Every year around this time Smothers Theatre is filled with students. These students are not sitting in the audience, but are up on stage singing and dancing in front of sold-out crowds.
Where are the faculty and staff?
Usually they are the ones sitting in the audience. But this year a positive change has been made: approximately 30 staff members, alumni and one lone faculty member have joined the spirit of Songfest and revived the faculty-staff group that last appeared in the mid 1990s. A few key administrators will also make cameo appearances on individual nights.
This sudden change of heart is a beneficial step toward creating more involvement with students. Why does the faculty/staff and student interaction have to stop at the classroom door?
We’re glad to see that the 31 members of the faculty, staff and alumni Songfest group have taken things in a different direction.
We hope that with this step the rest of the faculty and staff will be inspired to take similar measures to become more involved with students. Perhaps Convocation, and even Homecoming, will become events where students and faculty can interact and spend additional time together, away from the formality of lectures and tests.
The college experience is much more than what is learned in the classroom. It’s about learning not only from our own life experiences, but from the experiences of others.
A significant aspect of college is about forming relationships with people, which is by no means limited to our roommates and suitemates, but should also extend to our professors and staff members. Their experiences in the academic scene, working world and family life offer students valuable learning experiences, far beyond what the confines of time usually allows in the classroom.
Furthermore, the faculty and staff are sure to gain much from their students as well. The diversity of races, nationalities and backgrounds on campus provides professors with opportunities to increase their knowledge of the world. Activities outside the classroom would give professors and their students the opportunity to relax, have fun and enjoy each other’s company.
Every year at Step Forward Day we see staff members and their families participating. Why does it have to stop there?
The beginning of the year is always a time of excitement for everyone on the Malibu campus. Step Forward Day is the opportune time for staff and students to socialize while spending time together, as the long summer months have kept the community scattered about the county.
It is with this same excitement for Step Forward Day that faculty and staff should participate in campus events all year long.
Administrators often decry the lack of nightlife on campus — maybe they can help spruce it up. President Dr. Andrew K. Benton’s band Midlife Crisis has drawn a crowd on an impromptu Friday afternoon set in the amphitheatre in the past. Imagine what a fully publicized show might do. Faculty and staff could increase student enthusiasm for campus events.
It would be great to see staff members side by side with the students competing in Homecoming. It would also be refreshing to see faculty members sitting with their students at Convo.
It’s good to see that a little bit of the student excitement about Songfest has contagiously affected campus. Hopefully the infection will spread along to every academic office and staff area of campus so that next year we’ll have even more staff and faculty members participating in campus events.
Over the years Pepperdine has been known for its family atmosphere and close ties. Let’s continue along this path and further develop the relationships between students and staff outside of the classroom. This should be the beginning, not the end of these meaningful relationships.
At Songfest you’ll be sure to see us applauding the faculty, staff and alumni group, not only for its performance, but also for our pride in its contribution to strengthening vital relationships at Pepperdine. It is their spirit that will truly make Pepperdine a family and a place to call home.
March 13, 2003