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News and Events

News & Events Recaps

October 2007

  • Pepperdine University's Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution will hold its first  international video conference on Monday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Mendenhall Appellate Courtroom at the School of Law. The 90-minute program titled, "Understanding Cultural Norms and Expectations in Mediation in China and the United States: Starting a Dialogue," will feature an exchange between leading U.S. and Chinese experts on mediation. Specific topics include the roles mediators play, enforcement of mediation agreements and resulting settlements, confidentiality issues, and the use of mediation to resolve major multi-national business disputes. The program is cosponsored by the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC) and Pepperdine's acclaimed Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, two institutions that have sustained a longtime partnership.
  • Angela Hawken, assistant professor at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, was awarded a $240,968 research grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation. Hawken is the principal investigator of the evaluation of Hawaii's HOPE program, which uses swiftness and certainty in enforcing probation conditions. Mark Kleiman, professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a co-investigator on the project. The research team will evaluate whether applying swift and certain, but modest, jail sanctions for every probation violation is as an effective means to reform delinquent behavior. The grant will support an evaluation of HOPE, including a randomized controlled trial of high-risk probationers assigned to HOPE or regular probation, and a cost analysis to estimate the fiscal impacts of the program.
  • Dr. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 nobel laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, addressed an audience of more than 700 on  Oct. 20, at Pepperdine's School of Law. His address, titled "Social Enterprise: Doing Well by Doing Good," was telecast live to three overflow rooms, and the video stream is available here. The three students who traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to intern with Dr. Yunus this past summer, Amadea Goresh, Ian Davis, and Jay Milbrandt were on hand to introduce the speaker and field questions from the audience. School of Law dean Ken Starr and Pepperdine University provost Darryl Tippens gave remarks before and after the keynote address.
  • Well-known author Tobias Wolff will give this year's second Seaver College Dean's Distinguished Lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m. in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. The lecture, titled "The Lies of Memoir, the Truth of Fiction," is open to the public and free of charge. Following Wolff's presentation, many of his books will be available for purchase and signing.
  • In a fitting tribute to one of America's preeminent legal figures, the portrait of Pepperdine University School of Law dean Kenneth W. Starr was unveiled during a ceremony at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday, Oct. 11. Starr's portrait will remain on view permanently on the fifth floor, joining the images of acclaimed judges who have served on that same court. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as well as justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Antonin Scalia attended the ceremony. Other honored guests included Paul Clement, solicitor general of the United States; Fred Fielding, White House counsel; all judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals; and friends and associates from the justice department, Kirkland & Ellis, and other law prestigious firms. Pepperdine vice chancellor and School of Law Dean Emeritus Ronald Phillips and Pepperdine provost Darryl Tippens and his wife Anne also attended.
  • Pepperdine Graduate Students and LA-area High School Students Go to Sea: Many urban youths never get the opportunity to experience life beyond their community. As part of a continuing effort by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) to mentor youths in urban schools, 20 mostly Latino high school students from Gertz Ressler High School in Los Angeles, accompanied by 10 GSEP graduate students and three faculty members, will embark on an educational sea adventure aboard the tall shipTole Mour out of Long Beach on Saturday, Oct. 20. The high school students, many of whom have never boarded a ship or seen the ocean, will spend the day partnered with graduate students learning fundamentals of sailing, like how to navigate and steer the ship, prepare meals in the galley, and care for the ocean.
  • The 2007 recipients of the Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence were announced Friday, Oct. 5, during the University Faculty Conference. The award, named in honor of Pepperdine's fifth president who served the University as teacher and administrator for almost 30 years, is given to ten full-time faculty members each year in recognition of their distinguished record of teaching excellence. President Andrew Benton and Provost Darryl Tippens presented the awards during the conference luncheon.
  • Pepperdine University School of Law, in association with the National Constitution Center, will host a Caruso Family Chair Symposium on the Constitution titled, "An Enigmatic Court? Examining the Roberts Court as it Begins Year Three," on Friday, Oct. 19, from 2 to 6:30 p.m. in the Mendenhall Appellate Courtroom. The symposium will examine the work of the Roberts Court over the past two terms, along with making predictions for the year ahead. Featured speakers include Jeffrey Rosen, Joan Biskupic, Vikram Amar, Kathleen Sullivan, Dean Ken Starr, Professor Doug Kmiec, and Judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain and Steven Reinhardt, both of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Doug Kmiec, the Caruso Family Chair in Constitutional Law, will guide discussion on the question of "consensus" on the court, exploring to what degree the Chief can lead the Court to consensus.
