CASSANDRA TICER
Perspectives Assistant
At a very young age, Christians are taught one main message and that is forgiveness. As a Christian university, Pepperdine strives to exemplify the characteristics the Bible teaches. But as students we must pause and examine whether our university portrays these teachings in all aspects of the school. However, we must also make sure that our own actions aren’t preventing the school from being able to have faith in us and forgive our mistakes.
As a freshman, I have noticed that the most talked about issue at Pepperdine seems to be the strict policies on alcohol usage. Over the past year, this issue has affected many students, whether it be through getting in trouble from Facebook, or through getting pulled out of international programs. Either way, students have begun to notice one important aspect about Pepperdine’s punishments — they are the same for everyone.
Although this sounds like a crucial characteristic for university policy, in reality it causes unfair punishments and treatment of students. With the exception of specific situations, a person caught for the first time drinking underage or on campus receives the same punishment, which is probation and removal from international programs. The school has a zero-tolerance alcohol policy. This brings a concern about the way the school views the vastly diverse situations in which its students find themselves.
There is “a big difference between an out-of-character poor choice and a pattern of abusing alcohol” said Mark Davis, dean of student affairs in an e-mail in reference to whether a student helps their friends more when he or she picks them up from parties or hurts them by enabling their problems. He wrote that how we, as friends, need to discern the difference between the two situations in our own choices to help our friends. But does Pepperdine also differentiate between the two as we are supposed to?
I understand that, as a Christian university, we are expected to uphold strict values and present ourselves in a different manner. However, Pepperdine needs to take the responsibility of realizing that although we are a Christian university that provides a dry campus for its students, it is nevertheless a campus of college students.
In our culture, most students take advantage of the new-found freedoms and wish to try new things. Although the university should in no way support the habits of alcohol abuse, it does need to be responsible and not naive about the activities its students participate in, on occasion.
The school should examine all aspects of a situation before it decides the punishment. Looking back at high school records and conversing with teachers would better enable the school to discern the difference between an “out-of-character” mistake and a lifestyle. Just as the law in our government has varying degrees of punishment based upon the intent of the person and the situation, so should Pepperdine policies.
Pepperdine has done a good job at taking a closer look at each situation. The new Good Samaritan Law states that “students who seek assistance for a student in need will receive immunity from alcohol policy violations related to the incident.” This policy helps students to no longer feel afraid to call the university or an authority figure such as an RA for help.
“We will try to be as gracious as possible in working with those students who are following the spirit of the policy” Davis said. Although this policy isn’t perfect, it is definitely a step in the right direction.
There is a fine line between taking into consideration the situations and forgiving and simply letting students take advantage of the school’s generosity. Pepperdine needs to work with students to find a good balance.
This balance may best be achieved through meeting with students and getting input, or perhaps most importantly by looking at each situation. Rather than ruling by rubric, it is imperative that Pepperdine starts to examine the issues on a case-by-case viewpoint. The fact is that there is a huge difference between a group of students getting caught drinking a large amount of alcohol in a dorm room and a picture taken at a small party with alcohol in hand. A Christian university that is teaching different policies than it upholds; that’s a sobering thought.
02-02-2006