com/2013/11/westmoreland-is-march-of-dimes-citizen-of-the-year/|title=Westmoreland is March of Dimes Citizen of the Year|date=November 12, 2013|author=Ginny Cooper|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231175907/http://www.otmj.com/2013/11/westmoreland-is-march-of-dimes-citizen-of-the-year/|archive-date=2014-12-31|url-status=dead}} That year, the Jane Hollock Brock Recital Hall was dedicated as part of the university’s fine arts complex. A new soccer and track facility opened in 2011, part of a decade-long expansion of new athletics facilities that included a tennis center, a basketball arena, a football field house and a softball stadium.{{cite web|url=http://www.samford.edu/news/releases/?id=6442468368|title=Samford Opens New Track/Soccer Stadium|author= Mary Wimberley|date=April 22, 2012|access-date=December 16, 2014}} For the 2016–17 academic year, the economic and fiscal impacts of the university on Alabama were $424.8 million, 2,424 jobs, $16.1 million in state income and sales taxes, and $6 million in local sales tax.{{cite web|url=https://alabamanewscenter.com/2018/09/06/samfords-annual-economic-impact-424-8-million-study-says/|title=Samford's annual economic impact $424.8 million, study says|publisher=Alabama News Center|date=September 6, 2018|access-date=December 20, 2019}} In 2013, the university established a new College of Health Sciences, including the existing Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing and McWhorter School of Pharmacy, and the newly created School of Health Professions and the School of Public Health.{{cite web |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/02/samford_university_boosts_its.html|title=Samford University boosts its health care profile creating new College of Health Sciences|date=February 26, 2013 |author=Mike Oliver|access-date=December 31, 2014}} The dean of the nursing school, Nena Sanders, was named vice-provost of the new college, and after her retirement in 2020 the nursing school was renamed the Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-09|title=Samford nursing school renamed|url=https://thealabamabaptist.org/samford-nursing-school-renamed/|access-date=2021-06-29|website=The Alabama Baptist|language=en-US}} In 2013, the university announced the construction of a new facility to house Brock School of Business. In 2014, the West Village residence complex opened. That December, the university purchased the adjacent headquarters of Southern Progress, a subsidiary of Time, Inc. It subsequently named these buildings the home of the College of Health Sciences.{{cite web|url=http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/11/report_samford_university_to_b.html|title=Samford University intends to buy Southern Progress campus from Time Inc. |date=November 3, 2014|access-date=September 3, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2015/01/07/samford-closes-on-58-million-purchase-of-southern.html|title=Samford closes on $58 million purchase of Southern Progress HQ|date=January 7, 2015|access-date=September 3, 2015}}

The university ended its long financial connection with the Alabama Baptist State Convention in July 2017 when the trustees announced they would no longer accept funds from the convention.{{Cite web|date=2017-07-08|title=Samford won't accept Baptist funds after LGBT flap|url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2017/07/samford_will_no_longer_take_ba.html|access-date=2021-01-14|website=al|language=en}} Later that year Samford and the state convention agreed that Samford would no longer present its slate of trustees to the convention for affirmation and that convention officers would no longer have an ex officio position on the board. This ended key aspects of Samford's formal connection to the state convention that had existed for decades. Still, by the trustees’ own rule, all trustees must be members of Baptist churches and 75% from Alabama.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Jennifer Rash |date=2017-11-21 |title=Convention messengers hear details of 'new relationship' with Samford {{!}} The Alabama Baptist |url=https://thealabamabaptist.org/convention-messengers-hear-details-of-new-relationship-with-samford/,%20https://thealabamabaptist.org/convention-messengers-hear-details-of-new-relationship-with-samford/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=thealabamabaptist.org |language=en-US}} Samford is a collaborative partner of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.{{Cite web|date=2017-06-21|title=Our Institutions|url=https://www.cccu.org/institutions/|access-date=2021-07-01|website=CCCU}} In August 2020, Westmoreland announced he would retire on June 30, 2021.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-28|title=Samford University president announces retirement|url=https://www.al.com/news/2020/08/samford-university-president-announces-retirement.html|access-date=2021-01-13|website=al|language=en}} On March 10, 2021, it was announced that he will be succeeded by Whitworth University president Beck A. Taylor.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/samford-names-beck-a-taylor-as-19th-school-president/|title=Samford names Beck A. Taylor as 19th school president|last=Pinarski|first=Phil|website=cbs42.com|publisher=WIAT|language=en|date=2021-03-10|accessdate=2021-03-10|archive-date=2021-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310212951/https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/samford-names-beck-a-taylor-as-19th-school-president/|url-status=dead}} Taylor took office on July 1, 2021.

