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DeidreDownsSamford’sMiss AmericaCharts Medical Futurepage 31

Corts Sets ’06 Retirementpage 4

School of Performing ArtsNewsletter page 23

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4 Corts Sets RetirementDr. Thomas E. Corts, Samford president since 1983, will retireby the end of the 2006 academic year next May. But he andthe Samford board of trustees have big plans to accomplishbefore then. Read more about the plans on succeeding pages.

8 Salute to the PastSamford’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences organized theOld Howard 100 Bike Ride across Perry and several adjacentcounties to benefit the Sowing Seeds of Hope initiative and tocelebrate Samford’s past in Marion, Ala. Almost 150 ridersshowed up, making the event a big success.

10 Sherman Concerns UnjustifiedSamuel Sterling Sherman, a Vermont native and Samford’sfirst president, left the South on the eve of the Civil War. After the conflict, he revisited the area, but not without someconcern. His handwritten autobiography, shared with SamfordSpecial Collection by his great-grandson in June, describes hisreception and other first-person thoughts.

20 On the Subject of LearningSamford psychology chair Stephen Chew is constantlyevaluating the best ways to help students learn. The hardestpart of teaching, he says, is “making sure the students have anaccurate understanding that they can actually use.” Chew’sviews are widely respected, as his recent selection as thenation’s best college psychology teacher indicates.

23 Performing Arts NewsletterFive years ago, the School of Music and Department ofTheatre merged to form the School of Performing Arts. Catchup on the current scene and read about several interestingalumni in the School of Performing Arts Newsletter, an insert inthis Seasons.

features

2 From the President

3 Samford Report

13 Looking Back: McGinnis Book

14 Commencement

16 Missions Report

21 International Studies

22 Christian Women’s LeadershipCenter

31 Alumna Q & A: Deidre Downs

32 Homecoming

33 Alumni Club Report

34 Class Notes

39 Births

40 In Memoriam

44 Campus News

46 Sports

50 Giving

53 Summer Calendar

Correction: Alpha Delta Pi sorority won the Best Choreography award at Step Sing 2005,not Zeta Tau Alpha, as reported in the spring issue of Seasons. Congratulations to AlphaDelta Pi for winning this category.

1

EDITORWilliam Nunnelley

ASSOCIATE EDITORMary Wimberley

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSJack Brymer, Sean Flynt, Philip Poole

PUBLICATIONS MANAGERJanica York Carter

EDITORIAL SPECIALISTBarrett Hathcock

DESIGNERSScott Camp, Carlie Cranford Stamper

PHOTOGRAPHYCaroline Baird Summers

ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONOFFICERS 2004–05

PRESIDENTTom Armstrong ’73

VICE PRESIDENTMark Davidson ’92

SECRETARYKathryn Josey ’80

Summer 2005Vol. 22 No. 2Publication Number:USPS 244-800

Seasons is published quarterly by Samford University, 800 LakeshoreDrive, Birmingham, Alabama 35229,and is distributed free to all alumni ofthe University, as well as to otherfriends. Periodical postage paid atBirmingham, Alabama. Postmaster:send address changes to SamfordUniversity Alumni Office, SamfordUniversity, Birmingham, Alabama35229.

©2005 Samford University

Samford University is an EqualOpportunity Institution and welcomesapplications for employment and educational programs from all indi-viduals regardless of race, color, age,sex, disability, or national or ethnicorigin.

www.samford.edusamnews@samford.edu

EDITORWilliam Nunnelley

ASSOCIATE EDITORMary Wimberley

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSJack Brymer, Sean Flynt, Philip Poole

PUBLICATIONS MANAGERJanica York Carter

EDITORIAL SPECIALISTBarrett Hathcock

DESIGNERSScott Camp, Carlie Cranford Stamper

PHOTOGRAPHYCaroline Baird Summers

ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONOFFICERS 2004–05

PRESIDENTTom Armstrong ’73

VICE PRESIDENTMark Davidson ’92

SECRETARYKathryn Josey ’80

Summer 2005Vol. 22 No. 2Publication Number:USPS 244-800

Seasons is published quarterly by Samford University, 800 LakeshoreDrive, Birmingham, Alabama 35229,and is distributed free to all alumni ofthe University, as well as to otherfriends. Periodical postage paid atBirmingham, Alabama. Postmaster:send address changes to SamfordUniversity Alumni Office, SamfordUniversity, Birmingham, Alabama35229.

©2005 Samford University

Samford University is an EqualOpportunity Institution and welcomesapplications for employment and educational programs from all indi-viduals regardless of race, color, age,sex, disability, or national or ethnicorigin.

www.samford.edusamnews@samford.edu

Parents, family members and friends gather for Samford commencement at theBirmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena May 21. See page 14.

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It is far easier to be a universitythan to be a Christian university.Seeking consistency in honoringJesus Christ and His teachings, asa corporate community of about

5,000 persons, is a difficult task, moreoften claimed than achieved. Christian,of course, means “Christ-like” and, as amodifier for the word “university,” itdemands far more than an institution’shaving been founded by church folks,or merely enjoying financial supportfrom a denomination, or simply requir-ing students to take religion courses orattend chapel. Believing that God isultimate truth and authenticity, if aninstitution claimed to be a “Christianuniversity,” but was shabby, slothful orneglectful about being either Christianor truly a university (with its academic,residential, social and civic emphases), itwould be a sham and a fraud.

Constancy in its commitment isthe key to Samford’s uniqueness; it isalso the most difficult element of ourmission. Without it, our task would besimple. With that commitment, our taskis complex.

First, not everyone in the Samfordcommunity is a saint. Students and faculty join our community with varying degrees of Christian experience,with different spiritual temperaturesand metabolism, and with vulnerabilityto varying weaknesses and distractions.We do not require a profession of faithin Christ or a spiritual autobiographyfor student admission. There is no spiritual X-ray, religious MRI orChristian CAT-scan that can detect astudent’s compatibility with Samford’sChristian character.

Too, the expectations of Samfordare as varied as they are high. Pastors,laypersons, parents, students, alumni,prospective employers, donors, graduate

school deans—each has a different setof priorities to be reflected in Samfordgraduates. And their expectations fluc-tuate. I recall a pastor who once urgedme to ensure that Samford dealt harshlywith students who violated campusrules. “When I was in school, you brokethe rules, you were sent home,” he toldme. Only a year later, he franticallyphoned me to urge a Christ-like spiritof forgiveness, telling me his son hadbeen involved in a serious disciplinematter on campus, and would I please,please not suspend him?

Finally, we know that “true reli-gion and undefiled” is an affirmationof the heart. We do not command,cajole or fast-talk individuals into serious Christian commitment.Therefore, we must respect the human-ity and free will of others, both thosewho agree with us and those who donot. But we should not miss a chanceto model sincere Christian devotion, tolive by Christ-like morality and ethics,and to encourage young peopletowards Christian living.

Such convictions have led Baptistpeople to make a very tangible invest-ment in this university by their annualcontribution to the operating budget,this year about $110 million. Samfordhopes to receive about $5 million fromthe churches of our state through theCooperative Program of the AlabamaBaptist State Convention, a subsidy thatsupports every single student. I havealways appreciated the world vision ofBaptists. Alabama Baptists especiallyhave been generous givers, sharingChrist with the world and seeking tohelp humanity deal with hunger, illness,ignorance, disease and tragedy, here andaround the world.

The elected officers and executivesof our convention, whom I have had the

pleasure to work with since 1983, haveall been persons of integrity and sincereinterest in their support of Samford.Over the years, Dr. George Bagley,Dr. A. Earl Potts, Dr. Troy Morrison andDr. Rick Lance have been specialfriends. We have benefited from theirstatesmanship and irenic spirit.

I hope Alabama Baptists take pridein Samford and continue to help itprosper in the future. Other Baptiststate conventions are embroiled in contentious disagreements, some inongoing battles, not at all consistentwith following our Lord. I am deeplygrateful for a state in which Baptists arenot always in agreement, but they agreeon life’s most basic issue, which makesus brothers and sisters.

Like so many others, through ourchurch and by direct gifts my wife and Ihave a great deal invested in Samford.We are counting on the trustees andAlabama Baptists to keep Samfordfocused on its difficult, but worthy,mission of distinctively Christian education.

When we made the decision tocome to Samford in 1983, we knew itwas one of the most importantChristian universities. A friend told methat, if I remained at Samford untilretirement, it would use up the bestyears of my life.

How blessed I am!

Thomas E. CortsPresident

InPraise of

Alabama Baptists

Correction: In the Spring ’05 issue of Seasons,Haroldine Johnson Ross ’63 was reported to havedied in July 2002. She actually died in July 2000.She and Robert W. Ross ’64 were married 36years. Robert W. Ross married Catherine Davisof Scottsboro in 2001, and they are engaged inpulpit supply and mission trip ministry.

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After 12 hours of reading May 9,Samford University volunteers gotthrough barely a third of the 1901Alabama constitution, which many sayis too long and too old. Readers got topage 217 of a 589-page bound copy ofthe document, published by Samford in2000.

“We read up to the 198th amend-ment,” said student Alisha Damron, whoorganized the event. The constitutionhas more than 740 amendments.

From 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., Samfordstudents, faculty and staff took turnsreading aloud from the 310,300-worddocument while seated comfortably inan easy chair in front of Davis Library.

