Pepperdine athletes, coaches and faculty weigh in on the place of religion and faith in the world of collegiate sports.
By Josh Fleer
Sports Assistant
Nearly every year, when Marv Dunphy, head coach of the men’s volleyball team, asks his PE 410 class for ideas to promote athletics, Convocation credit for attending games comes up.
“I always tell them, ‘That’s what makes us unique,’” said Dunphy. “I hope that’s something that never changes.”
It is in this unique setting of Pepperdine’s campus that the Christian mission of the school merges with the collegiate athletic program. As a school that is committed to Christianity with an affiliation to the Church of Christ, the university seeks to act out the faith it proclaims through religious studies, a campus church, the newly established Center for Faith and Learning and other campus events such as Convocation. In this same setting, Pepperdine offers a competitive varsity athletic program, which has committed to compete at the highest collegiate level, Division I-A.
“What one understands to be Christian mission extends throughout every dimension of the university; in the curriculum as well as the co-curriculum in service, purpose and meaning,” said Dr. David Baird, dean of Seaver College and elder of the University Church of Christ. “The University provides intellectual training as well as opportunities for leadership. I think leadership opportunities range from campus ministry to the Greek system to volunteering to athletics.
“Athletics are very much a part of the academic institution. I don’t see it as any different than that of the classroom as far as a Christian mission.”
The athletic programs give athletes the opportunity to extend the Christian mission to sports as well.
“I don’t think that if you are a Christian that anything in life should be separated from who you are,” said men’s basketball Head Coach Paul Westphal, who came to Pepperdine in part because of its responsiveness toward the Christian faith. “As a Christian you grow where you’re planted.
“Christianity affects me in everything I do, who I am, how I view the world,” said the former NBA player and coach. “Basketball is basketball. I just try to approach the game for what it is…I’ve been gifted in basketball. I like basketball and there are a lot of relationships that I’ve been able to develop through basketball that I may not have had the opportunity to develop any other way. I hope that I can be beneficial to someone else’s life through basketball.”
Sports potentially provide another avenue for a Christian to invest in another’s life, and they can also provide a way to use God-given talents.
“Young men and young women who strive for the Christian mission manifest it in athletics,” said Baird. “Personal excellence is a way to honor the God who created us all. All things come from God; everything we are able to do is a gift from God.”
While Pepperdine’s athletic programs provide a possible outlet for those attracted to sports to express their faith, those at Pepperdine recognize the significant difference between the sports they love and Christian faith.
“English is English. Biology is biology. Sport is sport. And faith is faith,” said Dunphy, men’s volleyball head coach and professor of physical education. “Faith and family are with you all the time. Sometimes you’ll play sports. Some things are more important than volleyball.”
Although sports at Pepperdine do have their undisputed benefits, Dr. Robin Perrin, professor of sociology and social science, wonders if these benefits are that much different from secular goals.
“I’m a sports fan,” said Perrin, who is a member of the University Church of Christ. “It does a lot for the university, but it does the same for UCLA. It gives the campus community something to rally around, school spirit, entertainment. But those are not Christian- related goals.
“I think we should have (an athletics program). But the value for us wouldn’t be any different from a state school. We could try to conjure up something, but that would be a bit post hoc.”
Sport can even create for the athlete situations in direct opposition to the Christian mission.
“Being an athlete has presented some challenges in my faith,” said sophomore women’s golfer Courtney Clark. “Yes, it is very difficult to balance time with God and time for golf and academics.
“Although I do not regularly go to church on Sunday mornings, there is a way around it,” said Clark, who attends weekday Christian fellowships including the athlete sponsored GOAL on Wednesday nights. “This University is amazing in its ability to give the student population plenty of opportunities to find out who God is. And, if a student-athlete is willing to put in the extra effort to clear their schedule for those opportunities, their lives will be enriched.”
While the consensus seems to be that athletics are by no means necessary to maintain Christian higher education and though the impact of sport on Christianity leaves a lot to be desired, Pepperdine’s Christian mission has impacted its athletic programs.
“Everyone here would like to see the volleyball team win matches and be good, and at the same time done the right way,” said Dunphy. “We compete, win and lose, with class and dignity. It’s not the case here that we win at all costs … Some schools bend the rules; we see it in the newspaper all the time.”
Dr. John Watson, Pepperdine’s athletic director, has made a determined effort to make Pepperdine distinct from secular athletic programs. He emphasized that athletics need to be in direct harmony with Pepperdine’s Christian mission. He explained his deliberate effort to bring the two into harmony have influenced his departmental decisions from the coaches he has hired to creating a strong ethical code within the sports programs.
“We hire coaches that develop the athlete and the human, who are in fact quality teachers of life,” said Watson. “Our coaches will sit down and talk about issues.
“I walked into the training room, and our trainers were talking about ethics and decision making in light of the Kobe Bryant case. Those kind of things allow us to be distinctive.”
The athletic department makes sure the student-athletes understand they are a part of Pepperdine’s Christian mission, coaches share and model the Christian mission, and the Athletic Department encourages their student-athletes not to put their spiritual heritage “on the backburner.”
“You’d have to have your head in the sand if you weren’t aware of the history of this institution,” said Dunphy.
October 30, 2003