CURRY CHANDLER
Assistant News Editor
Within Pepperdine’s student body, 21.8 percent of students cite the Churches of Christ as their “religious preference.” As members of the university’s strongest denominational link, Church of Christ students can be seen as privileged by non-members.
Finding a school with a Christian mission was a critical factor for junior Anthony Casciano when he was applying to colleges.
“Not necessarily denominationally speaking, but a Christian school was important to me,” said Casciano, a junior international relations major. “The fact that it was a faith-based academic community, that was very important when I was applying to schools.”
Casciano only applied to Christian schools and finally decided on Pepperdine. He was brought up in a Church of Christ congregation in upstate New York. While a member of that particular church Casciano was active in leadership and traveled on several missions trips.
Although Pepperdine is affiliated with the Churches of Christ, Church of Christ members have historically held a slim plurality within the undergraduate student body. Last year, for example, Church of Christ was the largest declared denomination at Seaver followed by Roman Catholics.
Pepperdine does not have a contractual “statement of faith” that faculty members and students are required to sign. People seeking a faculty position within Seaver College must write an essay reflecting on the university’s mission statement and how it corresponds to them personally. The percentage of Seaver faculty who are affiliated with the Churches of Christ has seen some decline recently, according to university officials.
University administrators were quick to emphasize that such a decline is not indicative of an ideological shift, with President Andrew K. Benton referring to the “ebb and flow” of the academic recruitment process.
“My reference to “ebb and flow” was a casual way of saying that to measure this issue fairly it must be viewed over time and in context,” Benton wrote in an e-mail. “We strive to make progress every year, but we want to observe progress on several fronts. Diversity, gender, academic discipline, experience and so forth are also important to us in addition to mission fit and, to be more specific, to maintaining a strong group of coreligionists from Churches of Christ.”
Some students say the diversity is welcome, but not always tranquil.
“There appears to be a generally-held belief that every Church of Christ student here is under qualified and is just here because they’re Church of Christ and that they’re getting a full ride,” said Austin Maness, a junior whose religious heritage includes time spent in Methodist congregations as well as the Churches of Christ in Tennessee. “That’s far from the case. Many of us are here on our own merits and have very little funding for being Church of Christ.”
This year approximately 480 Seaver students are receiving some sort of scholarship available only to Church of Christ students, amounting to around $9.5 million in aid, according to the office of Financial Assistance. Pepperdine offers several Church of Christ-oriented scholarships, such as the President’s Scholarship and the Associated Women for Pepperdine scholarship.
Even though Maness, who is also an SLA, said he has felt negative attitudes toward the Church of Christ denomination in the past, he maintains that he has never felt personally offended.
“I think it’s the nature, when you have a religious institution that has some sort of affiliation with a denomination, for the members who are not of that denomination to feel some sort of resentment merely because it’s different to them and not necessarily because there is anything wrong with the denomination,” he said.
Other students say this connection between the Pepperdine power structure and the Churches of Christ is what makes it possible for Church of Christ members to be distinguished, without oppressing non-members.
“I think [Church of Christ students] get preferential treatment in terms of the admission process and with scholarship money,” said Catherine Whittinghill, a junior English lit major who was raised Episcopalian but now considers herself a nondenominational Christian. “I do, however, completely support the university’s right to give preferential treatment to Church of Christ kids, because this university is Church of Christ and it’s a private school, so they can do whatever they want.”
Whittinghill said she has participated in various Church of Christ events at Pepperdine and found each one fulfilling. She also cautioned against allowing the concept of a negative attitude towards Church of Christ students to become overblown.
“People who are not Church of Christ kids look at those students as being their own separate group,” she said. “[The Churches of Christ] are the only religious group that strongly identifies themselves as something different than anything else. And that is their prerogative.”
Casciano also said he didn’t give the negative perceptions much thought.
“Students view it as a positive aspect of our community and they’re showing that by their attendance and participation in campus life activities,” he said. “We all chose to come here, we all pay tuition each year. If someone was really bothered by [denominational differences] then they wouldn’t go to school here.”
10-05-2006