President Beck A. Taylor, addressing Samford University’s 184th opening convocation, encouraged students and faculty to face the new academic year with courage—to trust in God’s support and filter external voices that peddle fear.
Taylor selected “courage” as his institutional theme for the 2025-26 academic year — building upon the Christian virtues of faith, hope, love and gratitude in previous terms. Speaking to a capacity crowd inside the Wright Center on Aug. 26, he heralded God’s mandate to be courageous, selecting Joshua 1:9 as a thematic verse.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Samford’s fifth-year president spoke of the Hebrews wandering the desert for 40 years before arriving at the doorstep of the promised land. He asserted that similarities connect the record-setting freshmen class entering Samford, the upperclassmen returning to campus with new priorities, and the faculty gearing up to deliver on the university’s promise of academic excellence.
“We all can easily relate to standing on the precipice of something new and feeling afraid,” Taylor said. “I certainly can. … Do we need God’s admonition to be courageous, to be strong? Do we need God’s encouragement today? You bet we do.”
Taylor confessed to freshmen during Connections Weekend that he grows nervous about the start of each new academic year. Anxieties surface over making new students feel welcomed and ensuring Samford’s faculty and staff are equipped to accomplish their work. He recalled questioning his supply of energy, passion, wisdom and vision to lead a campus that’s succeeding financially and enjoying a sustained trajectory of growth.
“What if I fail? Can I be the leader God is calling me to be?” he said.
“When God exhorts us to be strong and courageous, he isn’t expecting us to miraculously summon these things by ourselves, as if adequate amounts of strength and courage are just brewing within us, beneath the surface, ready to spring forth at our command. No, in fact, in the very same breath that God reminds us to not be afraid, to not be discouraged, God also reminds us of the source of our strength and courage – he says, ‘The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’ God is the source of our strength. God is the source of our courage.”
That’s essential to remember, Taylor said, because fear is a marketed commodity in modern culture—one that can shape minds and hearts into believing false realities about ourselves and the world. Fear is so pervasive in our lives that real strategies are needed to combat it.
“Too much fear can paralyze us,” Taylor said. “Misplaced fear or irrational fear is weaponized against us often. We can make mountains out of mole hills. We can convince ourselves that inaction is always better than taking action. Our exaggerated fears can incapacitate us and keep us from making decisions that are best for ourselves or the communities we are part of. And on a spiritual level, we can put more trust in our fight-or-flight response than we do in God’s promises.”
Taylor encouraged students to be discerning about those who want them to be afraid, to be wary of listening to voices that might distract them from putting their full faith in God.
“If you’re feeling discouraged, if mustering even the slightest bit of courage seems impossible, know this truth: God loves you. God has a purpose and plan for your life,” Taylor said.
“I believe that if God has brought you to Samford—to work, to teach, or to study—then God is meeting you here, even now. God promises that he will be with us wherever we go. He is here, prompting you to leave this auditorium this morning and to tackle life with strength and courage.”
Samford University's choir performs during the fall semester's opening convocation.
