Pepperdine University Hosts Classic Learning Test Founder Jeremy Wayne Tate for President’s Speaker Series

MALIBU, California –Pepperdine University President Jim Gash welcomed Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), as part of the President’s Speaker Series. Students, faculty, and community members gathered in Malibu for a discussion on the future of higher education and the role of classical learning in college admissions.

Media assets are available here. A recording of the event is available here.

President Gash opened the conversation by highlighting Pepperdine’s mission-driven approach to education and announced that the University is in the final stages of planning a new Great Books Honors College, set to launch in Fall 2027, focused on deep reading and intellectual formation.

Describing Tate as an entrepreneur and education leader, President Gash discussed Tate’s work in founding the Classic Learning Test in 2015 as an alternative to the SAT and ACT, but with an emphasis on classical education, critical thinking, and engagement with foundational texts.

“Education is not just about career preparation,” Tate said. “It’s about forming the whole person. It’s about who the student becomes.” 

Drawing from his early experience as a teacher and college counselor, Tate explained that he began questioning how standardized testing shapes what schools prioritize. 

“For better or worse,” he said, “everyone ends up teaching to the test.” 

His solution was not to eliminate testing, but to create an assessment that reinforces deep reading and serious engagement with classic texts.

When asked what defines “the classics,” Tate said: “They’re the books that have withstood the test of time. They speak across generations, cultures, and centuries. There’s something powerful about handing a student a story that’s been passed down for 2,000 years and saying, ‘Now it’s your turn.’”

Tate shared how reading Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment as a young adult reshaped his understanding of literature and moral imagination. “I didn’t know books could do that,” he said. “I didn’t know they could change you.”

Over the past decade, CLT has grown from 46 students taking its first exam to more than 250,000 students nationwide in 2024. Tate described the early years as “trying to start a fire in the rain,” but said momentum has accelerated as more schools and universities seek alternatives.

At the heart of his mission, Tate said, is a belief that education must aim higher than credentialing. “If we care about the future of our country, we have to care about how we educate the next generation,” he said. 

Tate added that students are searching for depth. “We are seeing a generation that wants something deeper,” he explained. “They want truth. They want substance.”

The conversation also turned to artificial intelligence and technology’s impact on learning. While acknowledging rapid change, Tate expressed optimism. “AI can summarize information,” he said, “but it can’t replace formation. It can’t replace a teacher who inspires, who models virtue, who shapes a student’s character.”

In closing, Gash tied the conversation to Pepperdine’s annual theme, “For Greater Purpose.” He asked Tate how he would hope to describe his life’s work one day.

Tate talked about his seasons of doubt and sacrifice over the past decade, and about the deeper meaning found in staying faithful through hardship.

“There’s something powerful about not running from pain,” Tate said. “It’s through that process that we’re formed.”

Pepperdine University’s President's Speaker Series welcomes distinguished scholars and thought leaders representing diverse points of view to examine topics and issues facing our communities and the world today. Driven by a desire to connect deeply with our community and inspire meaningful dialogue in the pursuit of truth, the series provides opportunities to cultivate an engaged and impassioned collective through civil discourse.

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About Jeremy Wayne Tate

Jeremy Wayne Tate is the founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test and a national leader in the revival of classical education. He has been featured on Fox News, MS Now, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Inside Higher Ed, and The New York Times. Prior to founding the Classic Learning Test, Tate served as director of college counseling at Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Maryland.

Tate received his bachelor of science in secondary education from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in religious studies from Reformed Theological Seminary. 

About Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is a private Christian university located 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles in Malibu, California. Rooted in the Christian tradition, Pepperdine is committed to both the relentless pursuit of truth through academic and scholarly excellence and to embodying Christian faith and values. With students at the heart of the educational enterprise, the University prepares approximately 9,000 scholars for lives of purpose, service, and leadership across its flagship liberal arts school, Seaver College, the College of Health Science, and four graduate schools—the Caruso School of Law, the Graziadio Business School, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and the School of Public Policy. Pepperdine is committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. Follow Pepperdine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

 

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