Melissa Giaimo
Assistant News Editor
“If you ever take one class at Pepperdine, make sure it’s Genocide with Zalar.” This was the advice junior Christian Flowers received from a recent Seaver graduate.
But last week, Flowers said he was bewildered to learn about the abrupt resignation of history and humanities professor Dr. Jeffrey Zalar, who said he resigned for personal and family reasons. Flowers and his classmates arrived to class on Tuesday to find a note on the door saying that class was cancelled.
Although all Zalar’s classes had a reputation of being incredibly difficult, his “Lessons of 20th Century Genocide” class is known to rip students’ nerves to rags. Flowers, and other students, said they relied on the class to help process the hundreds of pages of disturbing reading assigned for homework.
“We literally sat there for a half-hour not knowing what were going to do [after learning that class was cancelled,]” said Flowers, who is a history major. The class was supposed to discuss the testimonies of Germans who had committed egregious acts against the Jews during the Holocaust.
Rumors began to spread across campus about his resignation Wednesday afternoon; however, it was not until Thursday afternoon that students in Zalar’s “Lessons of 20th Century Genocide” and senior seminar class received official word.
“I have resigned my position at Seaver College,” Zalar wrote in an e-mail to his students. “Times come, my dear friends, when we must make difficult decisions, especially when there are wives, husbands and children involved.”
Faculty members and students have also responded to Zalar’s departure with expressions of mourning and incomprehension.
“This is a very sad time,” said Dr. Stewart Davenport, an associate professor of history. “It’s almost like giving a eulogy for someone who’s passed away.”
Although students in the genocide and senior seminar classes received an e-mail Thursday from Zalar personally notifying them about his resignation, students in Humanities 313 officially learned about his resignation during Friday’s class from Humanities/Teacher Education Division Chair Dr. Maire Mullins. She had previously visited the Humanities class Tuesday, where students were waiting for Zalar to arrive, to tell them that Zalar would not be coming in that day.
A week later, the reasons for Zalar’s resignation are no more apparent. Dean of Seaver College Rick Marrs declined to comment. Mullins said she is telling students no more than, “It’s a personnel matter.”
“I have resigned for family and personal reasons,” Zalar wrote in an e-mail to the Graphic, declining an interview. “I’m not sure what else I could share on the matter! I can only add that I have loved Pepperdine, will continue to love Pepperdine and I will pray for the institution’s vigor and success in the years to come.”
Davenport said he responds to students’ questions about Zalar’s resignation “simply telling exactly the truth — that I know nothing.”
Davenport said he has not been in communication with Zalar.
“We are told it is a personal matter and we are not informed about it … Because of the private nature, I don’t know if the University community will know about it ever.”
With such allusions to personal circumstances, students have expressed concern about Zalar.
“It’s evident to me that there is care and compassion for Professor Zalar,” Mullins said. “I would expect nothing less from our students.”
Many students remember Zalar, an ex-Marine who served in the first Gulf War, for his scholarship, discipline and high expectations for the quality of his students’ work.
“He’s one of those teachers that demands excellence from his students,” Flowers said. “You either leave disappointed or charged.”
Some students found the rigor of Zalar’s humanities’ classes inappropriate for the expectations of General Education courses.
“He demanded a lot of his students — that didn’t always win him friends in the G.E. course,” Davenport said.
Others appreciated the challenge.
“He’s very demanding, but in the end it’s well worth it,” said senior Kevin Miller, a history major. “What you learn in his classes is just phenomenal.”
Zalar has a reputation as a teacher whom students either “love or hate,” according to senior Canon Hamlin.
“He was extremely smart to the point of arrogance, which I like in my teachers — but some people don’t,” said Hamlin, a political science major.
Senior Kenna McKenzie said she did not always appreciate his teaching style, especially when it included personal attacks.
“I found his teaching method to be a bit troublesome … it didn’t click for me,” said McKenzie, a history major who had Zalar as her advisor.
However, McKenzie said she appreciates his dedication to the quality of class discussion and the course materials.
“I think that Dr. Zalar brings a brilliant intellect and a high level of scholarship to any class that he teaches,” McKenzie said. “He does not take other people’s words for granted. He does extensive research; he doesn’t rest until he’s found … the most honest or best answer.”
For the students in the midst of preparing for their history thesis, Zalar’s resignation was particularly untimely.
“I really do wish he could have stayed, because my essay was tailored to go hand-in-hand with his knowledge of World War II and all of those battles,” said Miller, who was taking Zalar’s senior thesis class.
Miller noted that Zalar had played a significant role in changing the requirement of the thesis from approximately a 15 to 20 page paper, with 20 sources, to 35 to 50 pages, with a minimum of 40 sources. Miller said he made this change to make the history program more on par with Ivy League institutions.
Davenport added that Zalar’s resignation is not only a blow to the history department, but also the University.
“It’s a real loss that he’s gone, because he was very active in moving Pepperdine in what it means to be a Christian university of the highest academic standards,” Davenport said. “He cared and thought tremendously about what it means to be a Christian scholar — about integrating one’s faith and academic work.”
A variety of Pepperdine professors will be assuming responsibilities for Zalar’s three classes until the end of the semester. Dr. Darlene Rivas, Dr. Alexander Diener, Dr. Candice Ortbals and Dr. Bryan Givens will each teach a segment of the Lessons of 20th Century Genocide class, according to his or her specialization.
Professor Courtenay Stallings, who also teaches an introductory creative writing course, will be teaching Humanities 313.
Rivas will teach Zalar’s senior seminar class. She will also be re-assigning students who had Zalar as an advisor to different history professors.
09-25-2008