On Nov. 2, Pepperdine University hosted the monthly President’s Briefing.
At the briefing, administration interviewed students, faculty and staff and discussed University updates ranging from construction to upcoming events.
“I believe that our work here at Pepperdine is wholesome and noble,” said Tomas Bogardus, associate professor of Religion and Philosophy. “And when we do it well, we are literally co-laboring with God. And I think that’s enough.”
At the briefing, Bogardus led the devotional, encouraging the community to “preach the word” and resist the temptation to avoid hard conversations.
First-year Isabelle Titzer led worship with a performance of “How Great Thou Art.”
President Jim Gash interviewed Able Kusaloka, a Graziadio student about his journey from Zambia, to Texas, to Ouachita Baptist, to Pepperdine for graduate school.
“I’m a very big believer that God can move mountains, even if you don’t want him to he’s still gonna move whether you like it or not,” Kusaloka said.
Provost Jay Brewster interviewed Kiron Skinner, Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at the School of Public Policy. Brewster interviewed Skinner about her time at various universities including Spellman and Harvard, her interest in international relations and data collection.
Nicolle Taylor, vice president and chief business officer, interviewed Assistant Vice President Ricky Eldridge, who oversees regulatory affairs, the Center for Sustainability and public safety. Taylor interviewed Eldridge on how he came to Pepperdine and his day-to-day responsibilities.
Mountain Construction Begins Next Semester
In the briefing, Chief Operating Officer Phil Phillips provided construction updates.
Phillips showed the construction of the new parking lot, explaining the different ingress and egress areas, and said it will allow athletic buses to come through.
Phillips said the parking lot will have 300 spots, 200 of which are a net gain, and 19 electric charging stations. Phillips said the University wants to “ideally” start parking there at the end of January, though he said the project will not be fully completed by then.
With the removal of the storage containers, Phillips said the University will gain 270 spaces.
Next semester, Phillips said, the Mountain project will begin. At the height of construction, Phillips said it will take away fewer than 200 parking spaces.
Phillips said construction for the Mountain will begin with smaller areas of Rho cordoned off and trenching for an electrical line. Starting summer 2023, Towers Road and eventually Towers parking lot will be closed. Residents will use Res Road to access Towers into the fall 2023 semester, Phillips said.
“We’re going to be flexible and evolve as we need to,” Phillips said.
Phillips said he set a completion date of the base work to be summer 2024. After that, Pepperdine will begin construction on the Mountain.
Conclusion
Gash also announced the Violence Project in Elkins at 5 p.m. Nov. 2, the SPP quest for community conference, “Into the Woods,” the Fall Christmas Concert on Dec. 1, upcoming athletic events and the December quarterly board meeting.
The briefing concluded with new employee introductions.
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Contact Samantha Torre via Twitter (@Sam_t394) or email: sam.torre@pepperdine.edu
