Mary Louise Shirley Hodges turns 100 on December 28, 2021 and was celebrated at a reception prior to the recent theatre production of A Christmas Carol in the Wright Center.  She was joined by family members and the School of the Arts community.  Part of the celebration included the announcement that the Wright Center Grand Foyer will be named the Mary Louise Shirley Hodges Grand Foyer. 

A special resolution was presented to Mrs. Hodges by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees that acknowledged her innumerable friendships across the Samford community and expressed abiding gratitude for her generous financial support of the Schools of the Arts and numerous students throughout the university. Hodges has willed her Steinway 150th Anniversary Limited Edition grand piano to Samford,  which will be placed in the Grand Foyer which will now bear her name. 

Joe Hopkins, dean of the School of the Arts, along with the Samford Orchestra led the audience in singing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Hodges just before the curtain went up. 

Hodges and her late husband Andrew Gerow Hodges both graduated from Samford and have provided support and leadership to the Samford community for decades. She was a long-standing member of the Music Scholarship Committee and Advisory Board for the School of the Arts.