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News & Events Recaps

September 2007

  • The second annual Malibu Celebration of Film returns to Pepperdine University beginning Friday, Sept. 28, through Sunday, Sept. 30, with over a dozen of the year's most highly acclaimed and award-winning films.The festival brings filmgoers, industry professionals, and members of the University and Malibu communities to Pepperdine's Malibu campus and local Malibu screening venues.
  • Pepperdine University will host the 2007 Association of Christian Education Preparation Programs (ACEPP) conference beginning Friday, Sept. 28, through Saturday, Sept. 29. The annual conference is held at a different Christian university each year. This year's theme, "Making Connections," underscores one of ACEPP's main goals: to understand how teacher education programs make connections in their schools and their communities while linking their faith with learning, teacher education programs, and courses.
  • The School of Public Policy will celebrate its 10th anniversary with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Tuesday, Oct. 2, in the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. The anniversary dinner will celebrate the accomplishments of the last decade and articulate the school's intent and aspirations for the future. The highlight of the evening will be a keynote address by the Honorable Jeb Bush. After being elected the 43rd governor of the state of Florida in 1998, Bush was reelected by a wide margin in 2002. He served two terms and left office in January 2007.
  • Pepperdine University Center for the Arts presented the Dave Brubeck Quartet on Sept. 25 in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. The sold out show marked Brubeck's tenth performance at the University. Brubeck—the legendary jazz pianist perhaps best remembered for his classic Take Five—is joined by bassist Michael Moore, saxophonist/flutist Bobby Militello, and drummer Randy Jones.
  • The Pepperdine men's and women's cross country teams hosted one of the largest cross country meets in the nation on Sept. 22 on the Malibu campus. Participating in the Pepperdine Invitational were 91 high schools and 14 colleges. Among the colleges who competed on Saturday were UCLA, USC, Fresno State University, and San Jose State University. High school teams from Rhode Island, Washington, and New York were represented in the high school division. 
  • The School of Public Policy hosted a lecture by California State Controller John Chiang on Monday, Sept. 24, on the Drescher Graduate Campus in Malibu. Chiang discussed his role as the chief fiscal officer of California, the eighth largest economy in the world. As the state's independent fiscal watchdog, Chiang provides fiscal control over more than $100 billion in annual receipts and disbursements of public funds. He uses his audit authority to uncover fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars and provides fiscal guidance to local California governments. As the controller, Chiang helps administer $400 billion in state pension funds. Among many other duties, he serves on 76 state boards and commissions, with responsibilities ranging from protecting our coastline to helping build new hospitals.
  • The Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law presented a conference on "Revolution through Social Enterprise" on Friday, September 21, in the Graziadio Executive Center on the Pepperdine campus in Malibu. Jim Fruchterman, chair and founder of The Benetech Initiative, delivered the keynote address. Among numerous other achievements, Fruchterman is a 2006 MacArthur Fellow, recipient of the Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneur award in 2003, and a frequent speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 
  • The Pepperdine community gathered in Firestone Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Sept. 19, to celebrate the vision of its founding father, George Pepperdine, and to officially inaugurate the 2007-2008 academic year. Andy Canales, President of the Student Government Association, opened the special convocation before Provost Darryl L. Tippens officially welcomed the crowd. A Scottish bagpipe and drum corps led a procession of university officers, board of regents, and various boards and councils into the Fieldhouse. Faculty emeriti, representatives from the classes of 1939 to 2007 and faculty from each of the University's five colleges concluded the academic procession.
  • The highly anticipated documentary of Pepperdine University's inaugural Parkening International Guitar Competition was aired on KCET-TV PBS Los Angeles on Sept. 10. The documentary was shot in high definition and covers the world's preeminent guitar competition from beginning to end as 15 international guitarists competed for the largest prize purse of any classical guitar competition in the world. The Parkening International Guitar Competition honors classical guitarist Christopher Parkening's lifetime commitment to fostering musical excellence in young artists as demonstrated by his mentor, the great Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia. Parkening currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Music at Pepperdine University.
  • Pulitzer Prize Winner Ed Larson Releases New Book: 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. Larson's newest work has already been favorably reviewed by The New Yorkerand will be reviewed by other illustrious publications including The New York Times Book Review, Christian Science Monitor, American Scholar, and American History.
  • Author and professor Dr. Stephen Garrard Post opened the 2007-2008 Seaver College Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series on Sept. 17 in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. During the first lecture of the series' 10th anniversary year, Post discussed the scientific connection between altruism and health, highlighting research that proves the link between doing good and living a longer, healthier, happier life. His most recent book, titled Why Good Things Happen to Good People (2007) and coauthored with journalist Jill Neimark, was available for purchase and signing by the author following the lecture. The lecture was open to the public and was free of charge.
  • As the new academic year begins, several new faculty members are joining Pepperdine's Seaver College and the University's four graduate schools. Among the distinguished new hires are Grant Nelson at the School of Law, Thema Bryant-Davis at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Maretno Agus Harjoto at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and Dyron Daughrity at Seaver College.  
  • Over 1,500 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends gathered on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 8, to kick off Step Forward Day, Pepperdine University's 19th annual day of collective volunteer service. Dozens of campus organizations—classes, dorms, fraternities, sororities, and clubs— assisted over 50 nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, and parks. Pepperdine athletic teams also came together to give a helping hand. The Waves men's volleyball team conducted a clinic at Camp David Gonzales, a juvenile probation facility. The women's and men's basketball, baseball, and cheerleading teams designed a sports clinic for inner city kids at World Impact.
  • Bruce Herschensohn, senior fellow at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, will conduct weekly U.S. foreign policy discussions on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. beginning Sept. 12 through Nov. 28 in classroom 188 on the Drescher Graduate Campus in Malibu. The discussions will focus on current international events and may include such topics as the United Nations, how U.S. foreign policy is decided, the authorities of the president and Congress, becoming a foreign service or civil service officer, the transition of the presidency, the power of the media, ballistic missile defense, running for office, and the continuing effect of the Vietnam experience on current policy.