Samford University Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Civil rights=== As a private, [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] institution, Samford University was to some degree insulated from the activities of leaders and protesters of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in the 1950s and early 1960s. The officers of the Samford Student Government Association challenged a segregated concert held on campus by the [[Alabama Symphony Orchestra|Birmingham Symphony]] by inviting as guests the student government officers of nearby [[Miles College]],<ref name="Flynt">{{cite book|last=Flynt|first=Wayne Flynt|author-link=Wayne Flynt|title=Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfwRIggZV3MC&q=Samford+segregated+concert+birmingham+Symphony+miles&pg=PA113|year=2011|publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]]|isbn=978-0817317546|page=113}}</ref> a historically black school. Segregation by private universities was outlawed by the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]]. Initially, the school's leaders declined to express their commitment to desegregation. For example, the university declined to apply for the NDEA Student Loan Program for 1965-66 because it would have to affirm desegregation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Center|first=Lauren|date=Spring 2020|title=The Role of Finances and Religion in Samford University's Desegregation|journal=Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa|volume=44|pages=83}}</ref> [[Cumberland School of Law]] faced the greatest immediate risk of losing accreditation. In 1967, it admitted Samford's first black student, Audrey Lattimore Gaston.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flynt|first=Wayne Flynt|author-link=Wayne Flynt|title=Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfwRIggZV3MC&pg=PA116|year=2011|publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]] |isbn=978-0817317546|page=116}}</ref> The entire university proceeded with desegregation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samford.edu/history/wright2.html |access-date=April 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618054941/http://www4.samford.edu/history/wright2.html |archive-date=June 18, 2010 |title=Presidents of Samford University}}</ref> In the fall of 1969 Elizabeth Sloan Ragland became the first African American student to live on campus.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elizabeth Sloan-Ragland, Award Winner|url=https://www.samford.edu/events/50thAnniversary/awards/Elizabeth-Sloan-Ragland|access-date=2020-07-09|website=Samford University|language=en}}</ref> On June 1, 2020, the university announced the installation of a memorial honoring "the sacrifices of many African Americans for the mission and vision of Samford University even in days when their efforts were invisible or barely acknowledged." It specifically named Gaston and an enslaved servant named Harry who died while saving students from the 1854 fire.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Memorial Affirms University's Commitment to Remembrance and Reconciliation|url=https://www.samford.edu/news/updates/reconciliation-memorial|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Samford University|language=en}}</ref> A public dedication of the memorial was held on February 15, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-16 |title=Samford dedicates racial reconciliation memorial {{!}} The Alabama Baptist |url=https://thealabamabaptist.org/samford-dedicates-racial-reconciliation-memorial/,%20https://thealabamabaptist.org/samford-dedicates-racial-reconciliation-memorial/ |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=thealabamabaptist.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page