The event drew attention and con-versation, which is what the organizerswanted. Signatures of 181 Alabamaresidents were added to a petition insupport of constitutional reform.

“Students were definitely responsiveto the demonstration,” said Damron, asenior from Springdale, Ark., and a mem-ber of the Samford chapter of AlabamaCitizens for Constitutional Reform.

The 20 readers included 11students, seven professors, a retired staffmember and Samford President ThomasE. Corts, a leader in state constitutionalreform efforts. ■

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Looking for aQuick Read?Avoid Alabama’sConstitution

Site work began in June for Samford’snew music building. Gary C. Wyatt,Inc., of Birmingham has been awardedconstruction contracts, and the buildingshould be ready for use by the fall 2006,according to Don M. Mott, Samford vicepresident for facilities.

The $8.2 million building wasdesigned by Davis Architects, Inc., ofBirmingham and will complement theUniversity’s award-winning Georgian-Colonial campus. Both the Wyatt andDavis firms have done other design andconstruction projects for Samford.

The 32,000-square-foot buildingwill be part of a performing arts com-plex that includes Buchanan Hall, thecurrent music building, and the Leslie S.Wright Fine Arts Center. Thecenterpiece of the new buildingwill be a 300-seat, state-of-the-artrecital hall. Other planned facilitiesinclude rehearsal halls, studios,practice areas and instrumentstorage; faculty offices and teachingstudios; and recording facilities.

“It is a great testament to ourmusic faculty and to Birminghamas a serious music venue that ourinstrumental music program hasflourished,” said Samford PresidentThomas E. Corts. “We havedelighted in the surge of interest

and participation in instrumental music,and will be able to provide top facilities.

“The need for this facility has beenacute for several years, and we made thedecision to begin construction now, withthe good hope and faith that Samford’sgenerous friends and alumni will help uscomplete the funding soon,” Dr. Cortsadded.

The music building is one of severalprojects included in Samford’s multiyearcampus improvement plan, “The Promisefor All Generations.” More than $53 mil-lion in construction projects are plannedduring the next year, Corts said. ■

Music Building Construction Underway

Samford University’s communicationsoffice recently won four awards in theannual DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards com-petition sponsored by the ReligionCommunicators Council [RCC].

Samford received awards of meritfor Seasons, the University’s newsmagazine edited by William Nunnelley; adirect-mail campaign brochure designedby Scott Camp, senior graphic designer,and Sheri Hamiter, annual giving officer;the 2004–05 admission viewbook,designed by Camp and written by SeanFlynt, electronic news editor; and a newlogo for WVSU-FM, designed by CarlieStamper, graphic designer.

RCC is an international, ecumenicalorganization of more than 750 commu-nications professionals.

Additionally, Mary Wimberley, newsand feature writer, recently won awriting award from the Alabama MediaProfessionals [AMP] organization for astory on the University’s Global Center.AMP is the state affiliate of the NationalFederation of Press Women. ■

RCC Honors Seasons , Samford Graphics

report

Phi Kappa PhiAwards Rachel Lim

Samford University student Rachel E.Lim of Memphis, Tenn., received aPhi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship for2005–06 to pursue a Ph.D. in music theory. The $5,000 fellowship is one of60 awarded in the nation by thenational honor society that recognizesacademic excellence in all fields ofhigher education.

Lim, a music education major inthe School of Performing Arts, earnedher bachelor of music degree in May. Aflutist and pianist, she was a member ofthe Samford Orchestra, MarchingBand, Wind Ensemble, UniversityChorale, A Cappella Choir and Bells ofBuchanan handbell choir. She was alsoa dean’s list student and president ofthe Delta Omicron music fraternity. ■

Contractor Gary Wyatt, left, discussessite with President Thomas Corts.

4

Don’t expect Thomas Corts’ lastyear on the job to be a wind-down experience. If anything, theSamford president will be busierthan ever as he approaches his

planned retirement next year.Corts announced April 14 that he would

retire at the end of the current academic yearin May of 2006. At the same time, SamfordUniversity Board of Trustees Chairman BillStevens ’70 announced $50–$60 million incampus improvements that Corts will helpguide, as long as he’s on the job.

Included were a $25 million arena/fitnesscenter, the second phase of restructuring forBeeson University Center, refurbishing ofSeibert Hall, construction of a new parking lotand parking deck next to the Wright Center,and renovation of the campus heating, venti-lation and air conditioning system (see page 6).And that’s in addition to the $7 million recitalhall announced earlier.

“They have piled work on me as though Iwere a 25-year-old just starting out,” Cortssaid with a smile, making his retirementannouncement to faculty, students and friendsin Reid Chapel following a board meetingearlier in the day.

Corts noted that he will have completed23 years as president by May of ’06. He said itwould be “time for fresh vision and newenergy” in the president’s office.

There has been no shortage of thesequalities during theCorts era, said BoardChairman Stevens.“Samford is a fineruniversity than it wasin 1983, when Cortsarrived,” he said. “Dr.and Mrs. Cortswould be the first tosay this has been ateam effort, butSamford has made agiant leap forward inthe past 20 years—proportionally, it mayhave made as greatprogress as any uni-versity in America.”

vita“”contemplativa

Corts To Retire in May of ’06, but Watch the Dirt Fly Before Then

Birmingham News photoused with permission

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Former Alabama Governor and retired lawprofessor Albert Brewer and attorney andtrustee H. Hobart Grooms, Jr., of Birminghamwere named to serve as cochairs of theSamford University Presidential SearchCommittee that will identify candidates tosucceed retiring President Thomas E. Corts.

The 18-member committee is comprisedof trustees, faculty members, alumni and oneformer trustee. The members, in addition tothe cochairs, are:

Sarah C. Latham, director, institutionalresearch, who will serve as secretary of thesearch committee, Samford.

Mary Lynne Capilouto ’73, dean emeritus,University of Alabama at Birmingham Schoolof Dentistry, Birmingham.

Charles T. Carter ’56, trustee; retiredpastor, Shades Mountain Baptist Church;James H. Chapman Fellow of PastoralMinistry, Samford.

S. Earl Dove, trustee; president, the EarlDove Company, Dothan, Ala.

John W. Duren ’63, chairman, SamfordUniversity Board of Overseers; president,Duren Associates, Inc., Savannah, Ga.

Rosemary M. Fisk ’77, associate dean,Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Samford.

Robert Holmes, Jr., trustee; senior vicepresident, Ethics and Business Practices,Alabama Power Company, Birmingham.

Richard D. Horsley, former trustee; vicechairman and chief operating officer, RegionsFinancial Corporation, Birmingham.

W. Mike Howell, professor, biology,Samford.

Eric L. Motley ’96, special assistant to thepresident, Washington, D.C.

John C. Pittman ’44, trustee; associate,Pittman Financial Partners, Birmingham.

Charles D. Sands IV ’93, assistantprofessor and chair, exercise science and sportsmedicine, Samford.

W. Clark Watson ’81, Cumberland Schoolof Law; attorney and partner, Balch &Bingham, LLP, Birmingham.

Jay L. Wolf, Jr., trustee; senior pastor, FirstBaptist Church, Montgomery.

William J. Stevens ’70 (ex officio), chair-man, Samford University Board of Trustees;president and chief executive officer, MotionIndustries, Birmingham.

C. Thomas Houser (ex officio), vice chair-man, Samford University Board of Trustees;chief operating officer, BAE Systems, AnalyticalSolutions, Huntsville, Ala. ■

Stevens cited such highlights as the purchase of the London StudyCentre, astounding growth in the endowment (from $8 million to$258 million), national recognition in publications, construction ofmore than 30 new buildings, increases in on-campus and overallenrollment, and progress in many other areas.

Corts personally has signed and presented more than 17,000Samford diplomas to students during his years as president.

“I consider myself a very blessed man,” Corts said, “because I havebeen privileged to do what I wanted to do, and what I felt was thework given me to do, and I have enjoyed it! I have loved the students.This is a great faculty, in terms of professional skill and in terms ofpersonality. This institution has a great constituency in the people ofBirmingham and of Alabama, and especially in Alabama Baptists.”

As much as he has enjoyed his work, Corts said he looks forwardto a life of contemplation, or in his words, the “vita contemplativa,” inretirement. “I’d like to think I have earned a big, long sigh!”

But before then, he said, “the board has cooked up some terrificnew plans,” and Corts will continue to place his imprint on theUniversity. During the next year, he said, “I intend to get a lotaccomplished.”

His tenure has been marked by distinctive touches, from theaddition of the London Study Centre during his first year to theestablishment of the first divinity school (Beeson) on a SouthernBaptist campus (1988) to such intriguing architectural designs asHodges Chapel, Beeson Healing Arts Center and Beeson Law Library.

Corts told his April 14 audience that someone viewing slides ofupcoming construction said, “The Corts legacy will be that he left thecampus in a mess—literally, a mess of construction!”

The construction already has started (see What’s Happening ThisSummer, page 7), and more dirt will fly this fall as ground is brokenfor the arena.

Corts won’t have time in his last year to wind down to a leisurelypace. That “vita contemplativa” that he mentioned in his retirementannouncement will just have to wait. ■

Brewer, Grooms CochairSamford PresidentialSearch Committee

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Samford President Thomas Corts announces his retirement date aswife Marla, granddaughter Grace Fuller, son Chris, and daughtersJennifer Fuller and Rachel Wachter look on. Lower left: Corts andGrace Fuller enjoy a moment after the announcement.

