SAFE Samford
SAFE Samford (an acronym for Students, Alumni and Faculty for Equality) is an advocacy group founded on Facebook in 2011 by Samford alumnus Brit Blalock and other alumni, students, and faculty to support LGBTQ students, faculty and staff at Samford University.
SAFE Samford distributes "Safe Zone" stickers to help students identify faculty who are open to discussing issues of gender and sexuality at the university without prejudice.
The group has campaigned to oppose the action of the Samford University Office of Spiritual Life to remove LGBTQ-affirming churches and college ministries from participating in its annual campus ministry fair. These include groups affiliated with the Baptist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian USA denominations.
SAFE Samford also advocates for the approval of LGBTQ identity-based campus organizations such as Samford Together, an undergraduate advocacy organization which was approved by the faculty senate but denied recognition by then-president Andrew Westmoreland, and OUTLaw Samford, a proposed affiliate of the LGBTQ+ Bar for Cumberland School of Law students which was denied official status by President Beck Taylor in 2022.
References
- Bauer-Wolf, Jeremy (August 7, 2017) "At Samford, Another Party Heard From" Inside Higher Ed
- Knott, Katherine (September 21, 2022) "Samford U Students Protest Exclusion of Pro-LGBTQ Clergy" Inside Higher Ed
- Griesbach, Rebecca (October 24, 2022) "Samford University denies student application to form LGBTQ group." The Birmingham News
External links
- SAFE Samford website