Dean of Libraries Mark Roosa, the new interim director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. Roosa now reports to both the Provost and Advancement across his two roles. Photo courtesy of Pepperdine University
Less than a week after the University and former Museum Director Andrea Gyorody “mutually agreed” for Gyorody to step down, Pepperdine has named her replacement.
Lauren Cosentino, vice president for Advancement and chief development officer, announced the appointment of Dean of Libraries Mark Roosa as the new interim director for the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art in an Oct. 29 email to the Pepperdine community. The news comes three weeks after Cosentino shut down the Museum’s “Hold My Hand in Yours” exhibition after over a dozen artists withdrew due to Advancement censoring two pieces of art.
“We’re very excited to imagine the possibilities for the future, for new ways to collaborate across the University,” Roosa said. “Libraries and museums have an awful lot in common, and this is a great opportunity for us to forge a new direction and create an exciting place on campus for our community.”
Roosa will continue to serve as dean of libraries, where he reports to Provost Jay Brewster, a University spokesperson told the Graphic. In that role, which Roosa has held since 2004, he has overseen several art exhibitions and lectures, including in the gallery space on the second floor of Payson Library. Prior to Pepperdine, Roosa was the director for preservation at the Library of Congress, according to the Oct. 29 announcement email.
Art Professor Ty Pownall said the Fine Arts Division plans to work with Roosa “as much as possible” to do what’s best for their students.
“We’ve had a long relationship with Mark working in the library on art exhibitions and lectures, and I hope that continues in a productive way,” Pownall said.
A University spokesperson said Roosa was unavailable for an interview. Through an emailed statement the spokesperson sent to the Graphic, Roosa said more details about the Museum’s upcoming exhibitions and programs would be shared in the coming months. The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts, which the Museum is structured under, will continue to report to Advancement.
The Weisman Museum lies barren Oct. 29. It remains closed, but Museum attendants have continued working their shifts. Photo by Melissa Houston
Cosentino announced Roosa’s appointment minutes before this semester’s All Seaver Meeting, a regular meeting that includes all Seaver faculty and staff. Seaver Dean Lee Kats led the meeting, which included discussion of the recent Weisman censorship controversy, among other agenda items planned weeks in advance, Religion and Sustainability Professor Chris Doran said.
Doran, who serves as the president of the Seaver Faculty Senate (SFS) and Seaver Faculty Association (SFA), said he held a dialogue with Kats about the Weisman at the meeting.
“My primary goal at this point is to see to it that faculty and students have any necessary resources to complete learning/teaching and research objectives that might otherwise have been accomplished via the previous exhibit,” Kats wrote in an Oct. 30 email to the Graphic.
At the All Seaver Meeting, Doran said Kats also spoke about Pepperdine’s drop in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, including how the Weisman controversy could affect the University’s future rankings. Several faculty Doran has spoken to believe the peer assessment factor in the rankings, which constitute 20% of the calculation, will be impacted by the Weisman censorship. Some faculty told Doran they had been asked about the controversy in specific detail at recent conferences, including non-art ones.
“I’m hearing from faculty who are going to meetings and talking to colleagues in other parts of the nation where this is the first thing that they’re asking about,” Doran said.
The SFS has distributed to faculty for a vote a statement condemning the censorship of the Weisman exhibit. The period for voting and comment will close Nov. 14.
During the All Seaver Meeting, a small protest planned by senior Art major Grace Bidewell and senior Art History major Sam Backus was held on top of the Black Family Plaza Classrooms (BPC). The students planned to protest directly in front of Elkins Auditorium, according to previous Graphic reporting, but met at the nearby area after the 2025 Pepperdine Honors event was held at their planned location.
Neither Bidewell nor Backus attended the protest, which was only advertised through word-of-mouth and an Oct. 24 email Backus sent to some students. Roughly a half-dozen students came to the morning protest, and some said they were initially confused about whether it was still planned due to a lack of concrete information beforehand.
Doug Hurley, associate dean of Student Affairs, chats with a professor visiting the small censorship protest above the Black Family Plaza Classrooms on Oct. 29. More faculty stopped by the protest than students. Photo by Melissa Houston
Seaver faculty across different divisions stopped by the protest, which several Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers and vehicles surrounded. Doug Hurley and Brittany Skinner, associate deans of Student Affairs, and Maura Page, director of Residence Life, were also present. Hurley said he was there to support students and the right to free speech.
Junior Art major Adri Sahakian, a former Graphic staff writer, said she came to the protest to show support for the Art program and faculty at Pepperdine. The “Hold My Hand in Yours” exhibition was her favorite she had seen at the Weisman.
“Art is supposed to lead into discussion and it’s supposed to talk about what’s going on in the world,” Sahakian said. “You’re not really supposed to censor art because it’s how the artist perceives the world and what they want to bring to the table. And so censoring that is kind of silencing their voice, basically.”
Junior Art History major Skylar Jennings said the controversy was “an embarrassment to the University” and asked if Pepperdine wanted to be known for censoring artwork.
“It’s not fair to pull a work for being too political after making an appearance on Fox News,” Jennings said. “That just doesn’t make any sense. You can’t call anything you don’t like ‘too political’ and pull it for that reason alone.”
First-year Art major Jennifer Velazquez said the censorship made her more likely to transfer out of Pepperdine.
“If this had happened last year, I would not have chosen this school,” Velazquez said.
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