“From its beginning,” the Pepperdine Convocation website writes, “Pepperdine has included regular assemblies where students gather to grow in faith, hear engaging speakers and learn more about how they can make a difference in this world through purpose, service and leadership.”
Claiming to be the “contemporary connection” to the “integral aspect of Pepperdine’s Christian mission,” Convocation attendance factors into one half-unit of academic credit each semester. In theory, this sounds great, but this type of implementation comes with a host of side effects.
According to the Convocation website, there are “120 alternative events, 75 club convos, spiritual mentoring and 14 Wednesday Chapels are offered each semester approximately.”
I have attended a film screening, sex IQ events that educate on STDs, concerts and a host of other events completely unrelated to the aim of “growing in faith” and/or “purpose, service, and leadership.”
Though it was a fantastic way of getting me to venture outside of the library, the variety of Convocations available does not cater to campus solidarity. Though a handful of the events catered loosely to the theme of the designated year, the Convocation series provides more events so that students can fulfill their credits, rather than fulfilling its claimed goals to spiritual enrichment.
In addition, factoring Convocation credit into GPA cheapens the GPA. There is not a single professor who cares about his or her profession that will grade on attendance alone. If simply showing up to class warranted the grade of an “A,” then Pepperdine would not be nationally ranked or worthy of my time. “But it is only half a credit,” you might say. Precisely. Half a credit is a lot when you care about your education. Furthermore, there is something to be said about placing eager speakers in rooms of generally uninterested and potentially disengaged students.
The same goes for students who attend an event out of interest. He or she may risk not getting into the event because of students eager to fulfill credit. Even if he or she gets in, it is potentially insulting for the speaker to speak to a room of attendees using the time of the speaker for credit. As a speaker, I would find that rather insulting.
I am not suggesting for removing Convocation as a whole. It has forced me to consider events that have interesting platforms and delightful speakers. I simply have a problem with it being marketed as a means of Spiritual enrichment. If one truly believes that Convocation currently “deepen[s] students’ relationship with Christ or understanding of Christianity, build[s] relationship with others or develop[s] a strong connection between their faith and a current moral or ethical issue,” then one must think that Christianity can be frequently watered down to sexual advice, presentation of service projects, and occasional right-winged banter on controversial social issues. While those things contain valid arguments and perspectives worth exploring, it does not fulfill the goal of Convocation to spiritually enlighten. On a campus where the words “purpose, service, and leadership” are thrown around far too liberally — to the point where it is desensitized and applied to any event vaguely surrounding a philosophical question — it is all the more important that Convocation maintains a degree of focus.
__________
Follow Justina Huang on Twitter: @huanderwoman
