Published on January 13, 2010 by Philip Poole  
Posted by Philip Poole on 2010-03-15

Samford University students were urged to develop lifelong support the university during a March 9 financial convocation.   

W. Randall Pittman, Samford’s vice president for university advancement, and Harry B. “Buck” Brock III, vice president for business affairs, spoke to students on the university’s 2009-2010 budget and the importance of annual donor gifts to make the budget balance.   

The question-and-answer event was hosted by Samford For Life as part of the “Welcome to the Real World” financial convocation series. Samford For Life is an undergraduate initiative to promote an awareness of the importance of giving to the university.   

Brock discussed how money is spent at Samford, from maintaining campus facilities to funding student scholarships. Brock recognized March 9 as a special day for Samford because it marked the theoretical day that the university stopped running on tuition dollars and began running on donor dollars.   

“Today we are operating this university on the good grace of the friends who donate to this university,” Brock said. “Philanthropy allows us as a university to give so much more to our students than we would otherwise be able to give.”   

Pittman spoke on “A Campaign for Samford,” the university’s effort to raise $200 million by 2014. Pittman mentioned that Samford plans to use $65 million for student scholarships.   

“We really mean it as administrators when we say we want those students who earn their way in to Samford to be able to have access to some kind of financial support,” Pittman said. 

 

Reporting by Matt Roberts, student assistant, Office of Communication. 

 
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.