Melissa Giaimo
Assistant News Editor
At least 200 motorcycles will be rolling down Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday in a rally in honor of Sept. 11, which will end at Pepperdine’s “Wave of Flags” on Alumni Park. However, University officials are prohibiting the riders from conducting a closing prayer service or parking on campus.
The motorcycle bike tour, known as “Ride to the Flags,” will begin at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Biker registration fees will benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which supports families of military personnel who lost their lives in service to the nation.
Saturday’s ceremony on Alumni Park was supposed to include the United States Air Force Honor Guard drill team, a prayer service led by Bikers for Christ, bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” and an Air Force flyover, according to senior Ryan Sawtelle, president of College Republicans, who organized the event.
Sawtelle is also the brains behind the 2,977 American flags standing in Alumni Park to commemorate each life lost in the Sept. 11 attacks. The flags will stand until Sept. 18.
As reasons for the decision, the University cited fears about the numbers of riders — estimated from 200 to 500 — as well as noise disturbances on campus and in the nearby community, according to Jerry Derloshon, director of Public Relations.
Concerns about the image of the University were also a factor.
“I will admit that I did have concerns about public perception … of [a motorcycle] event on campus,” said Marnie Mitze, associate vice president and President Andrew K. Benton’s chief of staff. “I could see clearly that [Sawtelle] was not pleased about my response … There was certainly tension.”
However, Mitze added that she was not involved in final decisions about holding the bike rally.
Mike Winger, who rides with the Bikers of Christ, said many of the bikers participating in the rally were offended to hear that they did not meet the standards of Pepperdine’s “image.”
“All we wanted to do was stand for 15 minutes and [hold] the memorial ceremony,” Winger said. “I think the college should look into getting the facts straight before determining an image of what bikers are like.”
Although Pepperdine will not be hosting a formal closing ceremony for the bikers, Pepperdine is still the ending destination of the bike tour. The bikers will park along Pepperdine’s front lawn at Malibu Canyon Road and will be free to walk among the flags on Alumni Park, take photographs and enjoy the view.
“If any of the riders wish to contemplate the day and offer their prayers … we trust that they will,” said Derloshon, who said he expects the riders to disperse within approximately 30 minutes.
The actual ceremony will instead occur at the beginning of the ride at the Reagan Library.
College Republicans learned that the University would not approve the biker ceremony two weeks ago in an Aug. 25 e-mail from Jacob Gross, the student organizations coordinator.
Sawtelle said he was under the impression that Pepperdine had already approved the event because he had been working with administrators and University event planners throughout the summer to plan logistics.
“The sad part is that a lot of these riders are military veterans, and these flags are going to mean a lot to them,” he said. “To nix it two weeks before it was supposed to get here is just wrong.”
However, President Andrew K. Benton said the University officially approved only the flag portion of the event. He said he did not know how planning for the ceremony progressed so far without his approval, especially when it involved the military.
“I simply can’t explain the rest, except contact with the military usually goes through my office and that certainly never took place,” Benton wrote in an e-mail. “You know, we operate a lot on trust at Pepperdine, and I can honestly say I have learned something in this episode.”
Mitzie said she agrees there was some miscommunication about the event. When Sawtelle first approached Benton about his Sept. 11 project in May, his proposal contained three parts – “Wave of Flags,” bike rally and a speech by John Ashcroft. Although Benton expressed his support for the project, the emphasis had been on the “Wave of the Flags,” according to Mitze. She believes communication broke down later in the summer when Benton’s office passed management of the project to the office of Student Activities.
Mitze also added that Sawtelle proceeded to publicize the motorcycle event without receiving sufficient approval from Benton’s office or Student Activities.
Sawtelle maintains the University did not provide adequate reasons to cancel the event.
“The reasons they gave were so trivial [and] could have been easily fixed,” he said. “Pepperdine is a Christian school, and they’re dropping a prayer service is what it’s coming down to … There is no good reason why this isn’t happening.”
During an interview on the Al Rantel morning show on KABC radio on Tuesday, Sawtelle said he was frustrated with members of the Pepperdine administration.
Benton said he was unimpressed with Sawtelle’s comments on the radio show, which he said told only half the story.
“There seems to be a campaign to try to cause us to rethink our position,” Benton wrote. “In our campus community, I don’t see stuff like this very often. It is not persuasive when it does happen.”
However, Derloshon noted that the University frequently receives requests to hold memorial services on campus and that the University does not always acquiesce.
Although controversy and miscommunication have surrounded the event, Derloshon said the purpose of the Ride to the Flags will be met.
“The big picture is not about the riders, the University, the College Republicans — it is about remembering the victims of Sept. 11 and trying to remember in a spirit of unity and peace,” he said.
Mitze said she hopes that Sawtelle’s disappointment about the biker rally will not tarnish the beauty of the flag display.
“I just hope that we can put all of the disappointment [behind and focus on] the stunning, breathtaking exhibition on alumni park,” she said.
09-11-2008