Campus Buzz

Pepperdine International Programs Celebrate Forty Years

Before 1963, Pepperdine (then George Pepperdine College) could not offer students the opportunity to travel abroad. For forty years now, Seaver College has developed several international programs that offer year round residential, summer, and special interest studies in locations worldwide as an integral part of a student's education. Beginning with the program in Heidelberg, Germany, which celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2003, Pepperdine's international programs have expanded to include London, England; Florence, Italy; Lyon, France; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are also associated study abroad programs in Brisbane, Australia and Tokyo, Japan, as well as the new Hong Kong program, which began in the spring of 2004. Summer and special interest programs are offered at several locations, including Africa, Honduras, Russia, Spain, and Scotland.

The Heidelberg program, now in its forty-first year, celebrated four decades of traveling and studies, exploring and discovering, learning and achieving. Mary Drehsel, a twenty-year veteran with the Heidelberg program and currently a Heidelberg professor and interim director, says Germany has experienced much change in forty years. She says, "When the program began in academic year 1963-64, Germany was a divided country, Eastern Europe was closed by the Iron Curtain, Spain was a dictatorship, and the European Union was still a dream. Today the face of Europe has changed." Now, students can travel freely to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and other previously closed countries. They can cross many borders without showing a passport or having to change money, and can communicate in English almost everywhere. Close to 4,000 students have discovered the beauties of Europe, exposed themselves to the challenges of living in another culture, let their thinking be challenged, and formed lifelong friendships. Through the help of Freunde von Heidelberg, improvements are being made that will enhance the beauty of Heidelberg's Moore Haus, which will be 100 years old in 2006.

Studying abroad provides students with a unique opportunity to gain an academic, personal, and spiritual understanding of other cultures, institutions, and languages. The international programs also develop global awareness in Seaver College students and faculty. The experiences of studying and traveling overseas provide an essential dimension to a liberal arts education that can be obtained in no other way. Upon graduation, many students conclude that participating in Pepperdine's international programs was the most significant experience of their undergraduate years. Pepperdine friends and alumni are welcome on tours through the overseas facilities, but in order to maintain high security levels, the directors ask that visitors make a reservation at least twenty-four hours in advance.

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Teaching Awards Honor Pepperdine's Exemplary Faculty

The Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence, named in honor of the fifth president of Pepperdine, will recognize faculty members who have distinguished themselves as exceptional teachers. The University Committee for Teaching Excellence administers the award process. Each year, the University will select ten full time faculty members for the award, with the first awards to be given at the commencement exercises of Pepperdine's five schools in 2004.

The award is named for Dr. White because he embodies the qualities affirmed by the teaching award, having served the University for almost three decades as a history professor, dean of education, executive vice president, and president (from 1978 to 85).

In announcing the creation of the award, Provost Darryl Tippens stated, "Superior teaching is unquestionably the single greatest strength of the Pepperdine faculty. We have great professors known for their brilliant and creative work with students, both inside and outside the classroom. We look forward to this annual practice of honoring some of our most accomplished scholar teachers."

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Former Diplomat Joins the Graziadio School of Business and Management

Peter Withers was named director of Executive Programs, a new position within the Graziadio School of Business and Management. Prior to joining the Graziadio School, Withers served as the president and founder of Lachlan Withers Associates, providing strategic implementation and business planning services to businesses and nonprofit organizations. He is the former program director at Claremont's Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, where he taught graduate courses in global management and operations, and was responsible for the school's student management consulting projects. He also taught in the Management Field Study Program at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Withers served as regional director of Americas for the New Zealand Trade Development Board, and played an integral role in the rapid expansion of that nation's trade to Eastern Europe and South America. His diplomatic postings included assignments in Washington D.C., Athens, Greece, and Turkey, where he established Turkey's first resident New Zealand embassy. Withers holds a master's degree in Political Science from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and is a graduate of the Advanced Executive Program at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

The Graziadio School's Executive MBA program has been recognized by a number of leading business school rankings. For the first time in its history, the Graziadio School was included among the top seventy-five executive MBA programs worldwide by the Financial Times. The school placed sixty-fourth in the Times rankings, and was one of only forty-two national schools to be ranked. BusinessWeek ranked the Graziadio School nineteenth among its top twenty-five executive MBA programs. This year marked the third consecutive time the Graziadio School has been included in BusinessWeek's biennial ranking of executive MBA programs. The program is also ranked twenty-third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

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Graduate School of Business and Management Encourages Students to Lead Lives of Purpose, Service, and Leadership

