Samford University stands as a landmark for the city of Homewood, Ala. From sponsorships with local businesses such as Cookie Fix to city events hosted by sports teams, Samford’s engagement with the greater Birmingham area grows each year.
This year, the university hopes to invite Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Hoover and greater Birmingham onto campus to experience the Samford glow for themselves.
The Samford Your Neighbor initiative, launched in January of 2025, according to the Marketing and Communication Department, serves to highlight events that the university hosts in popular on-campus places like Harry’s Coffeehouse, the Wright Center or the various sporting venues specifically to non-Samford residents.
“Samford’s Christ-center mission involves fostering meaningful connections with the people around us. Loving our neighbor is an essential part of faith formation, ” reported the Marketing and Communication Department.
On their website, Samford Your Neighbor advertises an array of events from the community to choose from. As stated by the Marketing and Communication Department:
“The ‘Samford Your Neighbor’ webpage, launched in January 2025, highlights the university’s educational, economic and social impact on Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Hoover and the Birmingham metro area. In the spirit of driving community engagement, Samford promotes Wright Center performances and speakers, an array of summer youth camps and Bulldogs athletics events. Testimonials from alumni-owned businesses and corporate friends of the university detail Samford’s influence on the region, as do the service initiatives carried out by many students.”
The webpage also offers news of how Samford has positively impacted its community, as well as highlighting outstanding community members deemed “Friends of Samford.”
“The newsfeed includes items such as the Medallion Awards—recognizing unheralded community members for their service—and Samford recently being named one of the nation’s most beautiful campuses by U.S. News & World Report,” said the Marketing and Communication Department.
In 2025, Samford planned to expand its campus across Lakeshore Drive under the Creekside District expansion plan. The plan was put on pause due to community pushback, with certain Homewood citizens stating they felt that “Samford has not been [an] attentive neighbor to the community”.
University administration decided to wait on the Creekside plans, instead focusing on endearing greater Birmingham residents to the present campus and re-visiting the Creekside plans after community conversations have been had. Samford Your Neighbor appears to be the start of those conversations.
For updates on the initiative, follow their accounts on Instagram at @samfordyourneighbor and on Facebook.
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