By Ashley Obrey
Staff Writer
Everything happens for a reason.
This old cliché may seem overused, but in the story of Dr. Richard Hughes, it appears the truism has made a fresh comeback.
When Hughes, religion professor and director of the Center for Faith and Learning, announced his resignation May 19, disappointment prevailed among many of Pepperdine’s faculty members.
“I thought that, although there haven’t been very many significant disappointments over the last five or six years,” communication professor Dr. Steve Lemley said, “his announcement was one of the most significant.”
Hughes, whose work in faith and vocation has had, according to President Andrew Benton, “an indelible and shaping influence on Pepperdine University,” had no interest in leaving Malibu but made the decision to resign in response to the aggressive five-to-six year recruitment by Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.
“They felt he had something special to offer,” Hughes’ wife Jan said.
Hughes was offered what he deemed a “wonderful position” at Messiah College. He also has friends nearby, which added to the excitement of a new life on the East Coast. Furthermore, Hughes, 60, was looking to the future, and he was already wondering what retirement would look like. Thinking realistically about the cost of living in California and the difficulties of adjusting to a new place at the retired age of 70, Hughes decided that he and his wife should just “pick a place, and go, sooner than later.” So they did.
Hughes then announced his resignation and signed a contract affirming his goodbye … a farewell, however, that wasn’t so permanent.
“When we finally tried to put the pieces together for the move, some pieces just wouldn’t fit together,” Hughes stated as the reason he will stay put.
Remaining at Pepperdine means Hughes will continue to carry out his vision for the Center for Faith and Learning, which focuses on sponsoring national conferences, such as the Lilly Conference (for which he wrote the grant), which gave Pepperdine a national presence, and offers seminars for Pepperdine faculty and staff that focus on faith, learning and vocation.
Hughes stresses the idea of vocation in all he does here at Pepperdine. He decided that one real crisis in society is that so many college kids go to college asking the wrong question: “What can I major in so when I get out of college I can make the most money?”
Hughes believes that the real question students should be asking is ‘Who am I?’, ‘What are my gifts?’, and ‘How can I use my gifts to serve people in need?’
“If we’re Christian,” Hughes said, “we already have a calling, and that calling is to be servants.”
He believes he has found and fulfilled his calling here at Pepperdine. With 15 books and other scholarly writings to his name, Hughes clearly exhibits the positive accolades that surround him.
“His writing is not detached from his whole life,” Jan Hughes said. “It’s a part of who he is.” Hughes doesn’t isolate himself from his religious, academic or family commitments. In fact, he runs ideas by his wife all the time. All aspects of his work, however, have been a part of his search for who he is, which began at Harding University (then Harding College) when he realized the extent to which the Church of Christ has shaped his life.
Who he is, as it turns out, is “one of the preeminent church historians in the nation,” adjunct religion professor Robert Cargill said. He refers to his experiences with Hughes as an opportunity.
Hughes’ assistant and 1994 Pepperdine alumna Stephanie Cupp had the opportunity to take one of his classes and recalls the time in his Religion 301 class when he was describing the Shakers, a 19th century American religious group that acquired its name because of the way its members danced. Hughes stood in front of the class to demonstrate.
“It was hilarious,” she said. “His whole body was shaking, and he looked like he was having convulsions. He really puts his heart (and body) into his teaching.”
Jan Hughes’ said such behavior is common of her husband. She explained that her husband is indeed a bridge-builder who is able to work with a wide variety of people. He has been known to be non-threatening, open, gentle and gracious, warm, cheerful and very authentic.
Hughes is also good at connecting themes and ideas that would pass other people by, his wife said.
“He’s always thinking about other things,” she said. “He’s never bored, and he re-invents himself every once in awhile.”
Lemley agreed and said Hughes is the most “forward-thinking person” he knows. In Lemley’s eyes, Hughes has always been very successful at bringing his ideas into a “material reality”.
Humble Hughes, however, wouldn’t comfortably accept that, as he gives Lemley, former Pepperdine provost, credit for the Center for Faith and Learning.
“Had it not been for him,” Hughes said, “it would not have been realized.”
Excluding a 12-year hiatus from his job, Hughes has been working with Pepperdine for 21 years. He was the very first person hired for the “Malibu Pilot Program,” which began in 1971 when Pepperdine began to test the waters at the current Malibu campus. It is in this way that he remains extremely connected to Pepperdine.
And he is happy here.
“I just love life,” he said. “I get up in the morning, and wow! Ready to go!”
People at Pepperdine just aren’t ready to see Richard Hughes go. Those distant pieces of his life in Pennsylvania didn’t fit together for a reason, this reason:
“I love what I do,” he said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. This is me — this is my vocation.”
October 02, 2003