Recently a terrifying specter arrived on the Malibu campus. It sits in the middle of campus as a startling reminder of the University’s past. Freshmen and upperclassmen of the Seaver campus alike are both fascinated and spooked by this dark figure that haunts the Jocelyn Plaza. Now before we go and call the Ghostbusters it is probably important to consider that this frightening apparition is none other than our magnanimous founder George Pepperdine.
For those of you who have not been scared to the point of lost bladder control by the small monument consider the situation: As unsuspecting students walk to buy another dubiously prepared dinner at the Caf they often mistake the life-sized statue for a real person. This can be pretty startling especially if it appears when you approach the statue from the Elkins side of the fountain that he is staring right at you (cue “Twilight Zone” music). As evening darkness descends on our campus our founder appears only as a silent figure silhouetted on a bench and as no one is quite used to him yet he can be mistaken for anyone.
I mean no disrespect to George Pepperdine. In fact I have the highest respect for him as well as his values and accomplishments. But perhaps the statue was not quite strategically placed considering the panic attacks it is capable of producing.
While a majority of students call the statue “creepy” or “weird though, the statue also has created another phenomenon. During the daylight, when the statue does not appear as foreboding, visitors and students alike flock to get their pictures taken with the centrally placed bronze. (Although I think they might just think it is creepy too.)
I can admire the sentiment behind the statue, but on the other hand I don’t want the memory of my school’s founder to be a joke.
Besides, the money could have been much better spent— for instance, by not raising next year’s tuition (I know it would probably only be about 50 cents a student, but hey, we are in the middle of a recession). They could have also just commissioned the same statue and put it somewhere where its profile would be slightly less intimidating, like on the roof of the Caf, or in a freshman dorm room. Or they could have used it to make the fountains in front of Smothers swimmer-friendly (you know you’ve been tempted to jump in at least once).
Another problem I have with the statue is that it is so late in coming. A more strategically placed statue should have been here years ago. We already had one of Christopher Columbus (no one is really sure why… maybe it is because we are so close to the ocean). Even now, the standing statue of the man who sailed to the New World and thought he was in India dominates the sea of concrete next to the Pendleton Learning Center, yet our founder sits upstaged by an enormous fountain, so unobvious that he scares passers-by.
But in all seriousness, it is more than a little sad every time I see a visitor sit on our founder’s lap and make fun of the fact that his book only contains five words, or a tiny freshman girl jump and squeal in terror at the sight of him. I am guessing this is not the respect that most of the administration believes is due our founder.
At least his presence is felt on campus a bit more, even if that presence makes students scream and run into the student bookstore for shelter.
