KATE SCHWARTZ
News Assistant
Addressing concerns about the academic growth and reputation of Pepperdine University, Provost Darryl Tippens and Seaver Dean David Baird spoke to SGA in their general meeting on Wednesday.
After being with Pepperdine for six years, Tippens assured members of SGA that the reputation of Pepperdine is becoming increasingly prestigious and will continue to grow.
“I believe that there is a growing ambivalence or disenchantment with higher education,” Tippens said.
Tippens said Pepperdine is a noteworthy exception to that stereotype, and that students are in the position to play a unique role in higher education.
“As pressure for sameness at universities mounts, Pepperdine encourages diversity and commitment to our Christian mission,” Tippens said.
Tippens said the Christian mission is one of the reasons more students are choosing school like Pepperdine over other Ivy Leagues and prestigious universities.
“If you look at most of the Ivy League schools, they were at one time religious,” Tippens said. “But now schools like Yale, Harvard, Stanford and USC sacrificed that affiliation due to their lust of reputation.”
Tippens said institutions are pouring resources and money into rankings and status.
He said that the ranking system is one of the worst things that have happened to higher education because it forces students to focus on status rather than substance.
Dean Baird assured the students of SGA that Pepperdine will not falter in its commitment to its mission and increasing academic reputation.
He plans to continue hiring faculty that are extremely established in their field as well as admitting students that are of the same caliber or better as current students of Pepperdine.
“Your diploma will only continue to get better and have more value over time,” Baird said.
Junior Senator Dallas Cook is optimistic about the direction of the university.
“For a school that hasn’t been around for hundreds of years, I think it is great that Pepperdine is ranked so highly and still upholds its religious mission.”
03-01-2007
