Live Broadcast Will Carry Historic Trustee Announcement Around the World

Samford University's board of trustees will meet Jan. 10 to consider a recommendation to elect Andrew Westmoreland as Samford's 18th president. Pending the outcome of the meeting, board chair Bill Stevens and Westmoreland will then appear at a 5 p.m. news conference.

The entire Samford family can participate in this historic event via live coverage on Samford's radio station, WVSU, which can be heard in the Birmingham area at 91.1 FM. WVSU also can be heard online anywhere in the world thanks to streaming audio at www.al.com/wvsu.

The 5 p.m. news conference will be in the rotunda of the Lucille Beeson Center for the Healing Arts on the Samford campus.

The news conference will follow a 4 p.m. gathering for faculty and staff at which the trustees and the Westmoreland family will be present to discuss the outcome of the meeting. University officials anticipate posting audio and video recordings of the events online at www.samford.edu later in the week.

Westmoreland currently is president of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark. If elected, he will succeed current Samford President Thomas E. Corts on June 1, 2006.

The 48-year-old Westmoreland emerged in late November as the leading candidate following a six-month national search that yielded more than 140 nominations. The 18-member presidential search committee earlier presented him as the leading candidate in a series of meetings with three Samford constituent review panels and other key University leadership.

"This is an historic day for Samford," said Stevens, CEO of Motion Industries in Birmingham. "We ask for the prayers of the Samford family as we gather to make decisions and continue the transition to new leadership."

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