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News & Events Recap

April 2011

  • The Center for the Arts hosted a variety of performances throughout April. Multi award-winning composer, conductor, and pianist Marvin Hamlisch performed a concert on Apr. 11, as part of the President’s Choice Series, with tenor J. Mark McVey; the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia performed Leo Lionni’s popular stories of “Swimmy,” “Frederick,” and “Inch by Inch” on Apr. 16; percussive-dance group Rhythmic Circus performed its show “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now!” on Apr. 17;
  • Pepperdine hosted a booth at the 16th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Apr. 30 and May 1 at the University of Southern California campus in Downtown Los Angeles. Several faculty and alumni authors from Pepperdine schools were featured at the festival.
  • The following Pepperdine schools hosted commencement ceremonies for their graduating students: School of Public Policy, Apr. 15, commencement speech by honorary doctorate recipient Michael J. Boskin; Seaver College, Apr. 30, with honorary doctorate recipient Sherry Lansing presenting the commencement speech. Seaver College also hosted the inaugural Multicultural Graduation Celebration on Apr. 29, to honor the graduates’ accomplishments and the rich diversity they bring to Pepperdine’s educational experience.
  • Maurice Hilliard, Pepperdine University Athletic Chaplain and project director at the Boone Center for the Family, published his new book The Price of a Pearl, in which he discusses what he has learned through teaching, coaching, and mentoring young adults.
  • The Davenport Institute for Civic Engagement and Public Leadership at the School of Public Policy launched two new blog sites relating to public engagement in governance: Gov 2.0 Watch and Big Society Watch.
  • Academy Award-nominated director Roko Belic presented a sneak preview of his feature-length documentary Happy as the final Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture (EMC) film screening of the 2010-11 academic year on Apr. 21.
  • The Fine Arts Division presented the Pepperdine Orchestra for a masterworks concert Apr. 21, directed by conductor Tony Cason and showcasing a commissioned work, Eternal Waves, by Charles Booker, as well as Bruch’s Violin Concerto, featuring Christopher Hunt, the 2011 Thomas M. Osborn Concerto Competition winner.
  • From the Alien Tort Statute, to the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, to the application of U.S. federal and state law to activities occurring abroad, U.S. courts are being thrust into interpreting questions of international law; the Pepperdine Law Review hosted a conference, titled “Current and Future Trends in Transnational Litigation,” to address these issues on Apr. 21, at the School of Law.
  • Volume 40 of Expressionists: Magazine of the Arts, Pepperdine's student-run undergraduate literary and arts magazine, debuted with a on Apr. 20, at the Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu to celebrate this year's collection of some of the best student fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and photography.
  • The Pepperdine Fine Arts Division presented a jazz ensemble performance on Apr. 18, rescheduled from Apr. 4, and was conducted by jazz ensemble program director Brian Scanlon.
  • Gary Haugen, the founder, president, and CEO of human rights agency International Justice Mission (IJM), joined the School of Law faculty April 18-22 to teach a seminar titled “Human Rights and the Rule of Law in the Developing World.” The course was an in-depth exploration into the enforcement of human rights with a particular emphasis on working with local government agencies and communities to provide effective access to justice.
  • The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art hosted the senior student art exhibition Kaleidoscopic from Apr. 14 to 30, featuring paintings, sculptures, graphic design, and more by eight artists due to graduate from Pepperdine's Seaver College in April with bachelor’s degrees in art.
  • The Pepperdine Concert Choir and Women’s Chamber Choir performed in the Pepperdine Choir Masterworks Concert on Apr. 14, conducted by Ryan Board with a program that included Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (“Lord Nelson Mass”) as well as works by Gibbons, Clérambault, Vaughan Williams, and Brahms.
  • Father Gregory Boyle, the executive director of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention and reentry program in Los Angeles County, discussed his first book, Tattoos on the Heart, on Apr. 13 to explore issues touched on in his book, including the importance of adult attention, guidance, and unconditional love in preventing youth from joining gangs.
  • Student-athletes, coaches, and staff members gathered at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu Apr. 13, to celebrate Pepperdine University’s fourth annual Student-Athlete Honors Dinner. Awards were given for the Athlete of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Wave of the Year to both male and female recipients.
  • The Pepperdine Chamber Music Ensemble performed a concert Apr. 11, featuring chamber music repertoire performed by the university’s string, guitar, and percussion ensembles. Performances include selections from Handel and Mendelssohn, as well as a special arrangement by junior music composition major Ian Cheung, and was coordinated by visiting instructor of music Sara Banta.
  • Pepperdine University and the Ventura County Community Foundation hosted the third annual Nonprofit Leadership Institute, “Developing a Culture of Philanthropy in your Organization,” on Apr. 8 and 9, featuring keynote speaker Kay Sprinkel Grace, author of The AAA Way to Fundraising Success: Maximum Involvement, Maximum Result.
  • Pepperdine’s Center for Sustainability, along with the Office of Intercultural Affairs and the student-led Green Team, hosted the second annual Earth Day festivities on Apr. 6, with an array of specialized booths and events at Mullin Town Square on the Malibu campus.
  • The Fine Arts Division Theatre Department at Pepperdine staged the classic tale of star-crossed romance with a twist, in a post-apocalyptic futuristic setting, performing William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet from Apr. 5 to 9, directed by Jason Chanos.
  • Pepperdine Collegium Musicum Novum and the Pepperdine University Percussion Ensemble performed “Music in Spirals: Music of Minimalist Composers Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley” Apr. 4, directed by N. Lincoln Hanks, associate professor of music, and Scott Higgins, lead percussionist of the Percussion Ensemble.
  • The School of Public Policy and the Koch Charitable Foundation hosted UCLA economics professor, Lee Ohanian, on Apr. 4, for a lecture titled, "The Economic Crisis: A Comparison Across Time and Across Countries."
  • The popular art exhibition Roy Lichtenstein: In Process at Pepperdine’s Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art came to a close on Apr. 3, having provided, since January, a rare opportunity to see the creative process of one of America's best-known and most-admired contemporary artists.
  • Gina Warren, a full-time MBA student at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, won the $15,000 grand prize at the 2011 Pepperdine University Business Plan Competition Finals held Apr. 2, at the Drescher Graduate Campus in Malibu.