Samford University unveiled plans Jan. 29 for advancements at the Alabama Baptist school that will “define [its] future.”
The price tag for these plans could push $200 million, said Samford President Thomas E. Corts.
The advancements include building new buildings, renovating old buildings, increasing the student body and adding endowments.
Corts outlined the plan as approved by the university’s board of trustees during a Founders Day convocation for the students. He presented the plan to the media prior to the convocation.
“We are a special kind of place and we want to make sure people see us that way,” Corts said, explaining that the new initiative intends to take Samford to a more significant level in the community, in the state and in the Southeast.
“This is a first-rate academic institution with a strong Christian emphasis and a strong spirit of community.
“Samford means something to this community,” Corts said. But he wants people nationwide to think of Samford when they think of the Southeast.
“This is a fresh emphasis for an institution that has been around 163 years,” Corts said, adding that the new plans will be a major financial undertaking.
“This takes money, but we are not going to launch a financial campaign,” he explained. “We are going to more overtly and aggressively assert ourselves into the public eye.”
Campus wish list
Noting top priorities for new buildings include a recital hall ($7 million), new dormitory rooms and/or residence hall ($10 million) and a varsity sports and student fitness center ($30–$35 million), Corts said, “We know where we want to go.”
But “these are projects that get done when people put up the money for them,” he said. “Generous donors have made us who we are,” Corts said. “We depend upon them.”
As far as increasing the student body, Corts said an increase of 400 undergraduate students would bring the overall enrollment to a maximum of 5,000.
Seventy percent of the 5,000 would then be undergraduate students. The current enrollment at Samford is 4,440.
“We have strong undergraduate and graduate programs, but a limited number of students can be accepted. We recognize what our limitations are. Our size has to be small,” Corts said.
“But it is a calculated decision to stay our size and [compete for the best students],” he explained.
“We want to make Samford as vital a place as it can be with rigorous and vigorous programs,” Corts said, pointing out the role the school already plays in the Birmingham area and in the state.
“[Samford] is the largest private university or college in the state. It has consistently been ranked among the top Southern universities in its peer group,” he said, adding it has the only private accredited law school and pharmacy school in the state.
“Samford is one of the top employers in metro Birmingham with 1,400 employees,” he added.
“It has a $100 million budget and has one-third of a billion dollar impact on the budget of the state. If Samford did not exist, it would leave a large hole.”
Endowments planned for Samford include:
At least $20 million in additional endowed scholarships.
“We want outstanding students who are motivated to serving others and to making the world better — and not just students from elite homes, but students with modest means, including those from other parts of the world,” Corts said.
Endowed lectureships for each of Samford’s eight colleges.
Minimum of 20 additional endowed professorships.
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