The College Fix

Samford University president defends decision to support social justice, calling it ‘biblical justice’

“’Hot Girl Teaching’ in a Faith-Based Environment.” Torn Bible pages used to create art work. Social justice as “biblical justice.”

These are just a few of the hot-button topics that have sparked a controversy surrounding Samford University, a Christian institution outside of Birmingham, Alabama, which recently stated it would incorporate elements of racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion content into its core curriculum.

A local news outlet, 1819 News, has over the last several weeks published a series of stories on DEI initiatives at Samford after some community members and parents voiced concern.

The articles have prompted consternation on campus, according to Samford’s president, who spoke to faculty this week in remarks that doubled-down on the university’s dedication to its progressive stance.

Samford President Beck Taylor slammed recent press coverage of the university’s DEI initiatives and announced that the Board of Trustees voted this week to confirm the university’s commitment to “biblical justice.”

Taylor, in his private speech to faculty Wednesday, referred to 1819’s articles as an attempt to “stir the pot among some who think that any mention of racism and sexism in our culture and in our educational institutions is a violation of some newly imagined social contract that magically eliminates the need to continue to educate students on important elements of our history and of our current lived experience.”

“What this publication is doing is despicable and it’s wrong, and whatever agenda is motivating them to do this will not succeed,” Taylor continued, according to an audio recording of his comments obtained by The College Fix.

Samford University’s media affairs division and President Taylor’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The College Fix.

Samford recommitted to DEI last month with a “Diversity Action Plan” that promises to “[i]ncorporate elements of racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion content into the core curriculum at Samford.”

1819 reported on the action plan April 13, noting it was just the latest push as part of a “campus-wide effort to mandate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in every aspect of its campus experience.” The outlet published a timeline showing that the initiatives stretch back to 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The initiatives included faculty bias trainings, DEI efforts to be embedded into athletics and Greek Life, a new position to offer counseling solely to students of color, the creation of a Task Force on Racial Justice, and a book club focused on teaching professors how to be anti-racist.

Another article details university support for Samford Associate Professor Geoff Sciacca’s artwork “Fifteen-Twelve,” which he created in part by using pages “torn out of a Bible.”

Sciacca stated online in his description of the work: “It is no secret that America has not lived up to its promise of upholding the idea that ‘All men are created equal.’ And from the earliest beginnings of slavery and indigenous genocides, to the tragedy of Jim Crow, to present-day systemic racial injustice and inequality, the evangelical church has been an integral part of all of America.”

“And in this time, they have either been, at worst, complicit—with the country’s largest Protestant denomination having been founded through a split over their belief in slavery, for example,” he added. “Or, at best, complacent — standing by as silent spectators, with the vast majority choosing to turn a blind eye to the evils of injustice happening all around them.”

The artwork was showcased in an exhibit on campus twice, in 2020 and 2024. Sciacca did not respond to requests for comment from The College Fix.

1819 also published a recent email sent from President Taylor to the Board of Trustees calling the outlet’s coverage of Samford “unfair, out of context, and at times completely false.”

Taylor stated that “[t]he article on April 10 plants the idea that classes were taught at Samford with potentially objectionable content – they weren’t,” referencing an article that details an “upper-level course on Race in Popular Culture and Media” taught by Professor Niya Pickett Miller.

Miller’s recent publications include “‘Hot Girl Teaching’ in A Faith-Based Environment.” The article’s abstract states that “[t]here is much to learn from Megan Thee Stallion, the self-proclaimed ‘Hot Girl Coach.’ However, her provocative lyrics and hyper-sexuality are challenging to interject into communication-themed classes at a predominantly white, faith-based university.”

According to the 1819 article, in a proposed course syllabus Miller co-authored, she claims that “Megan and others use their platforms to reject the labels of oppressors and reclaim and reframe Black women as unapologetic leaders, cultural tastemakers, and pleasure activists who are also worthy of love and adoration. The works located in this syllabus confront distortions about Black women.”

The syllabus subsections include “Trust A Big Butt and A Smile” and “Twerk Something.”

Miller did not respond to a request for comment from The College Fix.

Another article that caught the ire of campus brass focused on the biased nature of two faculty panels focused on President Trump and his agenda.

Taylor stated in his speech that “because the readership of this publication is small and limited our approach thus far has been to not breathe any oxygen into the embers or to give credibility to an agenda that is so clearly meant to unfairly shame Samford from the work we feel so firmly called to precisely because of our Christ-centered educational mission.”

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously “to affirm the University’s leadership and its Christian calling to biblical justice” on April 22, according to Taylor. “We will not be bullied to change our values and priorities,” he said.

Apryl Marie Fogel, the journalist for 1819 who wrote the Samford articles, stands behind her work, stating that her reporting has been meticulous and she has given Samford opportunities to respond or refute her findings.

The only public statement from the university against Fogel’s reports centered on a new anti-discrimination policy student clubs were forced to add to their respective constitutions.

The university took issue with the suggestion that it was part of its effort to advance DEI. They said the policy was longstanding, and the only new aspect was that students incorporate it in their club charter.

MORE: Samford denies conservative students’ request to form campus club

IMAGE CREDIT AND CAPTION: A screenshot of Samford University’s Diversity Action Plan cover

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