In May 2022, the university received a $100 million gift from the estate of alumnus Marvin Mann.{{cite news |last1=Garrison |first1=Greg |title=Samford University receives $100 million gift |url=https://www.al.com/news/2022/05/samford-university-receives-100-million-gift.html |access-date=15 May 2022 |work=The Birmingham News |date=12 May 2022 |language=en}} This was the largest single-donor gift ever made to a higher education institution in Alabama.{{cite news |last1=Greenberg |first1=Susan H. |title=$100 Million Gift Sets Records in Alabama |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/05/13/100-million-gift-sets-records-alabama |access-date=15 May 2022 |work=Inside Higher Ed |date=13 May 2022 |language=en}}

Samford has been involved in several well publicized incidents in which the university rejected LGBTQ+ students' requests to form student organizations or refused to work with Christian groups that were LGBTQ+ affirming. In 2017, President Westmoreland rejected Samford Together, an organization that sought to create a space for students to discuss topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity “in an open-minded and accepting environment,” even though the organization had been approved by both the Student Government Association and the faculty.{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Bob |date=July 10, 2017 |title=Samford forfeits Baptist Funds but Pulls Plug on Gay-Straight Alliance |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/samford-forfeits-baptist-funds-pulls-plug-student-gay-straight-alliance/#.YyNU1S1OmfA |access-date= |website=Baptist News Global}}

Similar actions occurred again in 2022. In late August, Samford administration “uninvited” representatives of Episcopalian and Presbyterian campus ministries from a campus event because these ministries were affirming of LGBTQ+ individuals. In justifying the move, Vice President of Student Affairs Phil Kimrey stated, “Throughout its history, the university has consistently subscribed to and practiced biblically orthodox beliefs," and "the university has a responsibility to formally partner with ministry organizations that share our beliefs.”{{cite web |last1=Garrison |first1=Greg |title=Samford defends rejection of Episcopal, Presbyterian campus clergy over pro-LGBTQ stance |url=https://www.al.com/news/2022/09/samford-defends-rejection-of-episcopal-presbyterian-campus-clergy-over-pro-lgbtq-stance.html |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=Al.com|date=14 September 2022 }} On-campus protests against the change included a silent vigil outside a university-wide worship service on September 20.{{Cite web |last=Wingfield |first=Mark |date=2022-09-21 |title=Samford students organize silent protest over LGBTQ discrimination |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/samford-students-organize-silent-protest-over-lgbtq-discrimination/ |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}} On September 30, President Beck Taylor stated more explicitly in a video message that "we decided to limit Samford’s formal ministry partnerships to churches and to organizations that support Samford’s traditional view of human sexuality and marriage."{{Cite web |last=Wingfield |first=Mark |date=2022-10-03 |title=Samford loves all people but won't advance 'other expressions of sexuality,' president tells students in video |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/samford-loves-all-people-but-wont-advance-other-expressions-of-sexuality-president-tells-students-in-video/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}} This ended Samford’s nearly thirty-year relationship with Birmingham Episcopal Campus Ministries.{{Cite web |last=Garrison |first=Greg |date=2022-09-12 |title=Samford turns away Episcopalians, Presbyterians from event due to LGBTQ views, activist says |url=https://www.al.com/life/2022/09/samford-turns-away-episcopalians-presbyterians-from-event-due-to-lgbtq-views-activist-says.html |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=al |language=en}} In October, Taylor declined university recognition to a chapter of OUTLaw at Samford's Cumberland School of Law. OUTLaw is a national organization supporting LGBTQ+ law students. {{Cite web |last=Griesbach |first=Rebecca |date=2022-10-24 |title=Samford University denies student application to form LGBTQ group |url=https://www.al.com/education/2022/10/samford-university-denies-application-to-form-lgbtq-student-group.html |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=al |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Sylvia |date=2023-03-28 |title=Demand Grows for Religious Colleges to Recognize LGBTQ Clubs. Often, the Chances Are Slim. |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/stuck-in-the-closet |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}

