Christian Rationale for Diversity
The Office for Community Belonging is guided by Pepperdine University’s foundational Christian mission, which inspires in us a profound respect and love for all Waves. We live, work, and study on multiple continents, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. As such, valuing all individuals whom we encounter is essential to fulfilling our Christian mission and supporting the health and success of Pepperdine community members. A diverse and unified community of students, faculty, staff, and board members enhances the agility and learning experience for all, better preparing us to lead and serve with purpose in the ever-changing world in which we live, work, learn, and play.
Pepperdine has embraced these values for decades. For example, Seaver College Associate Professor Emeritus Dr. Ira Jolivet, authored the following on behalf of the University in 2007:
"Our mission articulates two commitments: one to the highest standards of academic excellence, and the other to Christian values. Both require respect for diverse peoples' worldviews." It also calls for us to lead by example.
"From the beginning of higher education in this country, schools have sought to inculcate in students the capacity to assume responsibility as deliberative citizens. Our mission reflects this intent by insisting that we strengthen students for "lives of purpose, service, and leadership." A diverse student body, faculty, staff, curriculum, and co-curriculum support this mission by broadening students' horizons and contributing to an objective search for truth. That search for truth requires critical thinking, which is characterized by the ability (among others) to empathetically imagine perspectives and worldviews other than our own. Such an understanding of difference is necessary to examine our own assumptions and values. Furthermore, such understanding equips students for lives of purpose, service, and leadership in a pluralistic society and an increasingly interconnected world.
As a Christian university, we inherit the Israelites' injunction to love the stranger (Deut. 10: 17-19). Jesus takes us even farther by embracing the stranger as our neighbor who is not only to be loved, but to be loved as ourselves (Luke 10:25-37). Likewise the apostle Paul declares that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female in Christ (Gal 3:28). Thus, diversity reflects the character of God. Hoping to nurture our students' understanding of the Christian faith, we must equip them with the skills to transport themselves empathetically and imaginatively into another culture, the culture of Jesus and Paul. The mission's Christian focus, even more than its focus on academic excellence, requires the study of diverse worldviews and cultures."
The Office for Community Belonging’s goal is to create and support opportunities that enable each Wave to experience a sense of belonging at Pepperdine.