“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden,” President Jim Gash said at the 2024 Malibu Reception. Gash said this is a quote pulled from Matthew 5:14, which is Pepperdine’s 2024 theme verse and encapsulates what the university is all about.
The annual Malibu Reception returned to the Pepperdine campus on April 5, from 8 a.m., to 3:30 p.m., as “Pepperdine’s largest day for admitted students around the nation,” according to the Seaver College website. Faculty and students welcomed over 800 prospective students, as well as parents and siblings of these students, to different locations across the Malibu campus.
The Malibu Reception opened with the President’s Breakfast in the Light House, welcoming students that are members of the Churches of Christ and Regent Scholars. Students were offered a complimentary breakfast and given the opportunity to converse with other admitted students and members of different Pepperdine boards.
Student representatives for the Pepperdine Ambassadors Council were also present, giving advice to admitted students and expressing their own answers to the age-old question, “Why Pepperdine?”
“There’s so much community waiting for you if you just go and look for it,” said Avery Vasquez, a junior representative for PAC.
Welcoming Remarks
After the mingling hour concluded, several speakers, including Gash, articulated the significance of Pepperdine’s academic and faith values in his welcome speech.
“What I would love for them [admitted students] to understand is Pepperdine’s community,” Gash said. “That they’re going to be strengthened to be men and women who are leaders but, more than anything, to feel that they learn here that God loves them and has got a purpose for them.”
Soon after Gash’s welcome, Won By One, a traveling a cappella group made up of Pepperdine undergraduate students that represent the university, performed before the admitted students and their families as they were ushered toward Firestone Fieldhouse for the official welcome session.
The welcome session started with Pepperdine and admitted students trivia followed by a welcome from Tim Spivey, vice president for Spiritual Life, in which he introduced Celebration Chapel, a student-led worship collective.
Celebration Chapel is one of the eight student-led ministries offered on Pepperdine’s campus. It meets nine times per semester on Wednesdays at 10 a.m., and functions as one of the chapel requirements for first and second-year students.
Like many other ministries on campus, Celebration Chapel is entirely led and coordinated by students, and those involved said it offers many opportunities for growth.
“In a leadership setting, it’s helped me to be intentional about thinking about the people who we’re serving,” said Julia Jung, a junior on the Celebration Chapel worship team.
Along with the eight student-led ministries, there are countless church services held on and off campus. These ministries support students from different backgrounds, offering something for people from many different streams of Christianity, Spivey said.
“It [campus spiritual life] provides them [students] an opportunity to connect with God first but also with fellow students who share the same mission in their life,” Spivey said.
Students were directed toward main campus after the welcome ceremony. For lunch, In-N-Out food trucks were located at the Smothers Theatre Parking Lot and Stauffer Chapel Parking Lot.
Admitted students and their families received complimentary burgers as the Campus Resources Fair and other panels began.
Student Resources
Originally planned to be held in Lower Mullin Town Square, the Campus Resources Fair had to promptly move to the Weisman Museum due to weather. With winds at 20 mph and gusts at up to 33 mph, students and faculty welcomed the transition.
The Campus Resources Fair presented tables for each department manned by faculty and current students that have been involved in their department.
This fair served as an opportunity for each Pepperdine department to provide admitted students with information regarding academic inquiries and answer questions about divisional communities, said Stella Erbes, dean of the Humanities and Teacher Education Division.
With the recent announcement of the General Education curriculum change, many departments are unsure of what their student base will look like going forward. Erbes said this curriculum change is a benefit for incoming students.
“One of the reasons for the new GE is to support students with their learning by giving them choice,” Erbes said. “We don’t know what that will yield.”
Community Engagement
After the Campus Resources Fair, the Student Life Fair was held in Lower Mullin Town Square, which showcased many clubs, cultural organizations and fraternity and sorority groups offered at Pepperdine.
The Middle Eastern Student Association tabled at the Malibu Reception’s Student Life Fair for the first time as the organization began recently in the 2024 Spring semester.
The representation of cultural clubs at the Malibu Reception allows admitted students to connect over shared experiences, said senior MESA Founder Melanie Tadros.
“Being a new organization, our primary mission this semester has been to increase attendance, increase engagement and make our club known,” Tadros said.
Along with all of Pepperdine’s clubs, organizations and small groups, MESA encourages inclusion and celebration of different experiences.
A core purpose of MESA is “to have it be known that, whether you’re Middle Eastern or not, everyone is welcome to come and enjoy how delightful it is to be in our culture,” Tadros said.
The Tailgate was the last event offered for students at Upper Mullin Town Square. This year also marked the first time it was offered at the Malibu Reception.
With games, treats and the raffle of a $500 scholarship, the Tailgate was a successful end to the 2024 Malibu Reception. Willie the Wave made an appearance, taking photos with admitted students, who left more excited than they came, said Aoife Brennan, a freshly committed student.
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Contact Sadie Lovett via email: sadie.lovett@pepperdine.edu
