Published on May 4, 2015 by Hannah Henderson  
Eloise Litz Day
Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School and the Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education jointly declared April 28, 2015 to be Eloise P. Litz Day. The schools collaborated to honor Eloise Litz because she was the music teacher of Dr.Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School, and this is the centennial year of the School of Education.

Eloise P. Litz taught music at East Side Junior High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee where Timothy George attended seventh through ninth grades. Dean George recalled, “In a time when there was lots of discipline problems in classrooms, nobody ever knew of a discipline problem in her class because she taught with such passion and enthusiasm that she made you love Tchaikovsky and Beethoven and Bach. She made you fall in love with her subject because she was in love with it. Eloise Litz will turn 95 years old this summer but, as everyone who met her can attest, her youth is ever renewed like the eagles (Isaiah 40:31).  Her motto for life is Live as if it were your last day and learn as if you live forever.’”

Dr. Jeanie Box, dean of the School of Education, joined Dean George to present Litz with a certificate commemorating the day. Dean Box said, “We are so grateful to Dean Timothy George and BDS for sharing in the centennial celebration of the school of Education. Dean George wanted to honor one of his most influential teachers as a tribute to the mark that teachers leave on the lives of students.”

 

 
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.