What is the difference between Pepperdine University and its sister schools such as Abilene Christian University and Oklahoma Christian University? By simply looking at the names of these institutions, does anything stand out?
By Jeremy Tammaro
Sports Assistant
What is the difference between Pepperdine University and its sister schools such as Abilene Christian University or Oklahoma Christian University? By simply looking at the names of the institutions, does anything stand out?
How about the word Christian?
It is not in Pepperdine University’s name, but it was apart of Pepperdine’s founder and his lifestyle, the university’s mission statement, and generations of faculty members and students who have come to this place because of its religious heritage.
If students and visitors did not know this about Pepperdine before they arrived, they most assuredly made this discovery during their time here. Pepperdine’s religious affiliation is with the Churches of Christ. However, some would say that a school without the “Christian” incorporated into its name, is not as Christian as it claims to be, or should be, according to some students from other Church of Christ sister schools. At the same time, Pepperdine is considered ultra-conservative by community members in the school’s Southern California location.
Peter Wilson, a senior religion major, transferred from Abilene Christian three years ago to join Pepperdine’s Christian singing group Won By One. During his time at ACU he heard stories about Pepperdine, and since being a member of Won By One he has also been able to put some of these fallacies to rest, such as the one that claimed Pepperdine students could drink alcohol in the student center, now known as The Sandbar.
“Just for the fact that not too many people know a lot about Pepperdine, there are a lot of rumors going around,” Wilson said. “As far as the Church of Christ people, they look at (Pepperdine) as kind of out there in our thinking. For instance, women’s role in church gets kind of blown out of proportion.”
Pepperdine’s University Church of Christ has been considered liberal by other churches for allowing women to serve communion of read scripture in service.
Wilson said some ACU students would view Pepperdine to not be on a lower spiritual level. This is contradictory to what other Pepperdine students would say about their university.
Chad Watson, a senior international business major, chose Pepperdine because of the people here.
“This place is different than all of the other colleges I have been to,” Watson said. “Before I came here I wasn’t looking for any faith, but now I am searching because of good people (I have met).”
Some of Watson’s friends warned him about the perception they attributed to his new home.
“They said I would turn into a conservative Republican Christian if I went here,” Watson said.
Truth be told, the conservative angle has been handed down to Pepperdine and the Church of Christ, from all angles, including the Los Angeles Times. In an article last May, the Times said “The president of the university and a majority of the Board of Regents are required under university bylaws to be members of the conservative Churches of Christ.” The article also referred to Pepperdine’s “strict rules,” including a ban on dancing until 1989.
This obligation can better be attributed to one man rather than the written statutes the university adopted over the years.
George Pepperdine had a vision when he established the university that still carries his name. He wanted to create an academic institution that promoted Christian values.
Campus Minister Scott Lambert remembers the late Howard A. White and his reference to “Pepperdine the experiment.”
“Can you have a strong, purposeful Christian school without a critical mass of students from one heritage or a critical mass of students with a majority actively pursuing faith?” Lambert said. “Can it have an intentional mission-minded view?”
History might argue that this possibility is not probable if the said Christian university wishes to gain a high academic reputation.
“(Most) of the schools that started out as Christian and have truly pursued higher academic achievement have let their heritage fall by the wayside,” Campus Minister Linda Truschke said. “I think that Pepperdine has been able to pursue both of those things effectively, which is really rare.”
Lambert went on to say that some of the sister schools have recognized this, and they are making changes.
“Other schools are becoming much more like Pepperdine because of our cosmopolitan makeup,” Lambert said. “We have been talking and discussing issues one generation ahead of the others.”
According to Lambert, this cosmopolitan mind view extends from the West Coast culture surrounding it, something that the sister schools cannot not duplicate.
It is in this new worldview that some Church of Christ students find themselves struggling in their early transitional period to Pepperdine.
Senior psychology major Tiffany Thompson grew up and attended church in Houston, Texas, a state recognized for its Church of Christ stronghold.
“It was very uncomfortable for me at first to go (to church) and see women serve communion, read scripture and pray,” Thompson said. “However, it didn’t change my faith.”
Where there are some who are able to come to Pepperdine and not lose their faith, others have a hard time living out the faith that they claim.
Shalen Bishop, a senior telecommunication and theater major, came here specifically because it was a Christian university and it appealed to him to share these years with Christian friends.
“I feel like this university has a good majority of Christians here,” Bishop said, “but I feel a lot more could do more with their faith. I think there are a lot of hidden Christians. There are a lot who don’t speak their faith.”
Bishop added that he recognized that it is the opportunity and duty of anyone who calls themselves a Christian to be used by God.
Alumnus Andrew Tuck considered himself to be an ignorant Christian when he came to Pepperdine, but the university’s balance drew him in anyway. His ignorance stemmed from a lack of experiences in the world outside his Christian sphere. However, as Tuck pointed out, just because Pepperdine sees itself as Christian does not mean that everyone else will lump the university into the Christian classification. Tuck grew up in a conservative Baptist home where his grandmother did not grasp the distinction between the Church of Christ and the International Church of Christ, a non-related denomination known for its cult-like practices.
“When I came to Pepperdine my extended family was a little disappointed that I did not choose a Christian school,” Tuck said. “My grandmother was afraid that I would date and marry a pagan, i.e. a Church of Christer.”
A number of prospective students still recognize Pepperdine as a Christian school, and it is for this reason that they choose not to attend.
Other students and alumni, however, note that the people they interact with don’t even make the Christian connection.
“A lot of my friends did not know that (Pepperdine) was a Christian university,” alumnus Peter Awad said. “They thought it was more like (the University of California) Santa Barbara — a beach party school.”
Awad acknowledges Pepperdine’s Christian influence and believes that the university has “definitely lived up to its claim.”
So what is this Pepperdine “Christian” University? Is it everything its Christian leader’s and Christian students desire? Some say it is what it claims to be, while others scoff at the university’s mission statement and its reference to Christ. But as one student noted in a past issue of Current’s Magazine, the giant cross on Pepperdine’s front lawn isn’t just “some artsy piece.”
November 14, 2002