The new $25 million arena/fitness center Samford announced April 14 willprovide a new home for the basketball and volleyball teams, add offices andother facilities for the athletics department, and free up a revitalized Seibert Hall forgreater student use.

The multipurpose facility also will enable Samford to bring commencementback to the campus after more than 15 years at the Birmingham-Jefferson

Convention Complex Arena. That fact alone broughta sizable cheer from the several hundred peopleassembled in Reid Chapel to hear the announcement.

“Those of you graduating in May 2007 andbeyond should be able to celebrate graduation withyour friends and families right here on this campuswe all love and appreciate,” said Samford board oftrustees chairman Bill Stevens.

The arena will seat 5,000 for basketball andvolleyball and 6,000 with chairs on the floor forevents such as commencement. The three-storystructure will be located west of Bashinsky Fieldhouseand north of Joe Lee Griffin Stadium on the site ofthe present tennis center and adjacent parking area.The 136,000-square foot facility will have weightrooms, meeting rooms, offices, athletic trainingfacilities and locker rooms for athletics.

“Combined with Seibert Gymnasium and BashinskyFieldhouse, Samford will provide tremendous women’s

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faithNew $25 Million Arena/FitnessCenter Tops List of $50 Million-plusin Board-approved Improvements

A Leap

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BashinskyFieldhouse

Joe Lee Griffin StadiumSeibert Stadium

Center forHealing Arts

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Samford began work this summer on fourmajor projects that are part of the SamfordPromise multiyear campus improvement planbegun in 2004. The Samford University Boardof Trustees approved these and other con-struction projects during its spring meetingApril 14.

The improvements scheduled for thesummer of 2005 include:

■ A synthetic playing surface for SeibertStadium. Sporturf of Dalton, Ga., was selectedto install the turf that will enable Samford’sfootball team to use the stadium for its entirepractice schedule as well as games. Com-pletion of the $1 million project is scheduledbefore Aug. 1.

“This turf system was selected after muchresearch by Football Coach Bill Gray and ouradministration because it will allow thegreatest safety and durability for our student-athletes,” said Samford Athletics Director BobRoller. “It will provide a beautiful, year-roundlook to highlight our athletics complex. Ourteam will be excited to return this fall to breakin this new turf.”

The turf installation will free upSamford’s existing football practice field tobecome the site of a new tennis center, andthe relocation of the tennis center, in turn,will provide some of the space needed for thenew $25 million arena/fitness centerannounced in April.

■ A new surface parking lot for 320 cars.Construction of a functional and attractiveparking lot south of Seibert Stadium will becompleted during the early fall semester at acost of $1 million.

■ Installation of a new heating, ventilationand air conditioning system for RobinsonHall. The home of Cumberland School ofLaw—which opened in 1962 and wasexpanded during the late 1970s—will receivean efficient new HVAC system at a cost of$3.2 million. The massive undertakingrequired law offices and classrooms to berelocated for the summer to Brooks andRussell halls, and the Lucille Stewart BeesonLaw Library. The project is set for completionno later than Aug. 15.

■ Construction of a new heating plant.The first of three new heating plants to beinstalled in various quadrants of the campus,this project coincides with the improvementsto Robinson Hall and is necessary for theproper functioning of the campus-wideHVAC system. Total cost of the three plantswill be $10 million. ■

and men’s intercollegiate opportunities, while supporting our vigorousintramural program and allowing more student free play,” said Stevens.

“At the same time, the fitness center will afford every Samford studenteven better facilities than they would have in the average commercial healthclub. Thus, during their years on campus, students can develop lifetimefitness habits that should set them on a course of fitness for life.”

Stevens announced that Steven F. Seibert of Daytona Beach, Fla., and hissister, Wendy Seibert Walker of Ormond Beach, Fla., were making a $500,000commitment to revitalize Seibert Gym, named for their grandfather, F. PageSeibert.

“Mr. F. Page Seibert provided funds at a critical time in the early 1960sto finance great improvement in our athletics facilities,” said Stevens.“Tonight, I am pleased to say that the Seibert family tradition continues.”

Stevens shared the platform with President Thomas E. Corts, whoannounced his retirement date of 2006, and Presidential Search Committeecochairs Albert P. Brewer and H. Hobart Grooms (see pages 4 and 5). Theinformation session for Samford faculty, staff, students and friends followeda joint meeting of the boards of trustees and overseers.

“I want to tell you that this afternoon, the Samford board of trusteestook some very bold initiatives,” Stevens said. “Not since the campus wasmoved from East Lake to Homewood in the mid-1950s has our board madethis kind of courageous commitment to the future. Or, perhaps I should callit a leap of faith.”

Stevens referred to $50–$60 million worth of improvements to thecampus approved by the board. In addition the arena/fitness center andrefurbishing of Seibert Hall, the list included:

■ A second phase of restructuring Ralph W. Beeson University Center■ Building a four-story parking deck adjacent to the Wright Center, and

adding 320 new parking spaces south of Seibert Stadium■ Resurfacing Seibert Field with synthetic turf, so that the football team

can practice there as well as play games■ Building a new tennis center on the former football practice field, to free

up space for the new arena■ Renovation of Samford heating, ventilation and air conditioning

systems to make the campus more energy efficientConstruction already has begun on some projects (see separate story).

Ground will be broken for the arena/fitness center this fall. ■

What’s HappeningThis Summer

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As Bill Mathews pedaled his1880s-style “highwheeler”bicycle in front of historicMarion Military InstituteChapel in April, he might

have resembled a Howard Collegestudent on his way to classbefore the school moved toBirmingham. But the Samfordvice president for businessaffairs was actually serving as

the unofficial pace bike forthe first few hundred feet

of the Old Howard 100Bike Ride.

Cyclists through-out Alabama andseveral other states

converged onMarion April 9for the first OldHoward 100

Bike Ride tobenefit the SowingSeeds of Hope initia-tive in Perry Countyand to celebrateSamford’s heritagein the county,where the schoolwas founded asHoward Collegein 1841.

The 144participatingcyclists,representingvarious agesand degreesof biking

experience, left the Marion MilitaryInstitute [MMI] parade grounds onroutes ranging from 30 to 100 milesthrough the scenic back roads of Perryand Hale counties.

“I was surprised at the people whoshowed up to participate in the ride,”said David W. Chapman, dean ofSamford’s Howard College of Arts andSciences, the event sponsor. “We hadexperienced cyclists and people who hadnever ridden in a planned bike ride before.”

Bridget Rose, curator of Samford’sBeeson Divinity Chapel, and RosemaryFisk, associate dean of the HowardCollege of Arts and Sciences, organizedthe ride.

Veteran rider Rosie Armstrong ofBirmingham complimented Samford’seffort as she stopped for refreshment atthe Holmstead Hollow Support andGear [SAG] stop, her last respite beforethe final leg of her 70-mile ride.

“The SAG stops are great, thescenery beautiful and the route wonder-ful,” she said. “I’ve heard no complaints,and I’ve been on rides where you heardnothing but complaints.”

The five SAG stops, which offeredrefreshment and a bit of local hospitalityfrom area residents, were staffed bySamford faculty and students. OtherSamford volunteers stayed busy in Marion.

“One of our goals was to involve asmany Samford students as possible,” saidChapman, who counted more than 120students working either the bike ride, aFun Fest at MMI for area youngsters or ahealth fair in Marion. “I think they allcame away with a deeper appreciation of

Samford’s history and a greater under-standing of thechallenges facingresidents of the BlackBelt,” said Chapman.

For several years,Samford has soughtto assist the area thatnurtured the schoolduring its early days. Students andfaculty members regularly visit PerryCounty to serve as volunteer tutors,health-care workers and communityboosters. During the bike ride, studentsfrom Samford’s exercise science andsports medicine department andMcWhorter School of Pharmacy assistedwith a health fair at the Perry CountyPublic Health Department. They con-ducted assessments on body mass index,body fat, flexibility and strength tests.The bike ride raised $2,000 for SowingSeeds of Hope.

Down the street at a formerNational Guard Armory building, moreexercise science students did generalcleaning and repaired exercise equip-ment. “It feels good to know you’rehelping a community that needs help,that we’re helping somebody’s life bebetter,” said Jeff Bennett, a fitness andhealth promotion major from Alabaster,Ala., as he and psychology major ScottPryjmak of Huntsville, Ala., worked torepair an elliptical exercise machine. Afew hours later, they welcomed com-munity residents to the freshened space,and demonstrated the safe and properway to use the equipment.

Cyclists throughout Alabama and several other states converged on Marion April 9 for the first Old Howard 100 Bike Ride to benefit the Sowing Seeds ofHope initiative in Perry County and to celebrate Samford’s heritage in the county,where the school was founded as Howard College in 1841.

Old Howard 100Draws Cyclists to Black Belt b y M a r y W i m b e r l e y

Samford Vice President Bill Mathews tries out his highwheeler.

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On the MMI campus, the SamfordStudent Government Association andthe Omicron Delta Kappa leadershiphonor society held the third annual FunFest for Perry County kids. According toSamford ODK President MaureenSimpson of Spartanburg, S.C., the groupenjoys its continuing relationship withthe people of Marion.

