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News and Events

News & Events Recaps

June 2007

  • The School of Law hosted A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of William French Smith at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The 74th U.S. attorney general, Smith served on the School of Law’s Board of Visitors, and was honored at the school's annual dinner in 1984. Former members of the Reagan cabinet and William French Smith Justice Department gave tribute to Smith which were followed by a reception and gala dinner in Air Force One Pavilion. Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. attorney, associate attorney general and mayor of New York, spoke at the dinner along with other special honored guests.

  • Pepperdine University benefited from yet another strong effort by its sports program during the 2006-07 school year as eight Waves athletic teams advanced to NCAA Championships post-season play. Pepperdine athletics teams compiled an overall record of 169-109-3 during the recently concluded 2006-07 school year, a .607 winning percentage. The Waves have won at least 60 percent of their athletics contests in 25 of the last 31 seasons, and surpassed the 70 percent mark on six occasions.

  • Ken Starr, dean of the Law School, and his Kirkland & Ellis pro bono legal team members, won their appeal to the Supreme Court in the closely-watched First Amendment student speech case of Morse v. Frederick, often referred to as the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case.

  • Robert G. Kaufman, public policy professor at the School of Public Policy, wrote a new book titled In Defense of the Bush Doctrine (University Press of Kentucky). In it, Kaufman argues that the Bush administration has developed an effective foreign policy, especially in regards to the Middle East. Showcasing his timely work and giving members of the public an opportunity to hear firsthand from the author, Kaufman held a lecture at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

  • The Graziadio School of Business and Management, in partnership with Directorship: The Business Resource for Directors, presented the 2007 Annual Directorship Boardroom Forum. The annual event, titled "The New Rules of Board Effectiveness," took place at the Villa Graziadio Executive Center. Fortune 500 directors, chief executives, and governance experts, as well as Graziadio School faculty, led the first-ever West Coast Directorship Boardroom Forum in a unique mix of riveting panel discussions, workgroups, and in-depth peer group exchanges.

  • The Graduate School of Education and Psychology celebrated the 2007 education graduation at Alumni Park on the Malibu campus. Lawyer and civil rights activist Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, received an honorary doctorate. Dr. Graciela Italiano-Thomas, president and CEO of Thrive by Five Washington, was honored as the Distinguished Alumnus.

  • The Pepperdine Housing and Community Living office placed 11 yellow bins around the Malibu campus in the last weeks of Seaver College's spring semester. The bins were used to collect clothing and shoes for Planet Aid, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment and creating sustainable development in Africa and Asia. In the first five days that the collection bins were in place, a total of 7,725 pounds of clothing and shoes were donated. 

  • Fulbright Scholar Felix Doerfelt, of Hamburg, Germany, recently completed his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University's Straus Institute. Doerfelt came to Pepperdine through the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. 

  • Ten members of Pepperdine's 2006 NCAA Division I National Championship-winning tennis team were honored at a White House Ceremony. On "Champions' Day" President Bush commended 32 NCAA Championship-winning teams from 21 university or college campuses from 14 different states. In his speech, President Bush specially recognized the Pepperdine team for conducting a youth tennis clinic in Washington, D.C. Approximately 20 youths in southeast Washington D.C. participated in the tennis skills clinic.  

  • Songfest, an intensive summer professional training program for aspiring classical singers and pianists, opened its 2007 season in Raitt Recital Hall. All performances were open to the public and free. Through its two divisions, the Professional Program and the Apprentice Program, Songfest addresses the wide-ranging needs of curious auditors, ambitious high school students, budding professionals, and teachers who seek enrichment.  

  • Pepperdine senior men's tennis player Richard Johnson was recognized for his excellence on the court, in the classroom, and in the community when he was named the West Coast Conference's (WCC) Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also awarded the WCC's Postgraduate Scholarship.

  • An inclusive and comprehensive international conference on The Collapse of Europe, the Rise of Islam, and the Consequences for the United States was held at Pepperdine. Panelists included Mark Steyn, author of The New York Times bestseller America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, former Dutch parliamentarian and author of the bestseller Infidel; Daniel Pipes, director, Middle East Forum; radio talk show hosts Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager, and Pepperdine School of Public Policy faculty Robert Kaufman and James Q. Wilson, among others.

  • Pepperdine University student publications Graphic newspaper and Currents magazine were honored with six awards in an annual statewide newspaper competition sponsored by the California College Media Association.

  • The Graziadio School of Business and Management hosted the world’s top management educators in organizational behavior on Pepperdine's Malibu campus.  The Organizational Behavior Teaching Society held its annual conference at the University, showcasing three days of peer learning, strategic curriculum development, and skills development sessions. In addition to the Graziadio School's own scholars, including Mark Mallinger, Edward Rockey, and Wayne Strom, leading management educators and researchers Edward Lawler, Craig Lundberg, Ray Miles, Jay Conger, Roy Lewicki, and Cindi Fukami were among the invited experts in the field who took part in the sessions. 

  • Azra Hot, a 2006 graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law was selected as a prestigious Temple Bar Scholar by the American Inns of Court. Hot joins three other clerks who were chosen from a large pool of highly qualified applicants based on high academic achievement in law school, experience as a law clerk for a judge or justice of a leading appellate court, and demonstrated interest in international law issues. 

  • Ascending Voice, the largest and most eclectic gathering ever devoted exclusively to a cappella music, took place at Pepperdine University's Malibu campus. The diverse international four-day music festival brought more than 400 attendees to the Malibu campus for unique lectures, presentations, and performances.  

  • David Holmes, Blanche E. Seaver professor in Humanities at Seaver College, was elected to the College Nominating Committee for the National Council of Teachers of English.

  • Timothy Chester, Chief Information Officer for the University, was appointed chair of the editorial board of EDUCAUSE Quarterly, a practitioner's journal for college and university managers and users of information resources—information, technology, and services—published quarterly by EDUCAUSE.

  • Michael Murrie, communications professor at Seaver College, and Seaver alumna Theresa de los Santos, a news producer at KTTV Los Angeles, served as professional mentors to news media personnel during the 2007 Associated Press Television and Radio Association (APTRA) Academy held at Pepperdine's Malibu campus.

  • Lani Fraizer, a doctoral student in GSEP's Educational Technology program, was selected to be a judge for the 2007 Imagine Cup in Korea. Sponsored by Microsoft, Imagine Cup is a worldwide event where students gather to compete and showcase their creativity in technology innovations, entrepreneurship, and presenting real-world solutions to real-world problems.