Students enrolled in the Graziadio School's full time MBA program have a unique opportunity to enhance their business knowledge while giving back to their community through the Nonprofit Consulting Assistance (NCA) program. For fifteen years, the NCA program has teamed Graziadio student volunteers with more than eighty charitable organizations throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Over the life span of the program, Graziadio students have contributed to the growth and success of a number of Southern California community organizations, while providing consulting services valued at approximately 3.5 million dollars. "

The Pepperdine student teams have come in here and given us a breath of fresh air," said Molly Rockey, director of volunteer services for the ALS Association Greater Los Angeles Chapter. "They let us know that we're not alone in doing this work. They are our miracles as we wait for a cure for ALS." In 2003, the Pepperdine team assigned to the Los Angeles chapter of the ALS Association launched an online database of resources to assist ALS chapters nationwide.

This year the program is offered as an elective of a new course in management consulting. Students collaborate in teams to improve one aspect of a client's organization, operation, or outreach efforts. At the conclusion of the project, the team compiles a professional consultant's report summarizing all aspects of their service and a recommended course of action. "

In the aftermath of numerous corporate scandals, it is encouraging to see our MBA students continue this tradition of service," said Dr. Kathryn Fitzgerald, assistant professor of marketing and NCA program coordinator. "Not only do they assist organizations to better serve the community, they gain invaluable experience applying what they've learned in the classroom to real world situations."

Past NCA clients include the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, Goodwill Industries, Heal the Bay, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

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Sylvia Gordon Rousseau: A Truly Distinguished Alumna

Sylvia Gordon Rousseau, current superintendent of Local District I in the Los Angeles Unified School District, received the Distinguished Alumna Award on July 12, 2003. She has served as an educational administrator for nearly two decades, and graduated from the Graduate School of Education and Psychology in 1999 with her Doctor of Education degree in Institutional Management. She was also awarded the school's Outstanding Educational Leadership Award at the "Call to Leadership" conference in the fall of 2001. Prior to her current position, Superintendent Rousseau served for seven years as principal of Santa Monica High School. As principal, she worked tirelessly to reduce historical disparity in academic performance among various groups of students. As a result of her student leadership, the school raised the student academic achievement level and modeled nonviolence and community building among all ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

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Pepperdine Faculty Members are Active Players on the Publication Stage

David Davenport Coauthors Inspiring Book for Leaders

Former Pepperdine president and current professor of Public Policy and Law, David Davenport, recently coauthored a visionary new book with Blaine McCormick, Shepherd Leadership. The book provides readers with ancient wisdom for today's business leadership challenges. Based on Psalm 23, Shepherd Leadership shows a model for transforming management practices in business, nonprofit, and religious settings. McCormick and Davenport use the Shepherd's Psalm to help revolutionize leadership skills by applying biblical wisdom. "Wisdom for Leaders" teaches how to be vigilant without being adversarial, serve without being passive, and guide without being oppressively commanding.

Three Professors Explore Virtue in a New Book

Pepperdine professors David Davenport, Douglas W. Kmiec, and School of Public Policy adjunct professor and alumna, Hanna Skandera, contributed to a new book edited by Peter Berkowitz, Never a Matter of Indifference: Sustaining Virtue in a Free Republic. Public policy both directly and indirectly affects the virtues that citizens exercise and the values they hold dear. By examining the liberty and virtue taught to us by America's founding liberalism, the contributors reveal how public policy in the United States has affected institutions of civil society, and promote ways to establish a healthier relationship between public policy and personal character.

Bruce Herschensohn Pens Sweeping Historical Novel

Bruce Herschensohn, an adjunct faculty member and Henry Salvatori fellow with the School of Public Policy, uses his own unique career to inspire a moving book. After service in the United States Air Force, he began his own motion picture company and has been a television and radio political commentator for more than two decades. He has received the second highest civilian award, the Distinguished Service Medal, and became deputy special assistant to President Nixon. His new novel, Passport, journeys through the lives of twelve people thrown together by chance in British-ruled Hong Kong, and of their fateful reunion during the Chinese takeover decades later.

Richard T. Hughes Publishes Myths America Lives By

The University of Illinois Press has published Myths America Lives By, by Richard T. Hughes, distinguished professor of religion and director of the Center for Faith and Learning. In the foreword, Robert N. Bellah writes, "Hughes has wisely argued that the myths that we have spun about ourselves, though containing much truth, can also be disabling unless critically reappropriated." Bellah continues, "Richard Hughes writes as a Christian and so do I. His book is a thoughtful contribution to a decision that all of us who are Christians must make: to what extent can we help America become a responsible empire, and to what extent must we stand against empire altogether?"

