boundless horizons
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A look forward to Pepperdine University's future and vision for greatness.TRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTION
It is in the nature of humans to
seek new vistas, new horizons, and take
on new challenges as each generation
strives to improve upon its inherited
legacies. The same is true at this univer-
sity which is always changing, always
advancing, and where the planning
for “what could be” never really stops.
There are moments, however, when a
convergence of issues calls for reflection
and a fresh examination of direction and
purpose.
At the beginning of this new decade,
Pepperdine approaches its 75th year,
and we will celebrate that milestone
with many reflective activities, each
marking the strengths of the institution.
This season of review finds several of
our schools and programs completing
or undergoing reaccreditation of one
kind or another; in fact, University-wide
reaccreditation will be underway over
the next two years. We are also in the
“quiet phase” of a large fund-raising
campaign which certainly will make
its own statement about our hopes and
dreams, and a number of global initia-
tives are enhancing the University’s
outreach and reputation. We are a uni-
versity confidently contemplating the
future; indeed, we “lean forward.” We
are brimming with opportunities and
among our greatest challenges will be
choosing among the “steps of change”
with wisdom and insight.
The choices we make must be
decided according to how closely they
match our intent and our plans for
the future. Specifically, Pepperdine,
this community of faculty and staff,
accepts the premise that we are here to
positively change the life of each stu-
dent in ways that are deep, wide, and
everlasting.
The last decade witnessed many
changes and much growth. A separate
report, available contemporaneously
with this document, will outline the
many blessings we have experienced.
Our governing board, faculty, staff, and
administration own this record as a
consequence of their hard work, while
understanding, humbly, that we owe
our success to God’s providence and
the unique founding characteristics of
Pepperdine University.
A new season is upon us, and it is
time to think, once again, about “reach-
ing deep and reaching far.”1 Not unlike
the early years of this past decade, the
American economy is once again a
source of concern; yet, within days of the
rapid declines on Wall Street in 2008,
the University grasped the challenge,
marshaled the support of the campus
community, both here and abroad, and
made the decisions necessary not only
to survive, but to thrive in these times
of uncertainty. We did so by placing stu-
dents first, and we were rewarded with
their presence, their confidence, and
their infectious enthusiasm within all
five of our schools. It would be a mistake to fail to express gratitude to a patient faculty and an understanding staff as we prepared for things we could not then see. In many respects, however, plan-ning for the future is still burdened with a lack of national economic progress.
Now, nearing the end of 2010, financial markets remain uncertain. This reality is sobering and must be taken into account; still, we press for-ward with a sense of confidence. We can even see some of the mountain peaks we will scale through the haze of this global economic circumstance.
The purpose of this statement about the future is to offer markers for our upward pathway, and to inspire those who will make our journey—and our success—possible.
PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
Perilous times tempt many to call
for maintenance, even, status quo, but
that is not our practice, and it is not
consistent with any sense of destiny or
calling. Across America a conversation
continues about college accessibility
and cost, sustainability, competition
with “for profit” entities, assessment and
changing accreditation expectations,
uncertainty in the number of students
applying to college, and on and on.
Awareness of these issues is important,
and we will be thorough as we respond
and as we prepare and position the
University. It would be naïve to ignore
the signposts or to assume that this next
decade will be without challenge.
There are, indeed, a number of
complexities we must address with
determination and confidence, but at
the end of it all is our commitment
to students and those who teach and
mentor them. Oliver Wendell Holmes
is reported to have said, “I would not
give a fig for the simplicity this side of
complexity, but I would give my life
for the simplicity on the other side of
complexity.”2 An important job, then,
for those who will chart the pathway
for the next several years will be to
address the complexity carefully, but to
hold to “simplicity on the other side of
complexity” where we find the student,
full of hopes, dreams, and promise.
Our past is both foundation and
prologue, and we continue our jour-
ney with resolve. A document entitled
Envisioning a Bold Future, shared with
the campus community in 2001, has
proven helpful in our planning and
progress. Its five themes are easily sum-
marized: Resources; Diversity; Heritage;
Community; and, Scholarship. Now,
10 years later, most would say that
those simple themes have proven to be
useful rallying points and guideposts.
