Published on October 27, 2014 by Mary Wimberley  
Miss Samford 2015

Madison Smith, a sophomore theatre major from Calhoun, Ga., was crowned Miss Samford University 2015 on Friday, Oct. 24.

Smith will represent Samford in the Miss Alabama scholarship pageant in June.  Her pageant platform is Dance for Down Syndrome.

She also won the talent competition with her vocal performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the musical Funny Girl, and the lifestyle, fitness and swimsuit competition. She is the daughter of Darlene and Ernie Smith.

Finalists were Thomason Bryan, a freshman communication sciences and disorders major from Montgomery, Ala., first runner-up; and Marty Desforges, a junior communication sciences and disorders major from Hoover, Ala., second runner-up. Desforges also won the Spirit of Miss Samford award, voted on by contestants and pageant staff.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.