Pepperdine is hosting a Year Two Kickoff event for all sophomore and transfer students Aug. 20-26. The event will be an opportunity for students to connect with other students and get acquainted with campus. Photo Courtesy of Pepperdine Student Activities
Pepperdine plans to host a Year Two Kickoff Event for all incoming sophomore and second-year transfer students Aug. 20-26. Pepperdine’s vision for the week-long event is to help new students get acquainted with campus and meet other students in their class after completing their first year online, Director of Student Activities Brittany Skinner said.
“The current new students really missed out because of COVID-19 on a really special, unique Pepperdine tradition of going through orientation,” Skinner said. “It’s so important to us, and such a cornerstone of who we are as a community, to provide the opportunity to experience the first glimpse of the Pepperdine community.”
The event is optional, but highly encouraged, Skinner said. The deadline to register is Thursday, July 1, at 11:59 p.m., PDT.
The event will consist of three and a half days at the Malibu campus where students will meet other students, learn the layout of campus and get acquainted with Malibu. The remaining three and a half days will take place off-campus at Forest Homes Christian Camp in San Bernardino, Calif., from Aug. 23-26.
This portion of the week will replace the typical off-campus bonding event that Housing and Residence Life hosts second-year students. The finalized schedule will be available the first week of August.
“We’re blending it [the two events] into one, week-long program,” Skinner said. “We’re really excited and think it’ll be really special.”
Students participating in this event will move into their housing assignments Aug. 20, and will stay there until the fall semester begins Aug. 30. Students studying abroad for the fall semester are welcome to attend and will go home after the event, before they leave to go abroad.
The cost per student for the week is $1,500. If students register by June 1, they will receive a $250 discount. The cost includes meals, lodging, excursions and Pepperdine gear. There will be an application for students to fill out if they need financial support to attend the event, and the deadline to fill out the financial support application is June 21.
“We want this to be an accessible program for any year two students that want to attend,” Skinner said.
Parents of year two students will receive invitations to attend the first two days of the event in Malibu, from Aug. 20-21. The cost for parents is $75 per person which includes meals, programming and Pepperdine gear.
Parents will help students move in, meet other families and attend events like the President’s Welcome. Skinner said it won’t be as long as the typical orientation for parents to attend, but that is because they assumed parents watched the portion of New Student Orientation on Zoom last summer with their students.
Devin Cooke, a current first-year at Pepperdine, said he is excited for the event because he didn’t feel like he learned very much from the virtual NSO.
“I really want to get what I felt that I missed throughout the virtual year,” current first-year Devin Cooke said. “I want to be able to experience the spirit of Pepperdine and see what Pepperdine in-person has to offer, rather than through the computer screen.”
Maci Brown, a current first-year student, already registered for the event, and said she is looking forward to bonding with other first-year students.
“I’m excited to move in early and meet people in person that I’ve been friends with online for the past year,” Brown said.
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Contact Abby Wilt via Twitter: @abby_wilt or by email abby.wilt@pepperdine.edu