We do not now abandon them, but we
do understand our responsibility at a
deeper level, and we should respond
accordingly.
Comparing these five themes to
this unique time and its opportunities,
and expanding them for even greater
impact and inspiration is our chal-
lenge. When mapped to current higher
education themes, and combined with
immutable elements of our University
mission, these themes become:
Advancing Learning, Knowledge and
Scholarship; Developing Resources;
Building Community; Respecting
Diversity and Promoting Global
Understanding; and, Honoring God
and Heritage. A brief commentary on
each of the five is appropriate.
ADVANCING LEARNING, KNOWLEDGE, AND SCHOLARSHIP
With gratitude to our heritage of
leadership, beginning in 1937, and
extending to faculty who today contrib-
ute greatly to the academy through their
extraordinary teaching and scholarship,
and students and alumni who truly live
lives of “purpose, service, and leader-
ship,” Pepperdine claims a presence
on the national and international dais.
To continue to do so requires that we
keep our promises; that our market
positioning be accurate and honest; that
we assess and monitor success indica-
tors; and, that we expect performance
at the highest levels throughout the
institution.
By addressing life’s deepest ques-
tions presented through the study of
arts, business, education, law, literature,
public policy, the sciences, and scripture,
Pepperdine will be known as a leader in
the education of students with the imagi-
nation, intelligence, capacity, character,
and will to address the world’s greatest
challenges.
Our aim then is to ensure that
students receive a transformative educa-
tion. While the primacy of teaching at
Pepperdine is widely understood, schol-
arship in support of excellence must be
encouraged, underwritten, and endowed.
Failure to support strong, nationally
recognized scholarship is simply unac-
ceptable, and it will limit our future. But
we believe research at Pepperdine will not
be carried out at the expense of student
learning. On the contrary, our faculty will
engage students in original research and
the discovery of new knowledge, thus
enhancing the experience of both faculty
and students. Research and discovery
will be the watchwords for students and
faculty alike.
Our efforts must also include a clar-
ion call for lifelong learning and service
that is unmistakably present among our
alumni. In many cases the “call” will be
heard first in our classrooms and in our
cocurricular activities.
One has only to observe the debate
in Congress or read the headlines of our
newspapers to understand that a national
crisis exists in the matter of accessibility
for students. More specifically, our prog-
ress in attracting minority students and
others for whom a Pepperdine educa-
tion seems out of reach must continue
unabated. Commensurate effort in the
hiring and support of faculty to men-
tor and serve those students is critically
important.
Another critical element of the
academic infrastructure should be
noted here: but for the dedicated
work of those who enable the cocur-
ricular activities which flourish on our
campuses, the beauty of our physical
plant maintained by selfless, caring,
and hard-working men and women,
and those who serve as financial,
technological, marketing, fundraising,
and support personnel throughout the
organization, nothing would happen.
A powerful engine would stall and sit
silent. The staff and administration of
this university each contribute to the
University’s ascent in their own way,
and they lead this place of higher learn-
ing confidently into the future.
DEVELOPING RESOURCES
The notion of “competition” in
higher education is unseemly unless
the measurement is objectively valu-
able and useful to improving the
student experience. Pepperdine’s third
president, M. Norvel Young, often
commented, “There is no competition
among lighthouses.” The challenge,
nevertheless, must be presented to
deans and their respective faculty
colleagues, in close concert with the
provost, to decide what excellence
will look like at Pepperdine, in each
program, and then we must work, with
alacrity, to that end.
In all manifestations, excellence at
Pepperdine must have as its aim the
singular commitment that commends
us to change lives. Those who know
the University and its schools best
must decide and lead toward appropri-
ate aspirations, but the aim should be
high and the outcome must be measur-
able. Accreditation standards should be
mere minimums. Using agreed upon,
objective benchmarks, Pepperdine as a
university, and each of its five schools,
should articulate plans for how they
will reach the top tier of America’s lead-
ing institutions of higher learning in
the next decade. Let the conversation
begin and may the University scale the
highest of peaks of learning, service,
and scholarship.
