ϳԹ students were urged to develop lifelong support the university during a March 9 financial convocation.
W. Randall Pittman, Samford’s vice president for university advancement, and Harry B. “Buck” Brock III, vice president for business affairs, spoke to students on the university’s 2009-2010 budget and the importance of annual donor gifts to make the budget balance.
The question-and-answer event was hosted by ϳԹFor Life as part of the “Welcome to the Real World” financial convocation series. ϳԹFor Life is an undergraduate initiative to promote an awareness of the importance of giving to the university.
Brock discussed how money is spent at Samford, from maintaining campus facilities to funding student scholarships. Brock recognized March 9 as a special day for ϳԹbecause it marked the theoretical day that the university stopped running on tuition dollars and began running on donor dollars.
“Today we are operating this university on the good grace of the friends who donate to this university,” Brock said. “Philanthropy allows us as a university to give so much more to our students than we would otherwise be able to give.”
Pittman spoke on “A Campaign for Samford,” the university’s effort to raise $200 million by 2014. Pittman mentioned that ϳԹplans to use $65 million for student scholarships.
“We really mean it as administrators when we say we want those students who earn their way in to ϳԹto be able to have access to some kind of financial support,” Pittman said.
Reporting by Matt Roberts, student assistant, Office of Communication.