2008 Woodie Awards
Hanna Center hosts first events for Homecoming
Ben Hankins
Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: News
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The Pete Hanna Center opens, and the arena will be the host of many more Homecoming festivities before the weekend draws to a close.
While the multi-purpose facility will be functional for all Homecoming events, many of the amenities that will be offered to students are yet to be completed. University officials said they expect the center to officially open sometime in early November. The center will include a fitness and wellness center and an intercollegiate athletic workout facility.
Even though many students are aware of everything that the Hanna Center will have to offer, most remained uninformed about who Pete Hanna really is. Hanna, the CEO and principal shareholder of Hanna Steel Corporation, is a strong supporter of Samford.
"Samford runs through my life like a thread; I can't explain it," Hanna said.
Hanna attended Howard College while it was at its former location in East Lake in 1955. He made the move to the Homewood campus along with the rest of the college in 1958.
Hanna was active while attending Howard College. The former business major played on the 1955, 1956 and 1958 football teams and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.
Hanna said that the football team back then wasn't quite the same as it is today. The team dressed and practiced at the East Lake campus and played at what is now known as Seibert Stadium.
"We were really understaffed financially," Hanna said.
Hanna transferred to the University of Alabama in the fall of 1960. However, he said he did not make that decision on his own.
"My father wanted me to get a degree from Alabama or Auburn because he thought it would be more prestigious. Back then, it meant a lot more," he said.
When Hanna looks back at that decision today and compares the two schools, he said that now he would choose Samford in a heartbeat.
"I feel that I had an advantage by going to both Alabama and Samford, but there's no comparison to the camaraderie that you have at Samford. You just know everybody," Hanna said.