In all of this, funding will be cru-
cial. The Campaign for Pepperdine will
be successful. Its approach will provide
funds for endowment, capital projects,
faculty scholarship, and teaching, and
it will respond to ever-growing and
crucial support for student scholar-
ships. Without a doubt, the next
decade will depend upon the selfless
giving of those who believe in all that is
Pepperdine and, of course, classrooms
full of talented and engaged students.
In the recent economic downturn,
the University has weathered the brisk
and unpredictable winds with calm
confidence. This is true, for the most
part, because we are student-centered
and the reward for that commitment
includes strong enrollments. We not
only want to continue to recruit the best
and the brightest, but we want them to
be able to graduate on time and with
pride in their program of study.
BUILDING COMMUNITY
As much as any other theme artic-
ulated in the 2001 Envisioning a Bold
Future document, the word “commu-
nity” has found its way into the lexicon
of daily interaction. It is a word that is
both descriptive and aspirational. The
addition of the Mullin Town Square
project on the Malibu campus, and
new space for social engagement in our
Los Angeles graduate campuses and
in our facilities abroad, are physical
examples of our focus on the devel-
opment of social capital; but more
importantly the attention to discourse
on important issues, the greater use
of faculty and staff in the deliberative
process and the expansion of commit-
tees and advisory groups are part of
inviting broad ownership of the future
of this university.
The University hopes to inspire
our students to active civic and
global engagement, and leadership
in the marketplace of ideas. The rise
of altruism and outreach to others as
an avenue of academic inquiry, the
attention given to globalism and cross-
cultural outreach, and other examples
serve as hallmarks for others to follow.
The next, and final, two areas on
which we place attention and focus
are of particular importance, yet they
could become lost in the quest for tan-
gible proof of the mountains we hope
to ascend. To stay with that metaphor,
of all the things we might leave behind
to lighten our load, these must stay
with us on the climb. The first, relating
to diversity and the global community
of which we are a part, is much more
than just a popular trend: it is critical to
the very nature and service of this uni-
versity. The final point, which speaks
to honoring God and our Heritage of
Faith, is determinative, finally, as to
whether or not we have been successful
in our journey together.
RESPECTING DIVERSITY AND PROMOTING GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING
It is unwise and irresponsible to
ignore the demographic shifts taking
place in America. The University must
reach out even more to people of color
and to invest deeply and broadly in
encouraging their enrollment and par-
ticipation in our programs. Pepperdine
must remain relevant to the Greater
Los Angeles and California community
from which we draw more than 50 per-
cent of our student population. Faculty
hiring must mirror these trends,
although the competition is keen.
Growing quietly, but with dramatic
effect is the work being done in the
global community, in Rwanda and
Uganda, as but two examples. The
University is playing a significant role
in matters related to implementing
the “rule of law” in countries formerly
ruled by fiat and tyranny. The School
of Law is providing remarkable leader-
ship in this endeavor. Seaver College
efforts such as those during Project
Serve, open the hearts of students who
will return again and again to the ser-
vice of others. The Graziadio School,
the Graduate School of Education and
Psychology and the School of Public
Policy also serve with distinction. The
stories are many and deeply touching.
Pepperdine is increasingly find-
ing itself drawn to care for the “least
of these”3 and finding a home for the
work of the mind, arms, and legs, but
moreover, the heart. Each of the five
schools should set aside space within
the curriculum for “head and heart”
engagement. For when we are suc-
cessful in achieving our mission and
truly strengthen lives for “purpose,
service, and leadership,” the transfor-
mative nature of our work comes to
life. Joseph Campbell noted: “When
we quit thinking primarily about our-
selves and our own self preservation,
we undergo a truly heroic transforma-
tion of consciousness.”4 If we are to be
an institution that changes lives, then
we can settle for nothing less than
bringing about authentic and heroic
transformations.
