As senior Cazz Brindis croons the words to “Let it Be” on the stage of the Firestone Fieldhouse one student glances from the performer’s face to Facebook. One two six textbooks lie open on the laps of the students who attentively read them. That’s just one row. For students it’s nothing personal— it’s just Convo.
Hank Fortner takes the stage and declares a 50-day countdown until Christmas but his audience sings a different tune: ‘Tis the season to cram
Convos pile up in a line and get scanned in.
“I think right now the general M.O. is show up and get credit said Christopher Collins, director of Convocation and Student-led Ministries.
With six weeks left in the school year, the topic of convocation flares within daily conversations. I only have four credits one girl says to another. When the Christmas countdown starts, so does the perceived surge of students who decide to attend. Collins said the issue of Convocation is not a matter of a higher demand, but a more urgent one.
Every full-time student is automatically registered in the Convocation series. More than 1,300 students have a passing grade, as they each have attended at least eight programs. The rush to the doors represent the minority of students who have fulfilled less than half of their credits. The evidence, Collins said, is in the Wednesday morning Chapel attendance, which averages more than 1600 students. Now the attendance has dropped below 900.
Some students say the reason they’re dragging their feet to the programs is they see the program as an obligation.
I don’t want to [go] because if I’m required to go to something I’d like it to be something that interests me and [is] convenient for me sophomore Kevin Shipp said.
Though the Student-Led Ministries office strives to provide a variety of options for students, Collins said he realized the apprehension on students’ part, but Convocation is still a course requirement.
That’s just a tension that we’re going to have to live withhe said.
Sophomore and transfer student Lauren Kliest looks on the bright side: At least it’s not every day. At first when I’d hear people talking about Convo I thought ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I had to go four to five time a week she said, speaking of her experience at Cascade College. The college,
located in Portland, Ore., was a Church of Christ affiliated school until it closed in May 2009.
The same held for Pepperdine at one time as well. As the university’s history has unfolded, the program has changed in frequency— the daily requirement dwindled to three times a week and now 14 total for an ‘A.’ And it has changed its name— from Chapel to Convocation and now alternating between the two. (Only Wednesday’s program is Chapel.”)
When the university first started holding Chapel in the Firestone Fieldhouse they would record attendance by taking a picture from the ceiling. Each student had assigned seats so “as long as there was a body in your seat you would get credit for it Collins said.
When the program shifted from solely spiritual aspects, it went through an identity crisis.
It moved to motivational speaking jugglers giving credit for women’s basketball game at one point. It just totally became everything and nothing at the same time Collins said.
When Collins took his position in 2005, the university had shifted toward making it a faith-based program with a variety of topics. Collins cited the different themes regarding social justice, ecology and theology to explain the breadth of the program.
While clubs and student organizations often lobby to make their events eligible for credit, Collins said he challenges them to evaluate if that is a move they want to make.
I encourage some people not to apply for Convocation credit and I ask them to think about it. … If ten people show up and you had a really good discussion about whatever topic the deep learning that would take place would be way different from 400 people that are tuning out during your program.”
Though she likes convocation senior Laura Fehlbaum admits she has not been the most attentive at times. “It’s not because I’m not interested she said. It’s just my mind wanders to the different to-do lists I have in life.”
One of Collins’ major priorities is coordinating the speakers for the Wednesday morning Chapels. He said when he seeks out speakers he is mindful of the students and the experiences he had as a student at Pepperdine.
“When I look at them I think: Will this work in the Fieldhouse? Will this make me look up from my homework or pull my iPod earphones out and listen? That’s what the threshold is for me in terms of finding speakers that will work.”
To get the best out of the experience Collins offers two pieces of advice: read descriptions of programs that seem interesting to them— and care.
“The best thing that can happen for students and their connection with this program is for them to move to a point of choosing what you want to go to he said. I think it would drastically change the opinion of the program and also how much you get out of it if you go for content as opposed to credit.”