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Loan Forgiveness Program Attracts Law Graduates to Public Service

Pepperdine announced the creation of a loan forgiveness program to better enable School of Law graduates to seek opportunities that serve the public interest. "Through the generosity of Henry J. and Gloria Caruso, and Rick J. and Tina Caruso, a one million dollar commitment has been made to establish an endowment specifically to help law graduates do what their hearts want them to do, and that's to use their education to serve the public good," said Ronald Phillips, vice chancellor and dean emeritus of the School of Law.

Charles Nelson, interim dean of Pepperdine's School of Law, noted that the Caruso Family Loan Forgiveness Fund will make it easier for law graduates to accept lower paying positions in the public sector. "With average student loan balances running about $78,000, erasing a portion of their debt will give more graduates an incentive to work in areas that traditionally pay less, but which are so vital to the community at large."

Pepperdine law school graduates have had a long-standing tradition of pursuing careers in the public arena, noted Pepperdine President Andrew K. Benton, in spite of the financial burdens such decisions carry. "When we opened a legal aid clinic within the downtown Union Rescue Mission several years ago, it was one of our law school's valedictorians who became the clinic's first director," said Benton. "Through the generosity of the Caruso family, who have been great supporters of Pepperdine for many years, we believe more students will feel they are able to answer the call to serve." The loan forgiveness program is structured so that upon taking jobs in the public sector, the fund will make a portion of the graduates' loan payments during their tenure in public service.

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The Little Chapel on the Hill Turns Thirty

Thirty years ago, longtime University friend, Beverly Stauffer, gave to Pepperdine an exemplary gift by which the University would become known: Stauffer Chapel. The little chapel on the hill, as it is sometimes called, was dedicated in 1973 soon after the Malibu campus opened. The architect of the chapel was Ulysses Floyd Rible, FAIA, and the glass artistry for the giant windows is the work of Robert and Bette Donovan called, "The Tree of Life." Over the years, it has become a favorite place for weddings because of the building's beauty and the stunning vista that it commands. Hundreds of couples have sealed their vows before the brilliant stained glass backdrop under the vaulted ceiling.

The chapel sits on a hill overlooking the celebrity homes of the Malibu Colony, the much photographed Malibu Pier and beach, and the small seaside community. It is enclosed on either end by enormous, colorful walls that use 105 hues and shades of imported glass. Including the six side windows, the chapel has 3,000 square feet of stained glass. There is seating for up to 180 guests in the lovely white ash pews. A small balcony contains an organ for use in weddings and space for a small group of vocalists. Just outside the front entry of the chapel is a large fountain with sculptured herons and frogs. A small grassy area on the south side of the chapel is ideal for photographs with the ocean and shoreline as backdrops. On a clear day, the shorelines of Santa Monica and Palos Verdes are visible across Santa Monica Bay.

A Military Honor Garden, dedicated at the Stauffer Chapel courtyard on May 22, 2003, recognizes thousands of Pepperdine alumni who have served America in one of the five branches of the Armed Forces. This garden was made possible with the vision and support of Pepperdine friend, the late Pierre Claeyssens. The garden houses five benches which represent the five branches of the military, bordered by indigenous plants. The plaque on the garden wall expresses the garden's intention, to remember "the graduates who gave their lives in war so that future generations might live in peace."

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School of Law Dedicates the Caruso Auditorium

Justice Antonin Scalia Participates in the Henry J. and Gloria Caruso Auditorium Dedication

November 17, 2003, marked a special day at the School of Law, with a ceremony to dedicate the new School of Law auditorium, named the "Henry J. and Gloria Caruso Auditorium." The naming of the auditorium recognized the Caruso family's sustained support of Pepperdine, and especially the family's generosity to the School of Law over the years. Led by 1983 law school alumnus Rick Caruso and his wife, Tina, the Caruso family has established the Caruso Family Chair in Law, currently held by Professor Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional law scholar. The Rick J. Caruso Research Fellows program for law school faculty, and the new School of Law loan forgiveness fund for graduates who pursue careers in public interest law, are two other gifts from the Caruso family.

Antonin Scalia, acclaimed associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, delivered the inaugural lecture of the newly created Institute of Law, Religion, and Ethics. During his time with the class, he led a lively exchange on the establishment clause and judicial interpretation of the First Amendment as it relates to the topic of religion in the public arena.

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