Returning for its second consecutive year after a five-year hiatus, the Miss Samford competition continues to rebuild its legacy on campus. Junior Alana Price was named Miss Samford 2025 on Nov. 1.
Price feels that she experienced personal growth from the competition and met more students from different areas of campus.
“I feel like each contestant brings a unique way of getting involved on campus,” Price said. “Some people are in the art school, and I’m in the science school, and some people are in the law school. So, it’s really a great way to find out about many organizations that are involved on campus.”
The day’s events included a private interview, on-stage question, fitness, talent and evening gown phases. For her talent, Price performed a Latin classical piano piece, “Malangoyna.”
Price entered the competition hoping to maximize scholarship money as much as possible.
“I walked in just hoping that I would get some good money,” Price said. “Obviously, every contestant got money this year, so I was just trying to do my best, so I could get the most scholarship and just help my parents pay for school.”
When she learned she’d earned $15,000 in scholarships and the title, the weight of the moment sank in. She says the first few moments felt surreal.
“I was excited to honestly just go hug Jayla because we had just been talking all day,” Price said. “I was so proud of her year of service, getting to watch her serve the community of Samford, and so I was just excited to kind of step into those shoes that she was able to step into last year.”
Her connection to Jayla Duncan, last year’s Miss Samford, made the moment even more special. Duncan and Price are from the same county, Talladega County. The two discussed Miss Samford the previous year, when Price was already serving as Miss Oak Mountain.
For Duncan, watching her friend earn the title was a full-circle experience.
“She wasn’t overly confident throughout the week,” Duncan said. “She didn’t know how it would go because it was such a steep competition. I just tried to reassure her that if this is the Lord’s plan, it will happen for her. When they called her name, I literally went bananas. I lost it because I was just so proud of her. I know this is something that she really wanted.”
As she begins her year as Miss Samford, Price is already making plans for how she’ll use her platform. Her community service initiative, Prevention for Prosperity, focuses on prescription and opioid drug misuse education, a topic she’s excited about bringing to campus.
“One of my big goals is to get medication disposal kits on campus.” Price said. “I’m actually already working with the Samford Police Department to get this approved. That would allow students to safely dispose of their medications so that no one is missing taking them, or students are stealing them, or any kind of animals are getting into them.”
Beyond her advocacy, she hopes to make the title more visible to students across campus.
“I’m always nose-in-a-book, studying for my exam, so I’m excited to have an excuse to get outside and see some more students,” she said. “I feel like Miss Samford, just being back the second year, people are still kind of unfamiliar with what’s going on and the opportunities available with the competition.”
The event’s purpose extends beyond competition, aiming to provide students with meaningful experiences and opportunities for personal growth.
“Every girl who competed this weekend was incredible. They walked away with money, they walked away with friends. They walked away with real-life experience,” Duncan said. “I hope that my reign and Alana’s reign are totally different from each other, so that people see that you don’t have to be a certain type of individual to be Miss Samford. You can truly make it your title and make the impact that you want.”
Staff Reporter