“It’s a fun way to bring out the kidsand their parents,” said Simpson.Samford student actors performed a bitof Shakespeare and a staged combatdemonstration. A musical combo enter-tained as children and adults munchedon hamburgers and hot dogs. Judgingfrom the squeals of delight as dozens ofyoungsters made their way through theinflatable rides, the Fun Fest was a bighit.

Several dozen Samford represen-tatives and area residents also helpeddedicate a restored historical marker in

Greensboro, Ala.,at the site of the1823 founding ofthe AlabamaBaptistConvention.

Tired buthappy bike riders

returned to the MMI campus over thecourse of the afternoon. Riders includedseveral father-son duos, such as SheltonBeaird, age 65, of Arab, Ala., and his son,John, age 27, who lives in Heiberger inrural Perry County. They rode 66 miles,a record distance for each, in about fivehours. Like many other riders, theylearned new things about Samford’sPerry County heritage.

“I knew that the school was namedHoward College before it was Samford,but I didn’t know much more about thehistory,” said the elder Beaird.

James McGuirk, a third-year studentat Samford’s Cumberland School of Law,especially enjoyed the rural setting of theroute, which was carefully designed byFisk to avoid busy roads.

“I liked the low traffic. There weresome isolated areas where you reallydidn’t have to worry about vehicles,” saidMcGuirk, who is originally from New

Jersey. His wife, Jenny McGuirk, a staffmember in Samford’s Beeson DivinitySchool, was on the bike ride committee.

John Gemmill of Birminghamthought the bagpipe music he heard ashe rode through Greensboro was a “nicetouch.” It was provided by Samfordsophomore Steven Giles of Gilbertown,Ala., who played at the historical markerdedication ceremony and also per-formed as riders passed a busy inter-section in Greensboro. “I’ve never beenserenaded by bagpipe music along aroute before,” Gemmill said.

Gemmill’s wife, Jill, had fun com-bining the physical activity of the ridewith a more relaxed pursuit: shopping.Having not ridden in a while, she wascoaxed into the 30-mile route by John, a100-mile rider, with the idea that shecould browse Marion’s quaint gift andantiques shops while he completed hislonger route. At day’s end, she recountedwith satisfaction that she would returnhome with newly acquired jewelry, freshbaked goods she had bought from alocal Mennonite woman, and a few soremuscles.

“What more could you want?” sheasked happily. ■

Riders set out from Marion, Ala., on theOld Howard 100. Left (from left): KatieStone, Elizabeth Broome and MeredithMacon enjoy the ODK Fun Fest.

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Words fromSherman Journal“I had been in the University nearly threeyears when the Baptists of Alabama, inConvention assembled, resolved to establishand endow a college, or university, of theirown: Marion was selected as the locationand I was invited to take charge of thepreparatory school that should serve as thenucleus of the proposed University.”

S. S. Sherman

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Civil War, and His Great-Grandson a Century Later

After the Civil War, Samuel SterlingSherman decided to pay a visit toMarion, Ala., where he had been thefirst president of Howard Collegebefore the sectional conflict. He did sowith some misgiving. A Vermontnative, he had lived in Alabama from1838 until the eve of the war in 1859,when he returned north.

“Some months after the close ofthe war I revisited the South, especiallymy long-time and much-cherishedhome in Marion,” Sherman wrote inhis autobiography. “I did not feel quitesure how I would be received, but alldoubt was soon removed.

“My efforts to relieve southernprisoners at Camp Douglas, nearChicago, and at Johnson’s Island(Union prisoner of war camp) weregenerally known and thoroughlyappreciated. I was received with greatkindness and hospitality at Columbus,Miss., where some of the boys in gray,whom I had helped, lived. Otherswelcomed me at Meridian, but atMarion, Ala., the citizens could notshow enough esteem.”

Sherman’s great-grandson,Frederick Sterling Sherman ofKensington, Calif., shared these wordsfrom a handwritten account of theautobiography. Frederick Sherman,retired after 35 years on the mech-anical engineering faculty at theUniversity of California–Berkeley,visited Samford in June for the annualInstitute of Genealogy and HistoricalResearch.

“In spite of the war between the North and South, my great-grandfather never lost his affectionateconnections to Alabama, HowardCollege and The Judson [College],”said Frederick Sherman. “I found thepassage [about his return] especiallymoving.”

His health prompted SamuelSherman to come to Alabama in thelate 1830s. “My health was neverrobust, and my father, fearing I wouldnot make a good ‘farm hand,’ gave methe choice of remaining on the farmor going to college,” he wrote. “I chosethe latter alternative.”

Dr. Basil Manly, who had justbeen named president of theUniversity of Alabama in Tuscaloosa,hired Sherman as a teacher. Threeyears later, Alabama Baptists voted tostart a school at Marion. They offeredSherman the job of heading it, and heaccepted, against the advice of Manly,who doubted the new school would beproperly endowed.

The school opened in early 1842as the Howard English and ClassicalSchool, with nine boys enrolled.

“During my connection withHoward, both as a preparatory schooland college, I never had any fixedsalary, but I employed all the teachersand professors, except the Professor ofTheology, and paid them from theproceeds of tuition, appropriating tomy own use what might be left,”Sherman wrote. “In financial matters

one principle always governedme; that was to keep theInstitution (and myself as far aspossible) out of debt.”

Sherman left Howard in1852 to start his own schoolin LaGrange, Ga. He returnedto Marion in 1855 to serve aspresident of Judson, theBaptist woman’s college.

“President Sherman wascertainly a competentteacher and scholar, evenan inventor, but his realgenius as an educator layin his ability to makeends meet financially atthe various institutions

he served,” said his great-grandson.“After he returned to the North in1859, partially in nervous anticipationof the coming war, but largely becausehe and his wife had lost four childrento fevers in Marion, and his ownhealth was poor, he became exclusivelya businessman.”

Sherman invested in Canadian oilproperties, in hotels and other realestate in Milwaukee, Wisc., and finallya coffee and spice business in Chicago,“the most profitable product of whichwas a baking soda of his own invention,”according to Frederick Sherman.

Samuel Sherman died in 1914 atthe age of 99. His autobiography waspublished in 1910, and his great-grandson brought the handwrittenaccount to the Samford SpecialCollection for microfilming during hisvisit for the genealogical institute.

The June visit was FrederickSherman’s first to Samford, althoughhe and his wife saw the new LakeshoreDrive campus from a distance duringthe 1950s “just before it was occupiedand the students were still at the oldHoward College campus” in East Lake,he said.

He “became hooked on genealogyin 1976,” he said, but he attributes hisinitial interest in the field to his visit to1950s Alabama, when he and his wifealso traveled to Marion.

“We made a little unannouncedvisit to The Judson, and I am sure thatthe lively and affectionate reception wegot there when I identified myself wasone of the factors that made genealogya natural choice of hobby when I hadtime to devote to it,” he said.

It was not the first time forMarion to warmly welcome a memberof the Sherman family. ■

Facing page: Samuel SterlingSherman at age 70 in 1886. Left: His autobiographical journal.

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‘One of my AncestorsHelped Found Your School’

Samford Special Collection LibrarianElizabeth Wells was sitting at a Samforddisplay at last year’s NationalGenealogical Society meeting inSacramento, Calif., when she receivedquite a surprise. The display advertisedSamford’s renowned Institute ofGenealogy and Historical Research.

“A man walked up and said one ofhis ancestors helped found our school,”Wells recalled. “I didn’t know what tothink, so I asked him his name.”

“‘Frederick Sterling Sherman,’ heanswered. ‘My great-grandfather wasSamuel Sterling Sherman.’”

Sure enough, the man in Californiawas a descendant of the first presidentof what was then Howard College. Heeven had a handwritten copy of SamuelSherman’s autobiography and scrap-books belonging to Sherman.

Frederick Sherman is a retiredfaculty member of the University ofCalifornia–Berkeley, where he taughtmechanical engineering for 35 years.He developed an interest in genealogybefore he retired, in part because ofhaving his ancestor’s autobiography.

“It contained a lot of informationabout my grandfather’s ancestry, sogenealogy seemed to promise someeasy fun,” Sherman said. “It turned outthat many of my direct or collateralancestors were compulsive writers, so itwas at first like shooting fish in abarrel.”

Over the years, Sherman dis-covered that genealogy isn’t always thateasy. But the challengeof successfullytracking downsome long-lostancestor—one of hisown or

one belonging to someone else—makesit well worth the time and effort.

Sherman attended Samford’sgenealogy institute in June, visiting forthe first time the school his great-grandfather helped start.

Sherman got serious about hisgenealogy hobby after retirement. Hetraveled the nation doing research,became active in genealogical societiesand served several years as president ofthe California Genealogical Society.

His best advice to a beginninggenealogist?

“Break away from that computerterminal and go visit places where yourancestors lived!” he said.

He calls his most exciting momentin genealogical research the GreatTrans-Allegheny Signature Match. Oneof his ancestors, Abram Fulkerson ofCaswell County, N.C., wrote a will forhis mother in 1781 and signed it. Later,he disappeared from the community.

A single published document fromsouthwestern Virginia hinted that hehad gone to Kentucky. Later, Shermanfound records of an Abram Fulkersonin Jessamine County, Ky., but no proofthey were the same man.