HONORING GOD AND HERITAGE
Of all the areas articulated a decade
ago, this final theme may present the
greatest challenge. Anyone caring
about faith-based institutions cannot
help but be touched by James Tunstead
Burtchaell’s book, The Dying of the
Light.5 In it he chronicles the academic
rise and spiritual demise of many of
this nation’s finest institutions of higher
learning. As we press toward academic
excellence, how can we avoid the fail-
ings of so many who have gone before
with undoubtedly virtuous intentions?
Pepperdine is a Christian univer-
sity with an established relationship
to Churches of Christ. America is
fortunate that many schools claim a
faith-based heritage. Our unique con-
tribution was born of the 19th-century
Restoration Movement. This relation-
ship is an indelible part of our identity
and must be nurtured.
There are many “can do” elements
outlined in this paper, but maintaining
fidelity to our founders’ (Pepperdine’s,
Seaver’s, and Graziadio’s) hopes and
dreams is very important; it is a matter
of honor, a “must do” in our planning.
Making this more difficult are
external forces that extend far beyond
the purview of this paper. Those chal-
lenges, however, have little to do with
our aspirations and are mere distrac-
tions. As long as our efforts remain
sincere and attentive to the found-
ing heritage of George Pepperdine
College, now Pepperdine University,
and the Frank Roger Seaver College
of Arts, Letters and Sciences, and the
George L. Graziadio School of Business
and Management, our two named
schools, as well as the School of Law,
the Graduate School of Education and
Psychology and the School of Public
Policy, we will make the progress we
all desire, we will honor the wishes of
our founders, and we will keep faith
with our promises. This is nothing less
than a labor of love and a matter of
determination.
SPECIFIC AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY
This paper is not an attempt to
usurp the important, inclusive work
of the University Planning Committee,
the University Faculty Council, the
several schools, the Alumni Leadership
Council, and so forth. It is a plea, how-
ever, for engagement and productive
ownership. Perhaps it offers an oppor-
tunity to refocus and steel ourselves for
the climb we have already begun. This
is a new season, one nearing a 75th anni-
versary, rich with promise and limited
only by our imagination and, perhaps,
such mundane things as funding and
the economy. Henry David Thoreau
once said, “If you have built castles in
the air, your work need not be lost;
that is where they should be. Now put
foundations under them.” Our dreams
are large and bold and we owe each of
them a firm foothold, or “foundation,”
as we continue the climb. A few particu-
lar promontory points beckon
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT AND PRESENCE
A serious conversation must take
place among faculty, alumni, and the
governing board as it pertains to the
matter of where Pepperdine should
seek to place itself in the pantheon of
America’s colleges and universities.
With our faith-heritage as a given,
exactly what does success in this par-
ticular endeavor look like? The list of
leading, national universities with a
serious faith mission is remarkably
short. This is as one observer noted
largely “unoccupied space”6 in higher
education. It is a promontory we should
and will occupy, and we will demon-
strate the fact that faith and academic
prowess are compatible aspirations.
Many at faith-based institutions
of higher learning have decided that
their mission and the accompany-
ing Christian or Jewish values, for
example, do not fully apply to graduate
and professional programs. Such com-
mitments are either seen as impractical
or irrelevant to the graduate enterprise
and their unique market pressures.
At this university, we start with the
assumption that each student, graduate
or undergraduate, comes to us at some
point on the continuum of their per-
sonal spiritual journey. It is our desire
to participate as encouragers and part-
ners, or “scholars and witnesses,” as
articulated by Provost Darryl Tippens,
in the course of that journey. We affirm
that each student is endowed with eter-
nal value and should be treated with
care as a spiritual being.
