Samford University’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences and School of the Arts celebrated their spring graduates with a joint commencement ceremony May 2 in the Pete Hanna Center. Howard College awarded 220 degrees and the School of the Arts awarded 149. The ceremony continued a tradition of academic unity and reflected Samford’s commitment to faith, learning and service.
University President Beck A. Taylor presided over the ceremony. Degrees were presented by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Cimbora, with names announced by Dana Basinger, assistant dean of Howard College. The ceremony also included an invocation by School of the Arts Dean Lance Beaumont, a scripture reading by Stephen Chew, professor of psychology, and the alma mater led by Jonathan Rodgers, assistant professor and coordinator of Samford’s Music and Worship Leadership program in the School of the Arts. Howard College Dean Dawn McCormack offered the benediction.
The keynote address was delivered by Jeff Leonard, professor of biblical and religious studies. Leonard, who joined Samford’s Department of Biblical and Religious Studies as a full-time faculty member in 2012, specializes in Hebrew, Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. An acclaimed teacher and mentor, he has received several Samford honors, including the 2019 Howard College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award and the George Macon Memorial Award.
Leonard centered his remarks on Psalm 1, reminding graduates that happiness is often found in both the courage to say “no” and the wisdom to say “yes.” He reflected on the psalmist’s words, “O the happinesses of the person,” explaining that the passage points not merely to blessing or joy, but to a deeper understanding of happiness rooted in faithful living.
Leonard encouraged graduates to say no to the habits and influences that can lead them away from the people God has called them to become. “There is a person that God wants you to be,” he said. “Some would drag you away from being that person.”
He also urged graduates to say yes to God’s Word, describing meditation as something absorbed so deeply into the soul that it shapes a person from the inside out. Through humor, personal stories and reflections from Scripture, Leonard reminded the Class of 2026 that a life of wisdom is formed through daily choices, faithful relationships and a heart shaped by God’s truth.
“O the happinesses of the person who says no to those things that are bad,” Leonard said. “Who says no to those people who would tear you down. And says yes and yes and yes again to God’s Word.”
Several outstanding graduates were recognized during the ceremony.
Shannon Boutwell received the President’s Cup, the university’s highest academic honor awarded to the graduating student with the highest grade-point average. A University Fellow and double major in violin performance and piano performance with pedagogy, Boutwell pairs academic distinction with an extraordinary level of musical achievement, demonstrating exceptional discipline, leadership and artistry throughout her academic career.
An accomplished violinist and pianist, Boutwell has earned top honors in numerous competitions, including three first-place finishes in the Gulf Coast Steinway Society Competition, leading to two piano solo recital performances at Carnegie Hall and a violin concerto scholarship. She will return to Carnegie Hall this summer to perform with her string trio. A sponsored artist of the Becker Family Foundation, she performs on a 1916 Carl G. Becker violin. Boutwell serves as concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Samford University Opera Orchestra, exemplifying excellence in both solo and collaborative performance.
Luke Dart and Jayla Duncan, both from Howard College, were among four students across the university honored with the John C. Pittman Spirit Award, celebrating graduates who have exemplified a serious commitment to academics, devout Christian faith, personal wellness and active engagement in campus life.
Additionally, Neil Davis, president of Davis Architects, Samford University’s primary architecture partner, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
Ahead of commencement exercises, Davis reflected on nearly 50 years in practice and how his understanding of the profession has changed over time.
Quoting Winston Churchill, Davis said, “We shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us,” noting that the idea has taken on new meaning for him throughout his career. Early on, his focus centered on creativity, but experience gradually broadened his perspective. “What has changed,” Davis said, “is my understanding of what the work is actually for.”
Davis believes architecture is ultimately defined by the people who inhabit it. “A building is not finished when construction ends,” he said. “It becomes finished, slowly, as a community moves into it and makes it their own.”
Reflecting on his work at Samford, Davis described seeing buildings he helped design now fully shaped by student and faculty life. “That transfer—from the architect’s vision to the community’s life—is the real completion of the work,” he said. “You are not making something for yourself. You are making something for time.”
Davis offered practical and personal guidance for graduates entering creative careers. His first piece of advice is simple but demanding: “Be true to yourself. Creative careers often present pressure to compromise essential ideas, and learning the difference between healthy collaboration and surrendering one’s vision is critical.” He also urges graduates to pair patience with persistence, acknowledging that the arts rarely reward effort on a predictable schedule. “Patience is not waiting passively,” he said. “It is staying committed to the work even when the work is not yet returning the favor.”
Davis hopes graduates remain guided by passion, which he believes is the sustaining force of any creative life. “Skills can be developed. Connections can be made,” he said. “But passion is the renewable resource.” Looking ahead, Davis said he hopes the spaces he has helped create inspire “joy, first. And wonder,” and offer a sense of belonging. If future artists and designers encounter in those spaces the belief that “beauty and purpose are not in opposition,” he said, then the work will have fulfilled its highest aim.
The Class of 2026 leaves Samford University equipped not only with knowledge and skill, but with character, purpose and a call to serve. Their accomplishments were celebrated with gratitude, joy and anticipation for the ways they will continue to make an impact in their communities and throughout the world.