Sherman traveled to the area formore research. On a visit to theJessamine courthouse, he noticed adrawer labeled “Marriage Permissions.”The Kentucky Abram had four daugh-ters. Eagerly, Sherman opened thedrawer and found signed permissionslips for three of Abram’s daughters.

“The autographs were a perfectmatch to that on the North Carolinawill,” said Sherman. “What a thrill!” ■

Frederick Sherman visits Samford forthe annual Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. His great-grandfather was the first president ofHoward College at Marion, Ala., below.

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Why study a 16th-century English ministerwho, although he did publish more than20 works, was not the foremost religiousleader of his day?

Church historian Scott McGinnis ’90 of theSamford religion department believes that factmakes the study of George Gifford “more useful,since we get the views of someone immersed in theday-to-day workings of the parish church.”

Plus, Gifford was a member of the puritangroup that not only shaped a significant segmentof the English church, but was influential withmany of the English settlers of America. He was onthe front lines of the reform movement at a timewhen the English church was being torn apart byreligious controversies over worship style, churchorder and doctrine.

Dr. McGinnis’ book, George Gifford and theReformation of the Common Sort: Puritan Prioritiesin Elizabethan Religious Life, was published last fallby Truman State University Press as Volume 70 ofthe Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies Series.

Puritans believed the English church wasProtestant in name only, says McGinnis, and thatmany church members retained too many beliefsand attitudes from their medieval Catholic past.

“Puritans promoted several practices—frequent sermon attendance, lay Bible study, muchdevotional reading, reform of morals—thatappealed to some segments of a rising literateclass,” McGinnis said. These practices “repelledothers, who saw the spirituality the puritansrecommended as too demanding and legalistic,” headded.

One reason McGinnis studied Gifford wasbecause of the minister’s efforts to translateProtestant doctrines into a language accessible tothe average layperson, those he called “the com-mon sort” of Christian.

“His attitude toward commoners was twofold,a kind of carrot-and-stick approach,” saidMcGinnis. He believed that uneducated peoplemight have “a spiritual common sense” that wasoften lacking in the more learned. For this reason,he viewed the less educated as “full of spiritualpotential and only in need of a shepherd.”

On the other hand, Gifford could be critical ofthe attachment of common people to tradition,and their unwillingness to “immerse themselves” inthe frequent sermons, Scripture-reading and strictmoral codes of puritan piety, he said.

“Puritan preaching frequently emphasized thehigh and difficult call of the Christian life, and few

ever lived up to the challenge,” said McGinnis.“The result was much writing about guilt,repentance and security.”

Historians recently have sought to understandnational issues such as religious reform in Englandfrom the perspective of the local and the particular,said McGinnis. That’s why he focused on a parti-cular minister in a particular parish (Maldon inEssex) in a particular period (1570s–1590s).

“I am also interested in the distance betweenthe pulpit and the pew,” he said. “In readingtheological history, one might wonder if anybodyother than ministers and monks really cared aboutthis. How was the person with little education andperhaps little interest in theology affected by thedebates of the 16th century?”

Puritans were especially interested in seeingthat the reforms did have an impact on the com-mon people, said McGinnis, and a good way tomeasure their success is to study a local situation. ■

Did Anyone Care Other thanMinisters and Monks?McGinnis Study of 16th-Century Preacher Gives Insight intoCommon View of Religion

Material from an article by Sondra Washington in TheAlabama Baptist and an interview by Samford studentMegan Voelkel appears in this story.

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Samford churchhistorian ScottMcGinnis studiedlocal situations tounderstand largerissues in religiousreform.

Donald E. Powell, chair of the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation, urgedSamford University seniors to do their partto help society’s growing need for integrity.One thing they can do is to understandwhatever culture they will enter after theyleave Samford.

“Flee from a culture of greed,” he saidduring commencement exercises atBirmingham-Jefferson ConventionComplex Arena May 21. “Look for valuesof selflessness. We need men and womenof integrity.”

Powell, who has led the federal agencythat insures bank deposits in America since2001, addressed a class of 639 seniors andseveral thousand others. Another 158seniors graduated from Samford’sCumberland School of Law later in the day(see separate story), making the total classnumber 797.

Also at commencement, seniorsAdrienne Caples Watkins of Birminghamreceived the President’s Cup for the highestacademic average, Ashley Leighanne Floydof Hartselle, Ala., received the VelmaWright Irons Award for the second highestaverage, and Joel S. Davis of Marietta, Ga.,and Megan A. Gladden of Gadsden, Ala.,were named cowinners of the John C.Pittman Spirit Award.

Powell said four things make Americaunique—personal freedom, popularsovereignty (the right to vote), the rule oflaw and capitalism. But problems have

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FDIC ChairDonald PowellUnderscoresNeed forIntegrity toSamfordGraduates

Seniors Chris Brinson, left, Krystal Klein,top inset, Hal Hughston, center, and EllenRobinson, bottom, celebrate graduationday.

Anne B. Pope, federal cochair of the Appalachian RegionalCommission, urged graduates of Samford University’sCumberland School of Law to consider a career in public service.

“If it were up to me, everyone’s road should, at one time oranother, include public service,” she said during law commence-ment May 21 at Samford. “It is one of the highest forms of servicea person can do.”

Pope, a 1986 Cumberland graduate, practiced law inWashington, D.C., for several years before changing careers. Shewas head of the Tennessee Film and Music Commission and thencommissioner of the state’s commerce and insurance departmentbefore being appointed to her present position in 2002.

“It is hard to always be under public scrutiny, and the pay willprobably not be as good,” she said. “But I realized pretty quicklythat I was having more fun than many of my classmates. For me,public service has been challenging, rewarding and most of thetime, fun.”

Pope stressed that the 158 law graduates find the road best forthem.

“Figure out the road you want to be on,” she said. “If yourown road leads you to practicing in a law firm or hanging outyour own shingle, becoming a judge, corporate counsel, or lawprofessor—then do it.

“Live life by a compass, not a watch,” she urged.Pope told the graduates that whatever course they take, their

legal education at Cumberland will help them. “It was atCumberland that I learned to analyze, separate the issues and getat the heart of the matter,” she said. “In other words, atCumberland, I learned to think.”

Her legal training alsohelped her operate “in fieldswhere I have little experi-ence,” she added.

“Don’t be afraid to takethe road less traveled,” Popesaid in closing. “Be who youwant to be, do the right thingand live the life you weremeant to live.” ■

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tarnished each of the four areas recently.He cited “problems in the press,” the prose-

cution of more than 1,100 public servants lastyear, some loss of public trust in the church andrepeated examples of fraud in business. Even so,capitalism is not itself evil, Powell said.

“America is the envy of the world becauseof the free market” and the opportunities it pro-vides, he added.

Powell reminded the seniors that “moralityand ethics are not one and the same.” Moralitychanges from time to time, while ethics arenever-changing. “Focus on ethics,” he chargedthe graduates.

Powell also asked the seniors to depend ontheir Christian faith and to “learn to give.”Giving, he said, may be unnatural, but it is veryimportant.

“May God grant you the wisdom andcourage to always do the right thing,” he said inclosing. ■

Find Your BestRoad, but ConsiderPublic Service, PopeTells Law Grads

Law speaker Anne Popevisits with law dean JohnCarroll before graduation.

FDIC Chair Donald Powell speaks atcommencement.

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Beautiful LandNeed

The Allure of East Africa,

Mention East Africa and akaleidoscope of imagessprings to mind: wildanimals, snowcappedmountains rising from

the red dust of the plains, colorfulMaasai tribesmen and women in deco-rative beads and painted faces. LakeVictoria, the Serengeti, NgorongoroCrater and Kilimanjaro are namesalmost as familiar as that of our ownstate capital.

During excavations 20 years ago,evidence was discovered to support theview that East Africa—more specifically,Tanzania—is the cradle of humankind.For those who dream of seeing thelegendary wildlife of the Serengeti andthe famous snows of Kilimanjaro (whichare rapidly disappearing), the regionremains a land awaiting discovery.

Yet East Africa today is a land ofcontrasts. Visitors see more than gameparks, wild animals and colorful tribalculture. They encounter poverty,disease, hunger and the AIDS/HIVcrisis, all primarily the result of a lack ofeducation. For all its beauty, East Africais a region in need of help.

Southern Baptists have recognizedthis need over the years. In 1962, theInternational Mission Board of theSouthern Baptist Convention foundedthe International Baptist TheologicalSeminary of East Africa near Arusha,Tanzania, the heart of tourist and gov-ernmental activity in the region. Theseminary has provided pastoral andchurch leadership training for Baptistchurches in the region for more than 40years, and the churches have experi-enced substantial growth.

During recent years, as Africaexperienced growing poverty and theonset of AIDS/HIV, the seminary’semphasis has shifted to education.Southern Baptists (and others) havecome to the region to help meet theneeds of people desiring not onlyreligion but also knowledge of how toimprove their living circumstances.

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Majestic Mount Meru looks downon family housing of the university.

Samford alumni Ann Yatesand W. T. Edwards help withministry to Mount MeruUniversity in Tanzania.

in

In 1993, Samford graduate Lance Anderson’50 and I visited the seminary to help it develop apromotion and fund-raising program. Somethingabout the experience kept us coming back. Sincethen, we have returned on volunteer missiontrips, helping the school secure scholarships, com-puters, funds, books and a model solar system forthe library. We also enlisted other volunteermission groups to help the seminary, including arecent group with other Samford ties.

