Samford University is heading toward its 160th anniversary amid national recognition and a determination to stay current with the latest in education technology.
Reporting to messengers at the Alabama Baptist State Convention, University President Thomas Corts thanked them for “the investment you make in today’s young people through Samford University.
“Most of them are aware of that and they are deeply grateful,” Corts said. “And all of us recognize that Samford would not be what it is today, were it not for the investment over the years of Alabama Baptists.”
Noting that next year Samford will celebrate the 160th anniversary of being chartered in 1841, Corts said the university and the state’s other two Baptist colleges are united in offering Christian education.
“It’s been in business for a long time and we can be grateful for the many leadership opportunities that have come to the university over the years,” he said.
“We recognize that we are a force,” Corts added. “Judson, the University of Mobile and Samford — we are a force in Alabama on behalf of the Baptists of this state for Christian education.”
Corts admitted meeting the goals of Christian education is a “difficult task,” but said the Lord has blessed Samford’s efforts and many leadership opportunities have come to the university.
He pointed out that Samford was recognized this fall by U.S. News and World Report as fifth in the South among regional institutions.
“We didn’t set out to try to win that kind of designation, but it has come to us and we are very grateful for it,” he said. “It is seen as very significant by the public at large and it is one evidence that the university has made good progress.
Corts said Samford was also recognized by Money magazine as a “worthy value,” by Barron’s as among “the most selective colleges” and was ranked among the best “stone-cold sober schools.”
The university president said Samford had a record number of more than 2,000 applications for 655 spaces in this fall’s freshman class.
Working to assure more Alabamians are part of the student body, he said Samford has established Early Admission Baptist Assistance. Corts said the program is designed to provide assistance for students who realize early in their education that Samford is right for them.
“We realize we want the assistance we have available to go to the students who are most worthy and deserve it,” he said.
“We’re all over the world with students who are studying in Hong Kong or in Morocco or in other places,” he said. “They have the experience of an international flavor and then they bring that flavor back to the campus with them.
“And continuingly, Samford is one of those schools which is at the very top in terms of the number of summer missionaries we sent abroad,” Corts said. “That’s been a strategic role we’ve played for a number of years.”
Other topics addressed by Corts included:
-Samford’s selection by the Pew Charitable Trust as a leader in problem-based learning.
Corts described the program as a new teaching strategy that is taking hold, particularly in medical and veterinarian schools.
“The Pew Charitable Trust wanted to see if it could be applicable to the arts and sciences, so we’ve been chosen to be a national model in problem-based learning,” Corts said.
-Samford’s annual pastor school, which he said happens primarily through the efforts of the Beeson Divinity School.
Corts said more than 400 ministers and their families were on campus for a “refresher, a renewal.”
-Approximately 25 students and several faculty members participated in the Billy Graham Evangelism Conference in Amsterdam this past summer.
-The selection of one of its students, Janice Anderson, as Miss Alabama.
-The Samford Bulldogs basketball team’s participation in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year and its ranking as one of the top 64 teams in the nation.
Corts’ spirits were buoyed by an alumni breakfast held the first morning of the convention, which was attended by more than 100 Samford graduates. He said alumni were represented from across the state, who reminisced with former classmates.
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