As of 2023, an off-campus student group, Samford Prism, had been formed to support LGBTQ+ students. Another group of alumni and other community members, SAFE Samford, also advocated on behalf of students.{{Cite web |last=Denham |first=Hannah |date=2023-12-17 |title=Samford LGBTQ+ students say they aren't protected from discrimination |url=https://www.al.com/education/2023/12/samford-lgbtq-students-say-they-arent-protected-from-discrimination.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=AL.com |language=en}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 169

| THE_WSJ = 170

| USNWR_NU = 143

}}

File:Samford University Beeson Divinity School.JPG]]

Samford, a Christian university,{{cite web|url=http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/11/how_birminghams_samford_univer.html |title=How Birmingham's Samford University is growing and going strong |date=8 November 2014 |publisher=AL.com |access-date=2016-09-15}} offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, with 170 undergraduate majors, minors and concentrations.{{cite web|url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2020/09/Record-Enrollment-12th-Consecutive-Year#:~:text=University%20officials%20confirmed%20a%20record,of%20Columbia%2C%20and%2030%20countries.|title = Despite Pandemic, Samford Announces Record Enrollment for 12th Consecutive Year}} The university is divided into the School of the Arts, Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Brock School of Business, Beeson Divinity School, Orlean Beeson School of Education, Cumberland School of Law, Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, School of Health Professions, and School of Public Health. The faculty-to-student ratio at Samford University is 1:13.{{cite web|url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/samford-university-1036|title=Samford University|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-date=January 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103063734/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/samford-university-1036|url-status=dead}} Approximately two-thirds of the university's classes have fewer than 20 students.

In 2023, the college accepted 83.3% of applicants, with those admitted having an average 3.8 GPA and an average 1160 SAT score or average 26 ACT score.{{cite web |title= Samford University Requirements for Admission |url= https://www.prepscholar.com/sat/s/colleges/Samford-University-admission-requirements#:~:text=The%20acceptance%20rate%20at%20Samford,get%20an%20offer%20of%20admission. |website=prepscholar.com|publisher= PrepScholar |access-date=20 March 2024}}

Samford has moved four times during its history. Originally, Howard College was located in Marion, Alabama, a black-belt town between Selma and Tuscaloosa; it was later the birthplace of Coretta Scott King. The college moved twice in the town. Its second campus is now the home of Marion Military Institute. In 1887, the college moved to the East Lake community in Birmingham across the street from Ruhama Baptist Church. The university is now located approximately {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} south of downtown Birmingham in Homewood, Alabama's Shades Valley along Lakeshore Drive in Homewood, just {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} from Interstate 65. It is built in the Georgian Colonial style based on Colonial Williamsburg as envisioned by Lena Vail Davis, wife of then President Harwell Davis when the campus was moved to the Shades Valley area of Jefferson County in 1953-57.[https://www.samford.edu/about/history History]samford.edu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228101059/http://www.samford.edu/about/history/ |date=2014-12-28 }} The campus location was chosen in consultation with Olmsted Brothers, the famous Massachusetts-based landscape design firm. Most elements of its initial site plan, however, were not included in the final plan by the Birmingham architectural firm Van Keuren & Davis. This firm, known has Davis Architects since 1986, has designed almost all buildings on the campus.{{Cite journal |last=Bains |first=David |date=Winter 2025 |title=Sacred Space: Shaping Samford's Campus |url=https://www.samford.edu/departments/files/Marketing/Seasons/2005-winter.pdf |journal=Seasons Magazine |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=22–25}}{{Cite book |last=White |first=Marjorie |title=Shades Creek: Flowing Through Time |publisher=Birmingham Historical Society |year=2019 |location=Birmingham, AL}}