  • The Pepperdine Law School will host a book signing and reception celebrating the publication of A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 5 p.m. in the Appellate Courtroom. Commentary on the book will be provided by Akhil Reed Amar, Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and W. David Baird, dean and Howard A. White Professor of History at Pepperdine University's Seaver College. For additional information and to RSVP, please contact  at (310) 506-4653. In his newest book, A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign (Simon & Schuster, Free Press; September 18, 2007; $27.00), acclaimed author and winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History, Edward J. Larson, Hugh and Hazel Darling Professor of Law, tells the story of the closest-ever presidential election, which pushed our democracy to the brink of breakdown and transformed our politics forever.
  • Leading Industry Experts from France to Discuss Investments in the Eurozone: With the recent election of French President Nicholas Sarcozy, the political and economic climate in France is changing dramatically. Support for political, legal, tax, and economic reform has been growing, resulting in many positive changes for investing in France and the Eurozone. On Thursday, Oct. 18, representatives from the Greater Paris Investment Agency (Paris Ile de France Capitale Economique), comprised of France's top 100 corporations, professional organizations, and entrepreneurs, will gather for a symposium at Pepperdine University's Drescher Graduate Campus from 9 a.m. to 12 noon to share their insights and knowledge on the evolving market and investment opportunities in France and the Eurozone. The symposium is sponsored by the Pepperdine Office of Investments. The French delegation will be joined by keynote speakers Arthur Laffer, noted academic, investor, and inventor of the "Laffer Curve" in economics, and Matthew Fong, former California state treasurer and Pepperdine regent. Both Laffer and Fong, current board members in major French companies, will reflect on the current investment climate in France and provide insights in today's increasingly global market.
  • Pepperdine University will host Family Weekend from Friday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 14, on the Malibu campus. During this annual Pepperdine tradition, students and their families have the opportunity to visit and participate in events that provide a glimpse into student life at Seaver College. Events at Family Weekend include the President's Open House, a reception on Friday hosted by President Andrew K. Benton and his wife Debby at their home, the Brock House. Later that evening, the Blue and Orange Madness celebration kicks off the 2007-08 NCAA basketball season at the most well-attended student event of the year. 
  • In his only public appearance in the Los Angeles area, Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, will lecture on "Social Enterprise: Doing Well by Doing Good" at Pepperdine University School of Law from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, in the Caruso Auditorium on the Malibu campus. Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering microcredit—using collateral-free loans of small amounts to help millions of families out of poverty. 
  • The Pepperdine University Crest Advisory Board and the Center for the Arts welcome members of the local and Pepperdine communities to visit the Malibu campus for a variety of special activities on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. The afternoon offers something for everyone and is free of charge. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to hear from Weisman Museum director Dr. Michael Zakian as he guides tours of the current exhibit, Made in California. This selection of works by California artists, chosen to mark the 15th anniversary of the Weisman Museum at Pepperdine, celebrates the state's creative vision.
  • Students from all Pepperdine schools, visiting parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends will gather at Pepperdine on Friday, Oct. 12, for Blue and Orange Madness, the most well-attended student event of the year. Madness kicks off the 2007-2008 NCAA basketball season as the Waves basketball teams hit the court in Firestone Fieldhouse on the Malibu campus. A broad range of complimentary food, BMX bike stunt show, games, live performance by surf band The Relix, and raffle for prizes donated by Malibu businesses will run.
  • Pepperdine University will participate in the Wallflower Organic and Eco Festival presented by the Malibu Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, Oct. 6. Molly Lavik, practitioner faculty of marketing at the Graziadio School of Business and Management (GSBM), will be a featured speaker, and student group Net Impact will occupy their own booth. The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Malibu Legacy Park (site of annual Malibu Chili Cook Off). Lavik will discuss "The Do's and Don'ts of Marketing Socially Responsible New Ventures." She will also participate in "The Green Money Panel" at 11:30 a.m. Lavik said of the event, "Pepperdine University is proud to help support and participate in the Wallflower Organic and Eco Festival with the local Malibu community."
  • Dr. Rubel Shelly will present "Why Atheists Are So Angry" at Pepperdine's 28th annual William M. Green Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture. The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 8, in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. Shelly is a professor of religion and philosophy at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, Michigan. He has authored or coauthored more than 30 books, including his most recent publications "The Jesus Proposal" and "Divorce and Remarriage: A Redemptive Theology".
  • Pepperdine University Center for the Arts will present the one-woman comedy Late Nite Catechism on Friday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. Now in its 14th year, Late Nite Catechism offers humorous and interactive accounts of Catholic school traditions. Main character Sister treats the audience like "students" in her own Catholic schoolroom, rewarding them for correct answers with glow-in-the-dark rosaries, and sending naughty ones to sit in a corner onstage. The award-winning Late Nite Catechism was created in 1993 by Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade. 
  • The Graziadio School of Business and Management will host Deborah Platt Majoras, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the Edwards Irvine Spectrum as the first speaker of the 2007-08 Dean's Executive Leadership Series. The high-profile series introduces students and alumni to leading business innovators working in the field today. Deborah Platt Majoras was appointed chair of the Federal Trade Commission in 2004 and has since increased efforts to protect consumers from emerging frauds such as identity theft and deceptive spam.