A design mockup of the Mountain at Mullin Park shows a new student recreation center and arena replacing the Rho parking lot and part of the Greek housing on Malibu campus. The mockup, shown at the Oct. 6 President’s Briefing, depicted one of several capital projects coming in the near future due to the Advancement team’s efforts. Photo courtesy of the Oct. 6 President’s Briefing
Students can expect to see new construction projects popping up around Malibu campus as Pepperdine’s Advancement Office continues to raise funds for University goals and student opportunities.
The latest projects in the works include new scoreboards for the soccer field and baseball stadium, a clubhouse for the Men’s Golf team and continued construction for the overall creation of The Mountain.
Advancement’s job is to shine a light on every corner of Pepperdine and all the good that is going on and invite others to join us and to help enable good things to happen,” Cosentino said.
The Mountain
The Mountain — the new student recreation and event center planned to go up in Rho — is at the design stage, according to an Oct. 6 President’s Briefing.
“That will be a game changer for this campus for how Pepperdine is able to host students and hold events,” Cosentino said.
The center will include dining spaces and an arena for Division 1 sports and large indoor events, along with a building for the RISE project, Chief Operations Officer Phil Phillips said during the Oct. 6 President’s Briefing.
The RISE building will hold personal fitness rooms and other spaces for student development, Phillips said during the briefing.
A mockup of the Mountain at Mullin Park shows an open plaza and surrounding buildings. The Mountain should be fully funded by 2026, Chief Advancement Officer Lauren Cosentino said. Photo courtesy of the Oct. 6 President’s Briefing
“We’re so excited about [the RISE building], and we have donors who are specifically very interested in the RISE project,” Cosentino said.
The Mountain will be fully funded by 2026, Cosentino said, two years earlier than predicted in spring 2021.
The Chateau d’Hauteville
Pepperdine purchased the Chateau d’Hauteville in 2018 to replace the Maison du Lac in Lausanne, Switzerland, as the International Program house.
“It is astounding that Pepperdine has that property,” Cosentino said. “It is putting us on the world stage in a whole new way with our IPs.”
The chateau will open fall 2023 for student use, Cosentino said. The castle will also host conferences and graduate programs upon opening.
Athletic Improvements
Pepperdine Athletics works in conjuncture with the Advancement Office with special athletics advancement staff to provide fundraising initiatives for the department, Cosentino said.
“[The Advancement office] is there, embedded down there in Heritage Hall with the coaches and the teams and the students and the AD [Athletic Director], and we’re just in constant communication,” Cosentino said.
One of the more recent initiatives was a tailgate for the Women’s Soccer team prior to the match against Saint Mary’s on Oct. 23, as an opportunity to engage with students, staff and donors, Cosentino said.
“We want to remind our community and put it out there that this school has 10 national championships with NCAA Division 1,” Cosentino said. “For our size, that is unbelievable. That is a story to behold.”
The latest national championship came this past summer from the Men’s Golf team in June. Now, the University is improving the team’s resources on campus, updating Alumni Park to build a clubhouse for the golfers.
The project will face challenges due to the location, Cosentino said, and adding amenities will be a complicated process.
“As you can imagine, that spot right there has lots of regulatory issues, and there’s no electric, no septic, no water, no gas, nothing,” Cosentino said. “But that’s the goal. It’ll give them an impactful, beautiful place to practice right here, where they don’t have to drive 35 minutes to get to a golf course.”
Other new features coming for athletics include new scoreboards for the Men’s Baseball and Women’s Soccer Teams on the Eddie D. Field Baseball Stadium and Tari Frahm Rokus Field, respectively.
In addition to teams using the scoreboards, the University plans for students and other groups to employ the devices as well.
“We’ll be able to have concerts and Movies-in-the-Park night things — it’ll be like a ‘Friday Night Lights’ experience,” Cosentino said.
The scoreboards are almost fully funded, Cosentino said, and should be in place by the end of the academic year barring any supply chain or other logistical issues.
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Contact Ashley Mowreader via Twitter (@amowreader) or by email: ashley.mowreader@pepperdine.edu
