University of Mobile Board of Trustees
Names Residence Hall for Opelika Couple
Elects Trustee Chairman, Announces Tuition

April 27, 2004
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of Mobile Board of Trustees approved naming its $3.3 million new residence hall now under construction “Samford Hall” in honor of Opelika, Ala., attorney Yetta G. Samford Jr. and his wife, Mary.

The 101-bed facility will be completed this summer.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to honor Yetta and Mary Samford,” said UM President Dr. Mark Foley. Samford is a member of the founding Board of Trustees for the private Baptist-affiliated university, has served as chairman of the Board, was named Life Trustee in 1992 and awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2001.

“Yetta and Mary have been a part of this university from its birth. They have helped nurture this school from the time it was just a dream of Alabama Baptists who wanted a Christian college in south Alabama, to its present success as an 800-acre campus with nearly 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students,” Foley added.

A native of Opelika, Ala., Samford was a director of Torchmark Corp., West Point Pepperell Inc., and chairman of the Board of Directors of Farmers National Bank of Opelika. He is a deacon and an active member of First Baptist Church in Opelika.

He received a bachelor of science degree in 1947 from Alabama Polytechnic Institute and entered the Law School of the University of Alabama, earning an L.L.B. degree in 1949. He was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree in 1995. He served as a B-17 pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1949, U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama in 1949, U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit in 1961; and U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit in 1981. He is a practicing attorney in Opelika and a former member of the Executive Council of the Alabama Law Institute. He is a trustee emeritus of the University of Alabama.

Samford served in the Alabama Senate during 1958-62, representing Lee and Russell Counties. He was a director and member of the Executive Committee, Business Council of Alabama in 1985, and a director of the Alabama State Chamber of Commerce from 1963 to 1985. He was a member of the Alabama Board of Corrections 1969-75 and a member of the Alabama State Docks Advisory Board 1987 to 2000.

Yetta Samford is married to the former Mary Austill, and they are the parents of a son (deceased) and two daughters.

In other action, the Board:

  • Elected as chairman for 2004-05 trustee James W. Averett of Birmingham, Ala., vice president of Southern Nuclear Operating Company Inc. UM Board of Trustees chairmen are elected to one-year terms and may be reelected for a maximum of two terms. Averett assumed the chairmanship of the 44-member board from current chairman Doug Rigney of Alexander City, Ala., deputy commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture and Industries.
  • Announced tuition increases for 2004-05 ranging from 3.9 percent for undergraduate to 5.2 percent for graduate – below the 6 percent national average tuition increase expected for 2004-05 by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Undergraduate tuition will increase 3.9 percent for the 2004-05 academic year, from $309 per semester hour to $321. The annual cost of tuition for an undergraduate student carrying a 15-hour load is $9,630, an increase of $360. The national average tuition for private colleges in 2003-04 was $19,700, according to NAICU. Tuition at selected faith-based private colleges in Alabama for 2003-04 included Spring Hill College at $17,830, Samford University at $13,154, Huntingdon College at $14,560, and Judson College at $8,550, according to the Alabama Independent Colleges and Universities association.

Graduate tuition will increase by 5.2 percent from $229 per semester hour to $241 per hour.

Instead of a flat rate for all campus housing with varying rates for different meal plans, the university will move to a flat fee of $1,300 per semester for food service and a graduated scale for campus housing. The Avery Woods cottages, houses and modular units will be $1,520 per semester; Bedsole, Arendall and Ingram halls and some modular units will be $1,630 per semester; and the new Samford Hall will be $1,800 per semester.