Published on November 14, 2025  

Samford celebrated its 2025 Homecoming with a week of festivities, reunions and the special commemoration of a philanthropist who believed in the university’s mission.

Reunion breakfasts recognized the classes of 2000 and 2015, while the Golden Bulldog Brunch welcomed the Class of 1975 to alumni who have graduated 50-plus years ago.

During the Bulldog Bash, senior accounting major Kathryn Acres from Johnson City, Tennessee, was selected homecoming queen. Cade Staley, a senior marketing major from Dawsonville, Georgia, was named homecoming king.

Outside the stadium that bears his name, Samford benefactor and former student-athlete Pete Hanna was honored with a statue dedication. Hanna passed away in May at age 88, following a life of philanthropy that saw him infuse Christian principles into his family’s steel business.

The Samford men’s basketball team ushered in the Lenny Acuff coaching era by beating South Carolina State 82-72 in the home opener. The football team fell 38-14 to East Tennessee State.

 

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, 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 enrolls 6,324 students from 44 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 is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second-highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.