In 1983 the university established a study center in London, England, to facilitate students studying abroad. Named the Daniel House, the center is located at 12 Ashburn Gardens in South Kensington and hosts 15-24 students each semester.{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=David |date=December 13, 2018 |title=The Secrets of the Daniel House |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2018/12/The-Secrets-of-the-Daniel-House |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=Samford University |language=en}}

In 2014 the university purchased the campus of the Southern Progress Corporation which borders its main campus to the east. (The land had originally been part of Samford's undeveloped campus and was previously sold by Samford to Southern Progress.) The three huge buildings on the former Southern Progress campus are strikingly modern in their architecture and nestled among trees. This contrasts with the Georgian Colonial classicism of the central campus.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-04 |title=Samford University intends to buy Southern Progress campus from Time Inc. |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2014/11/report_samford_university_to_b.html |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=al |language=en}}

The president's home is located on in Vestavia Hills, on Shades Mountain, overlooking the campus. Erected earlier as a private home, it was purchased by the university in 2007 and remodled to serve as a residence and a place for entertaining many guests. It is the one non-contiguous part of the university's Birmingham campus.{{Cite web |last=Markham |first=Madoline |date=2022-12-19 |title=Deck the Halls |url=https://vestaviahillsmagazine.com/deck-the-halls/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Vestavia Hills Magazine |language=en-US}}

In 2024, more than 60 percent of the undergraduate student body came from outside the state of Alabama. {{cite web | url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2024/09/Samford-University-Celebrates-16th-Consecutive-Year-of-Enrollment-Growth | title=Samford University Celebrates 16th Consecutive Year of Enrollment Growth }} Samford welcomed 245 transfer students, including 151 from Birmingham-Southern College, which closed in May.{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/birmingham-southern-college-closure-alabama-60639f073d7f22bbbc2a1b44a891aa54 | title=Struggling private Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama says it will close at end of May | website=Associated Press News | date=26 March 2024 }}

In 2023, Samford University enrolled 3,832 undergraduate and 1,959 graduate and professional students.{{Cite web |title=Samford Announces Largest Total Enrollment in University History |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2023/09/Samford-Announces-Largest-Total-Enrollment-in-University-History |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=Samford University |language=en}} Students from 49 states and 16 countries attend Samford, with 74 percent of the undergraduate student body coming from outside the state of Alabama.{{Cite web |title=Facts & Stats {{!}} Samford University |url=https://www.samford.edu/departments/institutional-effectiveness/facts-and-stats |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=www.samford.edu}} 97 percent of all May 2019 undergraduate alumni were employed or enrolled in graduate school or in internships within six months of graduation.{{cite web |url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2019/12/97-Percent-of-May-2019-Samford-Graduates-Employed-or-in-Graduate-Study |title=Samford University |access-date=December 20, 2019}}{{cite web| url=http://www.samford.edu/about/by-the-numbers| title=By the Numbers| publisher=Samford University| access-date=February 18, 2015}} 81 percent of May 2015 graduates completed an internship during their time at Samford.{{cite web| url=https://www.samford.edu/departments/files/Marketing/Samford-Messaging-Guide.pdf| title=Messaging Guide| publisher=Samford University| access-date=February 18, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301172307/https://www.samford.edu/departments/files/Marketing/Samford-Messaging-Guide.pdf| archive-date=2016-03-01| url-status=dead}} During 2015, Samford students completed 716,902 hours of community service.

{{Main|Samford Bulldogs}}

The university fields 17 varsity sports and participates in the NCAA at the Division I level as a member of the Southern Conference.{{cite web |title=Key Facts |url=http://www.samford.edu/about-samford/facts.aspx |access-date=December 31, 2014}} Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball.

