Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
When I’m at home, I like to go on long walks to clear my head. One of those walks takes me through a church parking lot that, at its exit, has a sign that shows an outline-map of the world and reads: Now entering the Mission Field.
Even though Pepperdine isn’t a church, the sign brings to mind an important question: How should an institution of higher education, especially a Christian one, interact with the world outside of it?
To be a Christian university is to be a participant in a complicated history and, from my point of view, a difficult future. Uncertain times of political and social tension call for tactful methods, though—and some of Pepperdine’s recent endeavors are hardly tactful.
Our yearly themes serve as a good example of this. Ever since I learned that we would be putting Freedom in giant letters on the several walls around campus and on banners that adorn the drive up, I got a feeling that it was disingenuous. If Light felt definitionally “holier-than-thou,” Freedom feels like political grandstanding at its most pointed.
Of course, those are both Biblical themes, tied to scriptural verses. Their connection to the Bible appears almost translucent — why, instead of something akin to unity or understanding, both of which are undeniably Christian, was a word as politically charged as “Freedom” chosen during a time as flush with dissent as an election year?
It isn’t as if I’m drawing a connection between Pepperdine and politics out of thin air.
For instance, President Jim Gash appeared multiple times on Fox News last year. To me, that felt as if he was overstepping a line drawn by prudence: As a president of a university, aligning one’s self with an organization infamous for its bias may unnecessarily alienate several students in a way that could easily be avoided.
Additionally, President Gash wrote in a Newsweek article, “Colleges must take an active role in nurturing students’ understanding of and appreciation for foundational American values.”
I find this strange, coming from the president of a Christian university. Would it not be more appropriate for us to foster an appreciation of scholarly Christian values?
To be clear, my worry lies with the side effects of these publicity strategies. While disagreement around politics is inevitable, I feel our president’s place isn’t to cut new divisions. Where he says something, how he says it and what he says all reflect on Pepperdine’s students and our degrees.
It is, I believe, in the best interest of our university and our student body for Pepperdine and its leaders to not attempt to appeal to any political side, left or right. In fact, I think it would be wise for Pepperdine to, for a time, begin to prioritize its scholastic foundation.
This is because, politics, just like religious beliefs and academic interests, are value-giving and behavior-directing. Since they’re all value-giving, they often interfere with the other’s goals.
To argue that someone cannot hold political, religious and academic motivations all at the same time, though, would be silly of me. To find a person without all three at a university would be next to impossible.
Usually, one cannot be motivated by all three equally — generally, people have a single motivation that is stronger than the rest.
I think it’s fair to say schools work similarly. Resources being limited, a school that prioritizes academics will have less to put toward other ventures, including religious or political ones.
It should seem generally weird, then, when our university decides to put its resources toward political or unnecessarily extravagant expenses.
For example, the invitation of Palmer Luckey and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to speak on campus uses resources to only fasten Pepperdine’s connection to the political right.
What’s more, the well-attended Worship Summit came at a hefty cost to the university, since neither Chris Tomlin nor Sadie Robertson Huff charge cheap performance fees, with Huff charging more than $50,000 and Tomlin more than a $100,000. In my mind, one night of bombastic worship hardly does much good for the university’s spiritual life community in the long run.
Meanwhile, academically, Pepperdine continues to drop in the national rankings. My fear is that, as the university focuses on non-academic endeavors, it’s shortchanging its students who are paying too much for a degree that is decreasing in value.
In thinking of a solution, I remember that sign in the church parking lot again. Its message doesn’t sit well with me because I’ve been taught in my recent experience with Christianity that the church needs as much help, if not more than, the outside world.
For Pepperdine, we should focus our sights inward — what is best for students now? Since we are a university, that remains a good education and a valuable degree.
I believe, for the moment, the university should invest more in its faculty and its student-led events, platforming its own people rather than large, outside names.
As I’ve said, at worst, a conservative leniency and an emphasis on a particular type of charismatic Christianity alienate students who don’t share values. Those students need to be shown that they have a place on campus.
As a result, we need to make sure our environments are healthy and welcoming to all and everyone. A university must invest in its students, since the students are the ones investing most in it. A university should motivate students to follow their own beliefs, rather than impose its own on the students.
Right now, if the rankings continue to drop, students like me might grow more hesitant and embittered that we are putting time and effort into a university that isn’t accounting for everyone. Continuing to strengthen unnecessary political affiliation will only strain some students’ connection with the university. Frankly, that’s a price I believe the university should not pay.
Rather, I would like to see Pepperdine’s decision-makers give the faculty and students their due, granting them more resources to reach out to each other, foster relationships, and use their talents without a lack of resources being a problem. Then, happily, those same decision-makers could sit back and watch the good community sprout from the hard work of talented people.
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Contact Eliot Cox via email: eliot.cox@pepperdine.edu