During the meantime, the seminary beganworking toward university status. Among EastAfrica’s biggest physical needs are public schoolteachers and education related to AIDS/HIV,business and information technology.

In 2002, the government of Tanzania grantedthe seminary provisional authority to move touniversity status by adding a teacher educationdepartment. Thus was founded Mount MeruUniversity, the only accredited Baptist universityin East Africa. The university has since addedinformation technology and business departments.

In April, 14 members of Birmingham’sBaptist Church of the Covenant spent two weeksat Mount Meru University and three area churchesperforming ministries of various kinds. I joinedfour others with Samford ties as members of theteam—Associate Professor of Education CarolDean, retired religion professor and graduate W.T. Edwards ’49, and alumni David Henderson ’71and Ann Yates ’86. We helped construct a multiple-purpose building to house the department ofbusiness, modernized the library collection,taught and trained students and faculty, anddistributed birthing kits and tests for the AIDS/HIVvirus on the campus and at two area churches.

Dean also conducted a workshop for teach-ers, future teachers and teacher educators.

“I was impressed with the teachers and futureteachers—their attitude of love and caring for theirstudents,” she said. “Like teachers all over the world,they want to do what is best for the children andare eager to find ways that will help children learn.”

Dean said her team was met with smiles andhappy greetings everywhere, and that the teachersin her class “were open to me and to new ideas.”

Edwards was impressed by the seriousness ofthe students.

“My mostlasting impressionwill, I think, be ofthe poverty of thestudents and theirdetermination to getan education thatwill enable them toserve Christ in theirculture,” he said.“My prayer is thatthey will get enough outside help to attain theirgoals, and that our church will continue to have alarge part in the process.”

I shared Edwards’ feelings. I have never seena people so determined to get a good education inorder to serve better as pastors and teachers as thestudents at Mount Meru University.

Henderson is developing a campus-widelandscape design for the school. He and severalvolunteers purchased and set out numerousplants. He was impressed with the beauty of theregion, he said, “but more so with the friendlinessof the people.”

Yates also was struck by the beauty of MountMeru and how it contrasted with the poverty of anearby village that had no electricity. She noted afurther contrast generated by the villagers whoused cell phones and walked to town to checktheir e-mail.

Harrison Olan’g, vice chancellor of theuniversity, said the presence of the team was “apractical expression of our Christian brotherhoodand a sense of love and care for one another.

“As East Africans, we shall continue to thankGod for the material contributions invested inMount Meru University, as many young men andwomen come here to train and go back to servetheir communities all over eastern Africa andbeyond,” he added.

The university takes its name from nearbyMount Meru, the fourth highest peak in Africa.Like Kilimanjaro only 60 kilometers (37.3 miles)north, Meru draws people in with its beauty andthe surrounding lush green forests.

But there’s beauty also in helping people inneed, especially so in knowing those people willgo on to do the same for others. That may bewhat draws missions volunteers to Tanzania,rather than visions of snowcapped mountainsand legendary wildlife. ■

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Education professor CarolDean, in headwear nearright, visits with teachersenrolled in her workshop.

Mount Meru Universityestate manager DonGardner, left, andSamford graduateDavid Hendersondiscuss a landscapingproject.

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Alisha Damron of Springdale, Ark.,and Erin Dawson of Huntsville, Ala.,just graduated from Samford. Theyare pointing toward careers in min-istry and teaching. But first, they are

planning to take six months off and go to Africa.It’s not a vacation that will draw them 9,000

miles across the Atlantic Ocean, but rather asense of mission to help others. Damron andDawson will do volunteer work with the AfricanChildren’s Mission, a faith-based organizationon a dairy ranch in Uganda, East Africa.

The program runs a school for more than300 children, many of whom have beenorphaned because of AIDS.

“We will be working in the classroom,serving on the ranch and offering other kinds ofhelp,” said Damron, adding that she wanted to“spend some time serving others and seekingunderstanding of another culture” beforeentering divinity school.

“My ultimate passion is to be able to helpchildren from low-income families,” saidDawson, “and I think this experience will helpprepare me for that. There is certainly a greatneed there.”

She hopes ultimately to teach inner-city orrural youth, and already has spent a month inPerry County working with children of low-income families.

The two are among 40 Samford studentswho will do mission work in 21 countries thissummer with financial assistance from theSamford Student Ministries office. A total of 116Samford students will work in summer missionsof various kinds. (See last paragraph.)

For the past four years, Samford students ingrowing numbers have performed summermissions with help from Student Ministries.

“Students raise the money themselvesthroughout the school year to fund scholarshipsfor summer missions,” said Renee Pitts, missionscoordinator for Samford’s university ministriesdivision. “They do everything from selling examcare packages and cookies-to-go to presentingdinner theatre and sponsoring the Damah FilmFestival of Christian films.”

Agroup of Samford Universitystudents hit the beaches of Florida’sPanhandle during spring break, butnot for leisurely strolls in the surf.Instead, they filled dumpsters with

the demolished remnants of a 92-year-oldwoman’s home in Pensacola, Fla. The refuse wasleft over from last September’s Hurricane Ivan.

“It was alarming how much work was stillto be done six months after the storm,” saidAlisha Damron, leader of the Student Ministriesgroup that assisted the Floridians.

“Some people are still living in tents alongthe highway,” said Damron. “Home repair costshave risen too high for the lower-income familiesto even attempt to repair their homes and lives.”

The decision to assist with Ivan relief wasprompted by Samford junior Cheryl Smith, who,as a Pensacola resident, knew what the students’presence could mean to the residents. The 32hurricane relief volunteers worked in collabo-ration with the United Way and a local church.

They were among many Samford studentswho used spring break to share their talents andminister to others in various ways.

The 33-member Student Ministries Choirsang at large Baptist churches in Houston, Texas,and Word Players performed at Baptist churchesand a retirement home in St. Louis, Mo.

Other students remained in Alabama.Six members of the Son Reflectors mime

and interpretative drama group spent three daysin Mobile creatively sharing their faith withchildren in low-income housing and at a church.

In Perry County, a dozen Samford studentscontinued ongoing work in the rural area withthe assistance of the Sowing Seeds of Hopeinitiative. They sorted donated books for distri-bution to children, helped provide programmingfor youngsters at a community center and assistedat the local health department.

An eight-member Ville Crew team spentfour days with young residents of Loveman’sVillage housing project in Birmingham.

‘It Was Alarming How Much

Samford Groups Help

Chris Sharon visits with two young friends on anearlier trip to Southeast Asia.

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Although the group goes each Saturday tominister to the children, the longer hours onconsecutive days provided more and betterquality time.

“It was good to be with them for a longertime, because we could get to know them andtheir names better,” reported Rachel Lowery, ajunior who has been a Ville Crew member foralmost two years.

Daily activities included crafts, music,games and Bible story time. A highlight, saidLowery, was the basketball tournament thatdrew dozens of children and adults as playersand spectators.

“That was very popular,” she said of theneighborhood version of March Madness, whichended with trophies being awarded. ■

Samford University freshman Katie Snyder ofLilburn, Ga., teaches Kiarra, four, to play therecorder during Ville Crew spring break missionproject in Birmingham.

This year, the studentsraised $23,400 to fundsummer missions.

“The program begunfour years ago allowsstudents to select their ownmissions positions from avariety of agencies and thenapply to Student Ministriesfor financial assistance upto $1,000,” said Pitts.

This version of summermissions support began in 2002, when $15,800was raised and 20 students received scholarships.The numbers have increased each year since.

Student Chris Sharon of Rancho SantaMargarita, Calif., has done summer missionswork for two years in southeast Asia and will doso again this summer.

“It is an amazing blessing to be able to besupported spiritually by a body of believers oncampus who have a heart for the world to knowChrist,” he said. “It is an encouragement thatproves invaluable on the trip.”

Sharon believes one of the prime benefits ofthe mission program is that it “serves to connectlike-minded students on campus . . . studentswho are eager to serve God through missions.”

Because he ministers in a Buddhist nation,his activity is limited to teaching English,working with local Christians (“few and farbetween”), working with orphanages, etc. He

plans to spend some of histime in “focused prayer forthis country.”

Melissa Jones, a junior,will lead a group of sixSamford students on amissionary trip to ReunionIsland near Madagascar inthe Indian Ocean. Herparents, Ronald and LisaJones, are Southern Baptistmissionaries in Reunion, a

French possession. The students will work withyouth programs.

Also going to Reunion are Jennie Boone,Weaverville, N.C.; Tessa King, Fernandina Beach,Fla.; Sally Kruse, Hartford, Ala.; Merry BethMorris, Cantonment, Fla.; and Chris Thomas,Enterprise, Ala.

Samford traditionally has been one of theleaders among Baptist schools in sending studentsto summer missions. This summer, 61 Samfordstudents are involved in missions in 30 foreignnations, including some who are funded byagencies and not by Student Missions. In addition,55 other students are doing summer missionswork in 18 camps, 10 church-based ministriesand 15 domestic settings in 13 states. ■

Work Was Still to Be Done . . .’

Others Around the Globe

Alisha DamronErin Dawson

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In 1999, he earned Samford’s JohnH. Buchanan Award for Excellencein Classroom Teaching. In 2001,the Carnegie Foundation for theAdvancement of Teaching named

him Alabama Professor of the Year. Now,the American Psychological Associationhas honored Department of PsychologyChair Stephen Chew with its 2005Robert S. Daniel Teaching ExcellenceAward, which recognizes him as thenation’s best psychology teacher at afour-year college.

