Some 33 years after receiving his journalism degree from Samford University, acclaimed actor Tony Hale returned as speaker for the 2025 fall commencement, advising a new class of graduates to embrace whatever uncertainty awaits.
“I was sitting exactly where you are, and I wish I could say that I was beaming with hope and excitement,” said Hale ’92. “But it was more a mix of disbelief that I actually got through college, and also being convinced that I was the only person who had zero clue what was going to happen next. At the time, what I really needed was someone in my ear whispering, ‘Tony, take a deep breath. It's going to be OK.’”
Hale, best known for his quirky scene-stealing characters in Arrested Development and Veep, has three Emmys and a growing string of movie credits. That includes producing and starring in Sketch, the family-friendly adventure project that continues to be lauded by critics and moviegoers.
Earlier this year, Hale was selected as Samford’s Alumnus of the Year. The university’s Board of Trustees subsequently voted to award Hale an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at commencement. University President Beck A. Taylor lauded Hale’s impeccable comedic timing and penchant for giving characters a disarming blend of sincerity and awkward charm.
“His characters remind us that insecurity can coexist with hope, that humor can coexist with heartache and that we are often funniest when we are simply trying our best to belong,” Taylor said. “His work reminds us that laughter is often an act of grace, and that grace, when offered generously, has the power to make even the most unlikely characters lovable and unforgettable.”
Notes of humility and resilience surfaced throughout Hale’s speech. Upon moving to New York in 1995, he found himself reeling from casting rejections and doubting his ability to break through. Hale might have given up after the first year if not for encouragement from the friends he cultivated.
“If there is any piece of advice that I could give you today, it would be this: invest in your community before you invest in your career,” he said. “The community that you cultivate can be a backbone for you in the highs and the lows of your career.”
Hale couldn’t leave without a joke, deadpanning that Samford’s decision to bestow him a doctorate makes one “question the integrity of the institution.” He ended his address by telling be-gowned graduates: “If you ever see me out in the world, we will always be alumni together. But from this point forward, please do not forget, it’s Dr. Hale.”
Samford’s 290 fall graduates— who earned either a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree—joined a group of more than 59,000 living alumni. During the commencement ceremony inside Pete Hanna Center, graduates were recognized from eight of Samford’s 10 academic schools: Brock School of Business, Cumberland School of Law, Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing, Orlean Beeson School of Education, the School of the Arts, the School of Health Professions and the School of Public Health. The previous weekend saw Beeson Divinity School recognize its graduates.
Scott Guffin, associate professor and executive director of Samford's Christian Ministry program, prayed over the graduates’ achievements and asked God to bless them during their careers:
“Father, we thank you for the things that are earned, but we also thank you for the things that are not earned. We thank you for the love and the support of families. We thank you for those who have given sacrificially for their students to be here. Father. We thank you for the generosity of donors, for those who have supplied scholarships, for those who have allowed us to meet and gather in places like this in which we are currently sitting. Father, we thank you for the relationships that have been built among students and faculty here. And we thank you for those administrators, for those faculty, for those staff members who so passionately give of themselves and their time. Father, we thank you for the lifelong relationships that students have developed, some of them even finding their spouses here. But, Father, most of all, we thank you for the greatest unearned gift we’ve ever received. We thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you for his life. We thank you for His sacrifice, father. We, thank you that he was raised again, that we might live.”