Moving to another crucial area, one
of significant value to students, alumni,
and the whole of our community,
Pepperdine must return to national
prominence in athletics. The Campaign
for Pepperdine will address some of the
present physical impediments, but the
commitment must be made today that
each fully funded sport will be posi-
tioned to compete in the top 25 in the
nation or, in several instances, at a much
higher level. Pepperdine has a tradi-
tion of competing against much larger
schools with great success, and we
should aspire to excellence and student
academic success across all programs.
What we choose to do we will do well,
and our student-athletes, institution-
wide student morale, and our public
profile will be the beneficiaries.
Pepperdine has the opportunity
to lead in a number of ways; indeed,
there are “mountains” we can and
should climb and, even, claim. For
example, Pepperdine should stand
proudly for freedom of thought and civil discourse; especially this is true in light of our Christian heritage. Another example will be found in our steadfast student-centeredness, not only in how decisions are made, but in meaningful undergraduate and graduate research and scholarly development. At many institutions, the student is not the primary focus, but it should and must be different at Pepperdine. Our doors must be open. Our administrative preferences must yield whenever there is a demonstrated need for change. The allocation of our resources—of all kinds—must add value to the teaching and learning environment, or some-thing is terribly wrong.
Our commitment to international programs and global learning must continue and thrive. We must also give attention to how those experiences influence, shape and improve student lives and careers. Our programs abroad must result in a truly value-added dimension to the participant’s educa-tion in addition to service for the sake of service.
ALUMNI LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP
Many college presidents bemoan the lack of support from alumni, but Pepperdine is doing something about
it. Increasingly, the emphasis at the
University and within each school is
to call alumni “home” in every sense,
and our alumni are responding eagerly.
More than buildings, endowments,
scholarships, and national recogni-
tion, alumni ownership of all that is
Pepperdine will ensure the future. The
Alumni Leadership Council is joining
us on the upward climb, and already
the load is lighter.
In 20 years, we should have an
army of alumni advocates and support-
ers to rival any school our size. Done
right, an energized, vibrant, and pro-
ductive alumni base will fuel our most
ambitious dreams that today seem out
of reach without them; in fact, perhaps
our alumni, in the midst of their lives of
purpose, service, and leadership, will
become job creators and establish the
tradition of Waves hiring Waves.
A University-wide initiative will
require a holistic approach to engaging
recruitment, academics, cocurricular
student experiences, career planning,
and all of our alumni support programs.
This is not a soft target: we must decode
the mystery of alumni apathy present
in most colleges and universities across
America, and engage our alumni deeply
in the future of Pepperdine. We must
foster a University-wide environment
that will yield reliable and loyal alumni
advocacy and ownership.
Of particular encouragement are
the stories we are receiving from alumni
around the world who are truly living lives of profound service and impact. The Pepperdine story is one of both blessings and responsibilities. When alumni give of themselves, reflecting our motto, “Freely ye received, freely give”8
the pairing—blessings and responsibili-ties—is complete.
Within our Seaver College resi-dential community, two initiatives will be helpful in our desire to strengthen undergraduate alumni engagement: focus on the sophomore experience and plans to construct a residence hall for juniors. Succinctly, we must ensure the experience of the middle portion of the undergraduate experience. We must provide a fulfilling experience for all sophomores, those who go abroad and those who remain in Malibu, and a focused effort on creating strong class identity among juniors if we hope to enjoy the full benefit of a lasting rela-tionship with those who will emerge from our undergraduate population.
THE LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE
Almost more than any other physi-cal element of the academic journey ahead, we must be successful in creating the library of the future. All the pieces are in place: we have already set aside enough space to respond to the dreams we will fashion; a strong level of support
exists in the upcoming Campaign for
Pepperdine; we have a central, physical
Malibu presence as well as a distributed
network at our graduate and professional
campuses and international locations;
and, finally, we have the will to make
this a centerpiece, and to declare boldly
that a university cannot rise higher than
the quality of its libraries.
The final product will be surprising.
Today’s learner and scholar has different
requirements than even 10 years ago.