In May 2024, Samford won the Commissioner's Cup, which goes to the top all-around men's athletics program in the Southern Conference, and the Germann Cup, for the SoCon's top overall women's athletics program. The school also won the graduation success award, marking the first time a SoCon school has swept all three awards in back-to-back years.

In the NCAA's 2013 report, Samford student-athletes achieved an average Academic Progress Rate of 990, the highest in Alabama.{{cite web |url=http://samfordsports.com/news/2012/6/20/academicsupport_0620124606.aspx?path=academicsupport|title=Samford Teams Post High APR Scores|date=June 20, 2012|access-date=December 31, 2014}} It marked the eighth consecutive year that Samford has been a leader in APR measures, beginning in 2005 when it placed 7th in the nation in the inaugural ranking. The university is one of only 61 schools to have received an NCAA Public Recognition Award for academic excellence in the past eight years.{{cite web |title=Samford Athletics |url=http://www.samford.edu/athletics/ |access-date=March 14, 2024}}

In 2019, Samford's athletics teams were ranked first in Alabama and the Southern Conference and 18th in the country among all NCAA Division 1 schools for Graduation Success Rate by the NCAA with an average score of 97%. Nine teams posted perfect scores.{{cite web| url=https://www.samford.edu/news/2019/10/Samford-Athletics-Ranks-Among-Top-Nationally-for-Graduation-Success-Rate-in-Latest-NCAA-Report| title=Samford Ranks Among Top Nationally| access-date=December 19, 2019| publisher=Samford University| date=October 23, 2019}} Samford is first among Division I schools in Alabama and in the Southern Conference.

The Bulldogs have won 77 conference championships since joining the Southern Conference in 2008. In the last 20 years, 28 Samford baseball players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and 19 Bulldog football players have been chosen in the National Football League Draft. Past student-athletes include national-championship football coaches Bobby Bowden{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/9/8/17661978/jimbo-fisher-bobby-bowden-samford-florida-state|title=FSU's Week 2 opponent was the catalyst for the last 40 years of Seminole greatness|author=Richard Johnson|publisher=SBNation|date=September 8, 2018|access-date=August 24, 2019}} and Jimbo Fisher{{cite web|url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/college-football/fsus-jimbo-fisher-has-deep-roots-at-samford-and--1/nL9kF/|title=FSU's Jimbo Fisher has deep roots at Samford and close ties to Terry Bowden|date=September 3, 2010|author=Tom D'Angelo|access-date=December 31, 2014}} All-Pro defensive back Cortland Finnegan,{{cite web |url=http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/03/samfords_cortland_finnegan_get.html|title=Samford's Cortland Finnegan gets 5-year, $50 million deal with Rams|date=March 14, 2012 |access-date=December 31, 2014}} NFL standouts include James Bradberry (Carolina Panthers), Michael Pierce (Baltimore Ravens) and Jaquiski Tartt (San Francisco 49ers), and baseball’s Phillip Ervin, who has had success with the Cincinnati Reds.

{{Category see also|Samford University alumni}}

The university has more than 57,000 living alumni, including U.S. congressmen, seven state governors, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, four Rhodes Scholars, multiple Emmy and Grammy award-winning artists, two national championship football coaches, and recipients of the Pulitzer and Nobel Peace prizes.{{cite web |title=Samford University |url=https://www.samford.edu/about/by-the-numbers |access-date=March 14, 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{College-navigator|102049}}

{{Navboxes|list1={{Colleges and universities in Alabama}}

{{Southern Conference navbox}}

{{Birmingham Area Consortium for Higher Education}}

{{Southern Baptist Colleges}}

{{Birmingham Landmarks}}

{{Southern Baptist Colleges}}

{{Authority control}}}}

Category:Universities and colleges established in 1841

Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention

Category:1841 establishments in Alabama

Category:Private universities and colleges in Alabama