It’s a remarkable record of achieve-ment, but as a specialist in humanmemory and cognition, Chew admitsthat he has a significant advantage overmany of his colleagues. To the degreethat graduate education offers anyinstruction in teaching, he said, it tendsto be along the lines of “wait five secondsafter asking a question to allow studentsto answer.”

“They don’t ever tell you, ‘this ishow students learn.’ I’m a cognitivepsychologist, so I really try to integratewhat I know about how students learnand think into how I teach,” Chew said.“Fads come and fads go, but peoplelearn basically the same way—that’salways been my approach.”

The Scholarship of Teaching“I design activities in a way that I knowwill be effective, and then I always assessto make sure they are effective,” Chewsaid. “I make big mistakes, too. I had thisone gigantic, elaborate activity onstatistics,” he said. “The students wentthrough it and had no idea, at the end,why they had gone through it. Thattaught me a lot about major activities—that a student can go through an activityand gain absolutely nothing from it. So,the study of active learning versus pas-sive learning is really a false dichotomy.Active learning can be just as useless aspassive learning. That’s why I try to riseabove the clichés.

“I use my classroom like a laboratoryto try and evaluate the best ways to helpstudents learn,” Chew said.

Unfortunately, he added, much ofhigher education clings to the old notionthat scholars don’t teach, they research.Because teaching is not universallyvalued, those who work hardest to helptheir students learn may find themselvesmissing out on tenure-track positions orbeing blamed for short-term failures thatwould in other fields be considered aninevitable part of the research process.

“Everyone understands that if youdo research and it just doesn’t work out,it’s still a worthy effort,” Chew said. “Thefunny thing about teaching is if you trysomething and it doesn’t work out, itreflects badly on you. People don’t

understand failure in terms of teachinginnovation.”

The Hard PartSamford alumna Amy Cheek Fineburg’94, now social studies department chairat Spain Park High School, not onlyunderstands Chew’s informed, experi-mental approach to teaching, but alsoincorporates it into her own work.

“His cognition class became amodel for how I taught my high schoolpsychology students about memory,”Fineburg said. “I have approached himseveral times over the last decade to helpwith various projects related to my ownstudents and to promoting psychologyinstruction in high schools in Alabama,and he has been nothing but generous

Named Best in the Nation, ChewExcels at the HardPart of Teachingb y S e a n F l y n t

Samford psychology chair Stephen Chew uses his classroom “like a laboratory to tryand evaluate the best ways to help students learn.”

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When Marigene Chamberlainreturned to her alma mater thisspring as Samford’s first director ofinternational studies, she quicklyestablished her first priorities: listenand learn.

In the newly created position, the1980 graduate who majored in Spanishwill manage study-abroad programsand services to international studentsand faculty, and will promote activitiesthat develop international awareness forall Samford students.

“My purpose is to find ways thenew International Studies Office mightsupport the faculty’s work with theseprograms and enrich the students’intercultural encounters so that they areshaped into global citizens,” saidChamberlain.

Chamberlain brings to the posttwo decades of experience with theGeneral Board of Discipleship of theUnited Methodist church, where shemost recently served as director ofleadership development for Hispanic/Latino ministries.

“I am focusing initially on ourstudy-abroad programs, such as theLondon Program, the foreign languageacquisition programs and short-termstudy-abroad trips,” said Chamberlain.

The creation of the new Samfordposition is in response to needs createdby the increasing number of inter-national education experiences availableto students. Students regularly enjoySamford’s London Study Centre, whichcelebrated its 20th anniversary last year,as well as established programs in avariety of international settings.

“In addition to having a center inLondon, students are traveling to placeslike Burma, Prague, and various sites inAsia, Europe and South America,” saidSamford Associate Provost J. MarkBateman.

Samford also has formal relation-ships with a variety of educationalinstitutions including schools in Jordan,Hong Kong and the Netherlands, andstudents from many nations choose toattend Samford, he said.

“Considering the number ofprograms, students and relationshipsinvolved in international studies, itbecame evident that we were in need ofsomeone to oversee and provide guid-ance in this area,” said Dr. Bateman.

Chamberlain’s own experience as aglobal citizen began taking shape soonafter graduation from Samford.

As a journeyman with the ForeignMission Board of the Southern BaptistConvention during 1984–86, she was alibrarian, English teacher, speaker andyouth counselor at Baptist TheologicalSeminary in Santiago, Chile.

A former managing editor of theJournal of the Academy for Evangelism inTheological Education, Chamberlain isthe author of five books on Christiandiscipleship.

A Texas native who holds amaster’s in Spanish from VanderbiltUniversity and who studied atVanderbilt’s divinity school, she willalso teach courses in Samford’sDepartment of World Languages andCultures.

Chamberlain was a member ofvarious academic and leadership honorsocieties while at Samford, but sheadmits that as a student, she neverexpected to work or teach at the school.

“At the same time,” she said, “I amexcited and pleased that I can now con-tribute to Samford in a new way. Myacademic and personal formation atSamford those many years ago set mylife in certain directions that haveproved fulfilling and fruitful.

“Now, I have an opportunity tocollaborate differently and offer mygrano de arena (grain of sand) to avision of international studies withinthis learning community.” ■

and hardworking in all those efforts.”For the last five years, she and Chew

also have collaborated to direct a work-shop for high school psychology teachers.

Fineburg, who nominated Chew forthe APA award, also pointed out thatSamford’s psychology department hasthrived under Chew’s leadership since hecame to the University in 1993.

“Today, Samford psychologystudents have so many opportunitiesthat were not available to them beforeSteve arrived,” she said, noting thatChew has been instrumental in encour-aging undergraduate research at theUniversity.

The first Samford student papersubmitted to the National Conferencesfor Undergraduate Research [NCUR]was a psychology paper, and althoughChew’s students have been well repre-sented at the conference ever since, inrecent years, they have been joined bySamford students from many other dis-ciplines. In fact, Samford is now recog-nized as a national leader in the numberof students participating in the NCUR.Students also have been branching outinto discipline-specific research con-ferences and participating in StudentShowcase, Samford’s in-housecelebration of undergraduate research.

Chew’s encouragement of under-graduate research has paid dividends notonly in terms of Samford’s academicreputation, but also in terms of oppor-tunities for graduates. He said more thanhalf of Samford’s psychology majors goon to earn graduate degrees—some inpsychology, others in law, theology ormedicine. Clearly, Samford studentshave risen to meet the challenge ofhigher expectations. But Chew notedthat creating such challenges requiresextra effort on the part of faculty, too,and that’s why the scholarship ofteaching should be more highly valued.

“Too many people who are notstrong teachers think that what’s impor-tant is the accuracy of what they say,”Chew said, “whereas I think the acid-testof teaching is always how much thestudents learn. What’s really tough isgetting in there and making sure thestudents have an accurate understandingthat they can actually use. That’s much,much harder.” ■

Chamberlain Returns as FirstDirector of International Studiesb y M a r y W i m b e r l e y

TThe Christian Women’s Leadership Center atSamford celebrates its fifth anniversary this year.Since it was founded in 2000, the program hasmade significant strides developing an academicminor, establishing the Marie NeSmith FowlerLectureship and supporting various specialprograms.

The program’s interdisciplinary minor inChristianity, Women and Leadership Studiesunites Samford’s Christian liberal arts curriculaand faculty expertise in the areas of gender,leadership and religion, both historically andcross-culturally.

“Because we offer a minor, our studentsrepresent a variety of academic majors,” saidCWLC Director Carol Ann Vaughn. “It is inter-disciplinary, which means we work with professorsin other departments of various schools.”

Among the disciplines involved are psychology,sociology, history, political science, religion, phi-losophy, family studies, communication studies,journalism/mass communications and English.

“Some students are able to do additionalinternships with their electives, and this is agrowing area of interest among the students,” saidDr. Vaughn.

For example, she said, students have workedwith the Sowing Seeds of Hope program in westAlabama, and with local churches and SamfordStudent Ministries.

“The collaborative efforts of faculty makethese meaningful and useful courses for students,and students gain valuable experiences andinsight they might not otherwise have as part oftheir course of study,” she said.

A primary focus of the CWLC program isthe study of leadership, which Vaughn says hasbeen narrowly defined in western cultureaccording to masculine stereotypes for centuries.These stereotypes have excluded many men aswell as women, she notes.

“The stereotype of women’s leadership hasbeen that of an individual who is an exceptionrather than the rule,” said Vaughn, “that of anunusual or extraordinary female rather than onewho represents many women’s abilities.”

Beyond that, said Vaughn, the stereotype“usually involves only one or two types of per-sonality, one or two specific sets of skills, a veryspecific type of résumé, and of course, whateverthe current culture’s definitions of physicalacceptability are.”

She said there is often little room for diversityin ideas about women leaders when, in fact,“women’s ways of leadership can be as diverse aswomen as individuals are.”

The CWLC studies such issues as part of itsprogram to offer Samford women learning andleadership opportunities that enhance their totaleducational experience and prepare them for life’schallenges.

Founded in 2000 by Samford and theWoman’s Missionary Union, the center also issupported by a generous gift in memory of thelate Eleanor Foster Terry, who helped lay thegroundwork for the CWLC before her untimelydeath in 1998.

