Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2005-11-11

Vicki Jones Locke, project manager of the Black Belt Action Commission, will address students at Samford University Thursday (NOV. 17) at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel. Locke is presented as this semester's Omicron Delta Kappa speaker. The public is invited.

She will discuss the Commission's work in Perry County, one of 12 central Alabama counties that suffer from high rates of poverty, illiteracy and infant mortality. She will also highlight ways that Samford has been helpful in the area, which was the site of the school's beginnings. Samford, founded as Howard College in Marion in 1841, moved to Birmingham in 1887.

Samford students and faculty have numerous on-going projects designed to boost Perry County's educational, economic and healthcare resources.

On Saturday, Nov. 19, Samford ODK chapter members will host a program at Marion's Francis Marion High School to mentor the school's Future Business Leaders of America chapter. The college students will facilitate learning experiences related to personality, communication and leadership for the high schoolers.

 

 
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.