DIVERSITY
Embracing Our
Differences In pursuit of racial reconciliation, two men first turn to friendship. By Morgan Black Images provided by o2 ideas
In 2006, Shelley Stewart, a Birmingham businessman and the founder of o2 ideas, received an invitation to attend President Andrew Westmoreland’s inaugural address. “I was sitting in the audience, having never been invited to Samford University in my life, and, yet, I was born in Rosedale,” Stewart said. “As I’m listening to his speech, I began to reflect on my life and who I had become.” In 1940, he recalled he and his brother were walking from the Rosedale community, near the Howard College campus, when a group of white boys began mocking them and throwing rocks at them. He and his brother fought back. Almost 70 years later, he was an honored guest at a place that once excluded Black students. “Listening to Andy speak that day, something about him appeared different to me,” he said. Not long after the inauguration, Stewart was invited to a meeting on campus, which just so happened to be in the president’s office. “Before long, Andy said, ‘I’ve heard of you, I know about your background.’ Then, for whatever reason, he came and sat next to me and we began talking openly and
Westmoreland and Stewart 26 • Seasons • Spring 2021
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