Most students begin their CWLC studieswith the course Women and Society, whichstresses how women worldwide are affected byculture. Understanding the cultural factors thatinfluence and shape women’s roles is the first stepin being able to confront issues that hold womenback, said sophomore Katelyn Williams ofJacksonville, Ala.

Vaughn’s goal for the program is to helpstudents “continue to distinguish themselves fromunhealthy cultural stereotypes,” and to promotehealthy ideals for women and men “as spiritualsiblings and colleagues in all areas of life.” ■

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Offering Interdisciplinary Study of Leadershipb y M e g a n S t a h lCWLC

CWLC Director CarolAnn Vaughn sayswomen’s ways ofleadership “can be asdiverse as women asindividuals are.”

For those of us who work in theperforming arts, the old adage, “theproof is in the pudding,” could be

revised to say, “the proof is in the per-formance.” It is in performance that theresults of teaching and mentorship areput on display for public view. In aneducational institution such as Samford,that public display occurs frequently.

In many instances, the results ofwork in the performing arts takes placeonstage in recital halls, theatres andconcert halls. As is evident from thePerforming Arts Fall 2005 Calendar ofEvents (see page 30), there is an abun-dance of such activities each semester atSamford.

In recent years, we have been for-tunate that our performances havedrawn gratifyingly sizeable audiences,with many events experiencing capacitycrowds. Attendees often remark enthusi-astically about the high quality of artisticexpression in these performances.

Accolades have come even from per-formances in international venues.

As important as these types ofperformances are, there is another sig-nificant dimension of “performance” atSamford that serves as an insightful indi-cator of the quality of instruction thatgoes on in classrooms and privatestudios, as well as onstage, in this place—the external evaluation of our students’work as they participate in competitionsin various areas of performance andexpertise. In recent years, Samfordstudents have been particularly suc-cessful in bringing recognition anddistinction to the University.

Samford student Sam Thielmanwon first place at the 2004 KennedyCenter American College TheaterFestival National Critics Competition inWashington, D.C., an honor accom-panied by a scholarship to attend theNational Critics Institute Conference atthe Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Thepreceding year, Samford theatre studentswon first place in stage managing andrunner-up in student directing at theRegion IV American College TheatreFestival competition for the Southeasternstates. Participants in all of these com-petitions included both graduate andundergraduate students, while allSamford’s entrants were undergraduates.

Samford music students customarilyfare well in the annual competitions heldby professional music organizations. Inthis newsletter, there are two articlesabout student success in auditions heldby two organizations during the pastacademic year. Additionally, Samfordvocal students have had recurring

success in recent years in the annualauditions conducted by the Alabamachapter of the National Association ofTeachers of Singing. In 2004, Samfordstudents won first place in eight of the13 categories in which they participated.In 2005, 10 of the 20 winners (first-,second- and third-place awards) in thecollege/university competition wereSamford students.

While these honors are gratifying,they also reflect, at a deeper level, oneimportant dimension of the School ofPerforming Arts’ connection toSamford’s mission as an institution witha commitment to Christian values. Theawards received and performanceachievements of our students come asthe result of the efforts of our facultymembers to prod, coax, cajole andencourage students to exemplify themandate for good stewardship—anunderstanding of stewardship thatembraces one’s abilities. Students areencouraged to take seriously and toappreciate the God-given blessing oftalent in artistic expression, and tonurture that gift with steadfastness ofpurpose and discipline. The extent towhich we succeed in that endeavor is,after all, a primary determinant of thedegree to which we contribute to thefulfillment of the broader mission of theUniversity.

S. Milburn PriceDean

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From the Dean’s Desk

The merger of the School of Music andDepartment of Theatre in 2000–01 enabledSamford to begin offering a musical theatreprogram in the newly formed School ofPerforming Arts. Since then, the school hascollaborated on such productions as Guysand Dolls, The Merry Widow and othershows such as this spring’s Return to theForbidden Planet, at left. Dean MilburnPrice, Samford Theatre Director DonSandley, and Professors Bill Bugg, RandallRichardson and Eric Olson are facultymembers most involved with the musicaltheatre program. See page 29 for a story onthe program.

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Susan Patterson has shared hergolden soprano voice with operaaudiences all over the world. The

1979 Samford graduate has performedleading roles in some of the world’s greatopera houses, including the MetropolitanOpera and Milan’s La Scala. She has sungalongside such opera legends as LucianoPavarotti and Placido Domingo.

When the now world-renownedopera diva enrolled at Samford, however,she had a different musical career trackin mind. She was a piano performancemajor studying with Dr. WitoldTurkiewicz when voice teacher EleanorOusley recognized Patterson’s vocaltalent and steered the young sopranointo a singing career.

Patterson cites Ousley as one of thegreat influential sopranos of her career.Ousley, who taught at Samford for 39years before retiring in 1994, “had theextraordinary gift to recognize vocaltalent in its infancy, and the expertise todevelop and encourage a young singerlike me,” said Patterson.

“I am always grateful for my pianoperformance degree,” said Patterson, whoalso credits Dr. Turkiewicz with helpingdevelop her reputation in operatic circlesas a “highly expressive, consummatemusician.” She graduated with a doublemajor in voice and piano performance.

As a member of Samford’sUniversity Chorale, Patterson was cast asa priestess in a Birmingham Civic Operaproduction of Aida when she was askedto fill in vocally for the ailing singer inthe role of the high priestess. That, sherecalls, was her first opera role, and shewas enraptured by the experience.

After Samford, she earned a master’sdegree at Florida State University. Shewon Metropolitan Opera national audi-tions, which enabled her to study atIndiana University with internationallyrenowned soprano Virginia Zeani, whotaught her Italian bel canto repertoire,style and technique.

After Pavarotti finished a two-hourlesson with Patterson, he phoned Zeaniand congratulated her for her teaching of

the “girl with the golden voice.”At Indiana University, she met her

husband, Dennis Altizer, who sangprofessionally for many years beforebeing called into the music ministry. Heis music-worship pastor at HuffmanBaptist Church. The couple lives in theLiberty Park area of Birmingham.

“He is my vocal coach and my earsin the house, so his support and adviceare invaluable to me,” said Patterson ofher husband.

Patterson has sung with the EnglishNational Opera, L’Opera de Montreal,Canadian Opera, New York City Opera,Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cologne Opera,Paris Opera-Comique, Atlanta Operaand others. Her Metropolitan Operadebut came in 1998 in Strauss’ Capriccio.

Her most often performed role isthat of Violetta in La Traviata, which shefirst sang with the San Francisco Opera,where she was an Adler Fellow in1986–87. She remained with the maincompany for five years. Her Europeandebut in the role was with the Welsh

National Opera.She considers her first Violetta and her

European debut as career highlights, alongwith her 1990 debut in Milan’s La Scala,singing the title role in Lodoiska.

She has 16 recordings to her creditand in the past year alone has releasedtwo new recordings on the Chandoslabel: Mozart’s Idomeneo and Verdi’s AMasked Ball.

Closer to home, Patterson considersthe chance to sing Aida in OperaBirmingham’s production in February asone of her most recent career highlights.

Future engagements include a newrecording of Verdi’s Nabucco, andconcert performances of Nabucco inLondon and throughout the UnitedKingdom, a new coproduction of Aidawith L’Opera de Montreal and OperaCarolina, Aida at the MET, and a returnto Opera Birmingham for her first Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly. ■

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Susan Patterson’s most frequent role is that of Violetta in La Traviata, which she hasperformed about 130 times.

Patterson Performs Internationally

with the World’s Operatic Greatsby Mary Wimberley

Be thou my vision . . .Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) . . .Were you there when they crucified myLord . . .Christ is alive! Let Christians sing . . .

Whether sung in a waveringsoprano or rich baritone,under sun-beamed stained

glass or alone in the dark, hymns aresongs that gather worshippers’ praise,proclaim faith and respond to theGospel. When sung as intended, theyexpress and shape our understanding offaith.

Samford’s Paul Richardson knowshymns. He has spent his career studyinghymnody—the works Erik Routleycalled the “folk songs of the Christianfaith.” Richardson is a Samford professorof music and past president of the HymnSociety. The late Routley could be calledthe C. S. Lewis of Christian music.

Now, Richardson and Routley areforever linked. Routley was an Englishpastor, musician, hymn writer and

scholar who moved to Princeton in 1975as professor of church music. He pro-duced more than 745 books, chapters,articles and reviews on congregationalsong. This summer, Richardson’s newedition of Routley’s A Panorama ofChristian Hymnody will update theclassic text, chronicling what has tran-spired since Panorama’s first release.

“Routley said hymns are poetry forpeople who don’t know poetry, music forpeople who don’t know music, andtheology for everyone, because theologyis the concern of all Christians,”Richardson said. He noted Routley’semphasis on hymns as poetic passagesfor every worshipper. “He saw hymns asfunctional art.”

The witty, brilliant and pragmaticRoutley chronicled that art, writing hisPanorama during the beginning of the“hymn explosion” of the second half ofthe 20th century. His 1979 book includednearly 700 hymn texts sung in English-speaking churches through 1975. Routleysurveyed historic hymnody and packed

the book with commentary on periods,authors and texts.

Panorama quickly became animportant resource for church musicians.Routley’s engaging style and concise nar-