This fall semester, Samford University welcomed its largest freshman class in history onto campus. This class of freshmen consists of 972 new students, causing the campus to feel more active as well as more crowded than ever.
While lines at Einstein’s Bagels may be longer than usual, Samford’s future is looking brighter than ever with the influx of students here to further enrich the campus and carry on traditions of faith and academic excellence. According to both Greek life recruiters and friends of the Crimson, this freshman class is sharp, friendly and more than ready to get involved in the university.
Freshman Sports Analytics major Matt Wyatt named the second floor of the library as his favorite place to relax and get homework done. He also deemed Einstein’s as his favorite restaurant.
“The All-Nighter [sandwich],” he said, “it hit.”
One of the best ways for freshmen to get connected at Samford is through the Student Government Association. Samford’s SGA provides its members with opportunities to grow their leadership skills while also giving them avenues to serve their campus.
Wednesday, Sept. 14th, freshman students were able to vote for their class officers and senators, and election results were posted on Friday, Sept. 16. Freshly-elected freshman senator Maggie Sims told the Crimson how grateful she felt for the overwhelming support she received while running for her SGA position.
“I wanted to do something just to get involved,” Sims remarked. “I feel really excited and blessed!”
Sims credited much of her success to “putting [herself] out there,” by meeting and connecting with as many new faces as she could. She also emphasized that she may not have gone through with it if she hadn’t had such a good support system amongst her friends and roommates. Sims said that running for SGA as a female student of color on a majority-white campus was daunting at first, but this year’s election results have reinforced her own confidence and hope to continue to see more students of color find leadership positions at Samford.
“Basically, the sky’s the limit!” Sims said.
Tito Canales, elected president of the class of 2026, said he is equally passionate about promoting diversity, and mentioned his ambitions to bring more black Greek life to Samford. He hopes to accomplish this through IMPACT, a group on campus dedicated to helping minority students at Samford increase their chances of academic, social and career success. His hope is to represent his class as best as he can.
“I want to be someone that is a voice of the students, someone that’s accessible, someone that has an open ear,” he said. “I want to embody what the student class is.”
Staff Writer
