Posted by William Nunnelley on 2003-08-20

Samford University will welcome some 4,400 students to campus this week for the start of the school's 162nd academic year.

About 700 freshmen will arrive on campus by Thursday, Aug. 21, for their final orientation to campus life. Four days of activities will include special assemblies, recreation and small group meetings.

A session on community activism will be based on their summer reading assignment, the book "Why We Can't Wait," by Martin Luther King, Jr. History professor Jonathan Bass and pastor Gerald Austin of Birmingham's New City Church will lead the discussion.

Members of the freshman class were chosen from a record 2,066 applicants to Samford.

Samford upperclassmen will begin moving in Friday, Aug. 22, and classes will start Monday, Aug. 25. Opening convocation will be Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. in Wright Center Concert Hall.

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.