HELPING OR NOT?
Herschel Hobbs, Samford University’s Alumnus of the Year in 1993 did have one chance to be a big man on campus. In 1931, he and his wife, Frances, were sitting under “Sherman Oak” tree, a famous landmark on the old campus at East Lake, when he noticed a fire at Renfroe Hall, a men’s dormitory. The students on the third floor were throwing trunks and suitcases out of the window, he said. “Well, I ran up to the old Main Building and set off the fire alarm. The Fire Department came and put the fire out. I wasn’t a football hero, but I thought I was sort of a hero for saving that building.” But his act of heroism was short-lived. At an Alabama Baptist State Convention that year, L.O. Dawson, the namesake of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Homewood, gave a report on Howard College. “He had this high-pitched voice,” Hobbs recalled. He said, “Well everything’s fine at old Howard…
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