By Crystal Luong
News Assistant
A new proposal presented to the university’s Convocation committee may spark the steps toward radically changing the format of the required Convocation Series over the coming years.
“Tapping into the Potential of Convocation,” a proposal by juniors Andrew Brumme and Diana Pearson, seeks to transform Convocation into a community of small, close-knit settings.
“We really feel like Convocation is something God can really use on this campus,” Brumme said. “The format of Convo and the student attitude toward it is really stopping that from happening.”
The vision of the proposed plan suggests a “seminar-type Convocation Series” every Wednesday with three smaller, different options for students to attend instead of one mass gathering in Firestone Fieldhouse.
The plan also suggests for double credit Convocations to take place in the Fieldhouse once a month for significant programs such as Founder’s Day, and it calls for a student panel to review Convocation speakers beforehand.
Brumme and Pearson, the current Resident Advisors of B-block in the Lovernich apartments, presented the proposal to the Convocation committee March 18. Both were encouraged by the response of the committee to their proposal.
“There is a panel of people who really care about Convocation being improved and moving in a positive direction,” Pearson said. “That was really encouraging for us. They’re giving us the go ahead to talk and pray with others about it.”
According to Brumme and Pearson, the basis of the proposal is committed to holding true to the mission of the Convocation Series, which “is dedicated to help students build Christian faith, affirm Christian values, and address the moral and ethical dimensions of current issues.”
Beth Burch, the Student Government Association Convocation Chair and representative on the Convocation committee, foresees obstacles the proposal may face.
“They (committee members) are willing to help out students as much as they can, but it’s going to be really difficult,” Burch said. “It’ll take a whole cycle of students to change the overall feelings about Convo.”
Brumme anticipates logistical obstacles with the plan, including problems with adequate, separate facilities to hold the average of 1,400 students who regularly attend Wednesday morning programs. The need for an increased budget will also be a major concern, Brumme said.
Despite the challenges, Brumme and Pearson believe that changes must be made.
“The way Convo is now is not fulfilling that mission statement,” Brumme said. “We want to work with the Convo office and the administration to find a way to bring about the changes so that it can really be a place where people go spiritually.”
The proposal argues recent Convocations have reached an all-time low. “The hostility from the student body toward mass Convocation has reached such an extreme point that unless some drastic change occurs, little to no improvement can be expected,” Brumme and Pearson wrote in the proposal.
To Brumme, the administration and staff recognize this factor.
“I don’t think the administration or the Convo panel is blind to how Convo is,” Brumme said. “It doesn’t come as a surprise or a shocking statement. No one has challenged us on it yet.”
Pearson agreed with Brumme.
“That statement is our statement from personal observation. I think the way to change things is to realize that the students are disrespectful (during Convo) because they feel disrespected,” she said.
Her viewpoint is addressed in the proposal’s statement that, “Students do not feel as though their time is respected due to the existing Convocation format, the content of the messages, and the unaddressed hostile attitudes of the students attending.”
Issues of present concern to the Pepperdine community include alcoholism and eating disorders, Pearson said.
“Those are the kind of issues a smaller setting could address because in the huge Convo setting, there isn’t the ability to address the small group of people who may be hurting from it,” she said.
The idea for the proposal developed earlier this semester while Brumme and Pearson were attending Convo and noticed the number of students who weren’t paying attention or didn’t care, Pearson said.
“Wouldn’t it be great if Convocation were in smaller settings?” she said she thought to herself at the time. “The community atmosphere wouldn’t be as hostile and the students would start to gather and be excited.”
Brumme and Pearson spoke to Student Activities Coordinator and head of the Convocation committee Larisa Hamada before Spring Break about their ideas and were encouraged to go forward with them.
Pearson described the proposal as only the first of many steps toward change.
“Our proposal is a first step. We’re open to him (God) changing how this proposal is,” Pearson said. “Maybe new ideas will surface in the weeks ahead. We’re just going to be meeting and praying regularly.”
According to Brumme, they will go back to the Convocation committee with a revised, more specific proposal in the future after getting more student responses.
However, Brumme and Pearson said they would not be able to personally carry their proposal through the whole way due to their duties as the selected Head Residential Advisors for next year. They expressed hope that other students will take on leadership roles in the endeavor.
“We’re the visionaries behind it, but part of us praying is to see who God will raise up as leaders,” Brumme said. “Every student group on campus should get behind this because they can really be an integral part of changing Convo.”
“Anyone can contact us who has a heart for seeing God use Convocation in new ways,” he continued.
They also hope to continue working alongside the Convo committee for future changes.
“We’re working within the existing system with the people who are already a part of it, and supporting in whatever way we can,” Pearson said.
March 27, 2003