Samford celebrates homecoming weekend, names Alumni of the Year

Samford celebrates homecoming weekend, names Alumni of the Year

Samford University alumni traveled from 17 states and one foreign nation to participate in a homecoming weekend filled with reunions and other activities that entertained, inspired and informed Nov. 6–8. 

A rainy day Nov. 7 did not keep visiting graduates and their families from gathering under tents on the Birmingham campus quadrangle for fellowship and food. 

In Seibert Stadium a damp but enthusiastic crowd cheered the Bulldogs to a 43–0 victory over homecoming opponent Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta.

Alumni honored

Throughout homecoming, guest alumni lecturers spoke to students and other alumni on a variety of topics and honors were presented to alumni for various achievements. The traditional alumni banquet Nov. 6 honored four graduates for special service to the university.

Alumni of the Year honorees were Karen Duncan Carlisle, a 1988 graduate from Birmingham; Todd Carlisle, a 1988 graduate and 1991 Cumberland School of law graduate from Birmingham; and Larry Cox, a 1972 graduate from Muscle Shoals. Andrew Patterson, a 2005 graduate from Birmingham, was named Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year.

Wall of Fame

The department of journalism and mass communication inducted Catherine Bryant Allen and the late Albert Scroggins Jr. on its Wall of Fame. Allen, a graduate from Birmingham, is a longtime Baptist communicator and former Woman’s Missionary Union executive. Scroggins served as Samford’s journalism department head and public relations director in the 1950s.

Samford’s Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education presented 100 Learning for Life awards at its centennial celebration dinner. 

The award recipients were chosen for success in their fields and their ability to give back to their communities.

Lauren Elizabeth Sims and Walker Edmondson were named homecoming queen and king. Chosen by the student body, they were crowned by Samford President Andrew Westmoreland and his wife, Jeanna, at the student-sponsored homecoming ball Nov. 5. 

Sims, a senior journalism and mass communication/Spanish double major from Wildwood, Georgia, is the daughter of Karen and Cody Sims. Edmondson, a senior history/religion double major from Oneonta is the son of Robin and Gray Edmondson.

Golden Bulldogs

Homecoming weekend concluded with a Sunday Bible study led by Westmoreland and a brunch for graduates from classes of 1965 and earlier, known as Golden Bulldogs.

At the brunch Carolyn Yeager Robinson, a 1960 graduate from Maylene, and Malcolm Miller, a 1950 graduate from Birmingham, received David Lockmiller awards as the female and male present from the earliest class and who had not previously won the award. Each received a clock with a Samford engraving.

(Samford)