Students check in for Spring NSO on Jan. 6. Spring NSO welcomed around 100 new students to campus a week before the start of the semester. Photo by Lucian Himes
Pepperdine welcomed a few students back early this year — the new transfer students and the Class of 2025 students who were admitted for the spring semester. Spring New Student Orientation began Jan.6-9 with approximately 100 students in attendance in addition to their families, Director of Student Activities Brittany Skinner wrote in an email to the Graphic.
Spring NSO included campus tours, informational sessions, meet and greets and a tailgate. The family portion of NSO concluded Jan. 7, when loved ones had a formal goodbye with their students.
“It’s [Pepperdine] been my dream school since the beginning,” incoming student Reese Ray said. “I didn’t really have high hopes of getting in, so now that I am, I’m super excited about studying there.”
Schedule of Events
NSO kicked off with a check-in and move-in time period. Student leaders helped move students in and shortly after the admissions staff provided students and their families a tour of campus.
After students were moved in, they had informational sessions about academics, first-year seminars, health and wellness, community living, faith and financial aid.
Jan. 7, students had the opportunity to attend a campus 101 informational session with orientation leaders, a presentation about Pepperdine’s International Programs, a chapel service and a Waves Expo — an opportunity for students to learn more about different clubs on campus. The day concluded with a dinner hosted by President Jim and First Lady Jolene Gash at the Brock House.
Jan. 8-9 provided more opportunities for students to get acquainted with campus and settle in to their new homes, before online classes begin Jan. 10.
Ray said she used the week before the rest of the student body was there to get acquainted with Malibu and learn her way around campus. Ray also wanted to meet her professors and make a first impression before starting classes, she said.
“I want to see what I’m getting myself into with classes,” Ray said. “And just make more friends and meet more new people.”
Pepperdine welcomed 1,209 members of the class of 2025 to campus during fall NSO, and now the University is welcoming around 100 more students to the Pepperdine community. Ray said she would be living in freshmen housing with other students who were not spring admits — students who had already lived there for the fall.
Ray said she felt like she was trying to “play catch up” to the rest of her class, so planned to spend the first few weeks making new friends and then would decide what activities on campus she wanted to join.
COVID-19 Policies for NSO
In accordance with Pepperdine’s new COVID-19 safety guidelines for spring 2022, all students and family members who attended NSO received a rapid antigen test on campus and wait for a negative result before joining any activities.
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Contact Abby Wilt via Twitter (@abby_wilt) or by email: abby.wilt@pepperdine.edu