The core collection remains critical and
must be supported and, as necessary,
expanded; however, technology, online
resources, vast databases of informa-
tion, and powerful search engines hold
the future. The library of the future will
encourage and enable shared experi-
ences, group learning dynamics, and,
likely, will become the true “student
center” for both scholarly development
and the creation of social capital on our
campuses. We will study the current
practices, emulate the best, and invest
accordingly. But first, we dream, and
plot our course.
ENDOWMENT AND EXCELLENCE
Endowment support at Pepperdine
undergirds excellence; it does not merely
support operations. The difference was
witnessed in the recent economic down-
turn as our financial condition remained
strong, which allowed continued prog-
ress on virtually all fronts. Certainly, we
hope for sustained and growing endow-
ment earnings, but we will not budget in
a manner than relies upon endowment
to the point that operations rise or fall
with the financial markets.
We believe that donors will appre-
ciate the fact that endowment growth
enables excellence and allows us to do
more and to do it better. Our aspira-
tion remains: we must press forward to
a level of endowment that places us in
the top 50 in the nation. We have work
enough to do in the next several years
on our watch, but we owe those who
follow a firm foundation for the future
of Pepperdine University.
RIGHT-SIZING AND FINANCIAL STABILITY
One lesson learned during the cur-
rent economic downturn relates to the
importance of equilibrium and sustain-
able enrollment practices at each of our
schools. Too few or too many students
present a unique set of challenges. The
issue, then, is to charge each school with
establishing reliable levels of enrollment
upon which the schools can flourish
and the University can depend. We
intend to focus attention on this issue,
and to engage our schools in a broad
and productive discussion.
SCALING THE HEIGHTS
There are seven mountain peaks or summits coveted by all who climb into the clouds, who seek to do what few have accomplished. Tenzing Norgay, a storied mountain climber, wrote these words at 27,000 feet:
“We look up. For weeks, for months, that
is all we have done. Look up. And there it
is—the top of Everest. Only it is different
now; so near, so close, only a little more
than a thousand feet above us. It is no lon-
ger just a dream, a high dream in the sky,
but a real and solid thing, a thing made
of rock and snow, that men can climb. We
make ready. We will climb it. This time,
with God’s help, we will climb on to the
end.”
Norgay was joined by Sir Edmund Hillary and they, together, stood on the top of the world on May 28, 1953.
Our summits occur on com-mencement days—mountaintops of a different kind. Our heights are merely way stations, as the opportunities in higher education grow greater and greater in height and expectation. Still, we climb and sometimes even find paths of our own choosing, separate from those who climb alongside and with just as much determination.
As a university we are tied together through mission, through the com-mitments we make to our colleagues, and, especially, our students. We climb
together. We climb with and for each other because we aspire to higher and better things. We believe our horizons are boundless.
This statement about the next few years is meant to open the dialogue to choosing challenging goals, to finding the right paths, to making Pepperdine better not just in 2020, but in 2050 and beyond. Let the conversation begin, and may it be attended by prayer and a confidence worthy of our faith every step of the way.
ANDREW K. BENTON President September 15, 2010
1 A general reference to Frost, Robert. “Neither
Out Far Nor in Deep” and the title of my Inaugural
Address, September 23, 2000.
2 Lederach, J. P. (2005). The Moral Imagination: The
Art and Soul of Building Peace. New York, New York:
Oxford University Press. p.31
3 Matthew 25:40
4 Templeton, S. J. (2002). Wisdom from World
Religions: Pathways to Heaven on Earth. Radnor,
Pennsylvannia:
Templeton Foundation Press. p.323
5 Burtchaell, J. T. (1998). The Dying of the Light, The
Disengagement of Colleges and Universities from Their
Christian Churches. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
6 Gibson, R. (2005, Fall). The Bold Promise of
Pepperdine. Pepperdine People. Malibu, California:
Pepperdine University. pp. 24-26. Noted theologian
and professor of philosophy Dallas Willard quoted by
provost Darryl Tippens.
7 Tippens, D. (2006). Scholars and Witnesses,
Defining the Pepperdine Difference. Faculty
Conference. Malibu, California: Pepperdine
University.