The President’s Briefing will take place Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8:45 a.m. View the meeting here. See live updates below. Refresh page for most recent update.
9:47: Bell’s prayer finishes. Meeting is adjourned.
9:45: Sierra Bell leads the group in closing prayer, thanks God for “trusting us to be stewards of our love” and asks for us to understand our “duty within the community.” Bell also asks God for the community to stand out as agents change.
9:43: Another member of the crowd introduces Jim Barett, a new addition to the Pepperdine Community.
9:41: Chief of Public Safety Britta Steinbrenner answers Gash’s question. Steinbrenner introduces several new additions to the Department of Public Safety.
9:41 Gash opens the conversation to the crowd, says “who has someone new with them.”
9:40: Gash notes that February is Black History Month and says offerings surrounding the month are accessible on the Pepperdine website.
9:39: Gash recognizes athletic accomplishments of Men’s Tennis, Men’s Golf and Men’s Volleyball.
9:38: Gash speaks on attending “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” a student production at Smothers theater, and the upcoming “Telling Truth Through Dance” performance this weekend, and return of Opera at the theater in late February.
9:37: Gash takes the podium once more and thanks the group for their participation and comments.
9:37: Brewster thanks Amaro and Kownatzki and the three take their seats in the crowd.
9:36: Amaro said she has enjoyed getting to know fellow faculty, while also being exposed to different theological, academic and political views at the dinners.
9:33: Kownatzki said he was able to travel to Argentina to meet professors from other institutions this summer. He says he was initially afraid because he had little knowledge of them, however he found that there were more commonalities than differences. This caused him to seek out more opportunities like this, such as the dialogue dinners. Kownatzki says he is impressed by Gash’s vision to start these dinners and conversations.
9:33: Brewster asks the two faculty members about the dinners.
9:29: Amaro said this also applies to educators, and how they bring up the next generation.
9:27: Amaro said that especially for her research, which surrounds parents using social media to inform decisions, social media can have an effect. Amaro said when we perceive the decision as crucial, we lose our ability to rationally process things, causing us to heuristically react to things posted on social media. This includes reactions to certain headlines.
9:26: Brewster asks Amaro about her scholarly findings within the context of the social media age.
9:23: Kownatzki says his research can be summed up in one simple statement: “Fear is overpriced.” The worst time to get earthquake insurance is after an earthquake; the worst time to get flood insurance is after a flood. Fear motivates expensive economic cost. He notes how this is the most anticipated recession in recent memory, and that this impacts prices because of the fear of recession. He notes that because of this, there is a lower interest rate, causing less prudent investment conditions. Overall, Kownatzki notes the effect fear has on economic health as a whole.
9:22: Brewster asks Kownatzki about his scholarly findings within the context of our current socio-political situation.
9:18: Brewster begins the conversation by asking what compelled them to work at Pepperdine.
9:18: Kownatzki and Amaro come up to the front and sit down with Brewster for a conversation.
9:15: Brewster introduces Kownatzki and Amaro, speaking on their previous academic achievements and fields of study.
9:13: Brewster speaks on the value of civil disagreement in an academic environment.
“It’s such a fun part of academic inquiry,” Brewster said.
He also thanked specific individuals that helped make the dialogue dinners possible.
9:11: Gash invites Provost Jay Brewster to introduce Clemens Kownatzki and Lauren Amaro up to speak, two voluntary participants in the dialogue dinners mentioned at 9:03.
9:08: Gash discusses the School of Public Policy and their newfound initiatives on public discourse.
9:07: Gash speaks on the law school and their emphasis on training police officers in conflict resolution.
9:06: Gash speaks of efforts to bring this intellectual inquiry emphasis to Seaver, through both professor workshops and a new GE to focus on “reasoning.”
9:03: Gash speaks on dialogue dinners — a program where faculty commit to four preceding events and possible reading, before sitting down for dinner and discussion on a complex topic currently facing the community. Gash said this is just one of several University initiatives that hope to have discussions on current topics while steering away from “hyper-partisanship.”
9:00: Gash acknowledges the Board of Regents and the discussions they have had about Pepperdine’s individual schools. He said they discussed the school’s challenges, successes and “strategic plans” for future success.
8:58: Gash emphasizes the importance of investigating truth while honoring those around you and the pursuit of truth through a Biblical lens.
8:55: Gash remembers and mourns the passing of Joella Michael, director of operations for Church Relations, and Professor Ted McAllister, who both have passed recently.
8:48: Dean of Graziadio Deborah Crown leads a devotional about finding God as a source of security, serenity and comfort.
8:48: Gash notes this meeting will surround themes of a “culture of public inquiry and discourse.”
8:46: President Jim Gash welcomes faculty, staff and students to the briefing.
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Contact Max Pohlenz via email maximilian.pohlenz@pepperdine.edu
