Past Events 2005–2006 Academic Year

The following were events for the Pepperdine Voyage project for the 2005–06 academic year.

Service and Social Action Grants Awarded

The Lilly Vocation grants provided funds of up to $3000 to support student-led service and social action projects. Projects awarded funding for 2005–06 were:

Rotaract Club: Dorcas House orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico

Rotaract Club at Dorcas House orphanage

Volunteer Center: Seth Allingham and Amanda Dudley: Week of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness
Frederick Anyanwu: HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, School of Public Policy Capstone project
YIFTU: Acting on AIDS club: Acting on AIDS National Student Conference and AIDS Awareness Week, March 27–31

YIFTU students deliver food to Project Angel Food, L.A., 2006

Ezra Plank: New Orleans Hurricane Katrina relief with New Carrollton Avenue Church of Christ with 12 Pepperdine students
Pepperdine Model UN Club: National Model United Nations conference, April 11–15
Romesh Jayawardene, Office of Intercultural Affairs: Sri Lanka Tsunami relief
Project Serve Argentina: Adulam Christian farm, February 24–March 5

Ministry Internships Awarded


The Lilly grant provides funding for ministry internships that are available to graduate and undergraduate students seeking a major or minor degree through the Religion Division. Students awarded internships for 2005–06 are:

Adam Baron               Formation Global, Great Britain
Chelsea Clark             Culver Palms Church of Christ
Chad Counts              Highland Church of Christ, Abilene, TX
Delia Dycus                Central Dallas Ministries
Joshua Hollingsworth  Holly Hill Church of Christ, Daytona Beach, FL
Zachary Love             Camp Blue Haven, Las Vegas, NM
James McCarty           New Testament Churches of Christ, Uganda
Kelly O'Rear                Lifeline Chaplaincy, Houston, TX
Emeshea Petty           Church of Christ, Cologne, Germany
Ezra Plank                  Carrollton Avenue Church of Christ, New Orleans
Sarai Small                 Nyaka School, Nyakagyezi, Uganda

Spiritual Discernment Retreat, March 30–April 1, 2006

The Pepperdine Voyage hosted a Spiritual Discernment retreat on March 30–April 1, 2006. This retreat was open to all Seaver College students. The featured speaker was Philip Kenneson, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Milligan College and author of Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community. The retreat was held at the Hyatt Westlake Village.

International Programs Student Service Coordinators

This was the third year of funding for a student service coordinator position in Pepperdine's overseas programs. The student service coordinator is responsible for working with the program director and faculty to establish and organize service opportunities for all students studying abroad. The student service coordinators for 2005–06 were:

Amy Dyer- London
Alissa Smith- Florence
Chelsea McCollum- Heidelberg
Heather Scott- Lyon

Maria Susana Battisti- Maria Susana is a staff member with the Buenos Aires program who served as the service coordinator for that program.

Ministry-as-Vocation Retreat, November 4–5, 2005

On November 4–5, 2005 Pepperdine religion students and local area ministers joined together in a retreat to explore the vocation of the minister. The retreat was led by Mark and Angela Manassee. Mark is the minister of the Culver Palms Church of Christ and Angela serves as a hospice chaplain. They spoke on the topic "Pastoral Care: Facing Life's Challenges."

Mark & Angela Mannassee present
at 2005 Ministry-as-Vocation retreat

Annual New Faculty Retreat/Seminar, December 12–20, 2005

The annual retreat and "faith, learning and vocation" seminar for new faculty from all five of Pepperdine's schools was held at Pepperdine's facility in Florence, Italy from December 12–20, 2005. This year's retreat was led by D'Esta Love and Chris Soper.

New Faculty Retreat group in Assisi, December 2005

Student Leadership Breakfast Colloquium

Campus-wide student leaders attend this series of breakfasts to hear speakers who help them think about the questions of vocation as they relate to the leadership roles. These events are by invitation only.

PEPPERDINE VOYAGE PROVIDES FOR VOCATION-RELATED ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
The "Pepperdine Voyage" project has earmarked $160,000 for vocation-related academic programs during its first four years of programming. Academic divisions in Seaver College as well as the University's professional schools were eligible to apply for these awards. Although funding for this part of the program will not continue into the sustaining grant years, the programs which were implemented have had and many continue to have a significant impact on the university culture.

The Vocation projects which were awarded funding are:

1. School of Law- Development of a Human Rights Program
Persons Responsible: Roger Alford, David Davenport, Lee Boyd, Robert Cochran, Rick Cupp, and Barry McDonald
This project sought to build a relationship between the Pepperdine University School of Law and International Justice Mission (IJM) and its Honduran affiliate Asosicacion para una Sociedad mas Justa (ASJ). The grant monies were used to fund the development of a human rights program in Honduras with IJM, culminating in two follow-up human rights mission trips in May 2005 and May 2006. Ideally, this will lead to the establishment of a Pepperdine human rights clinic that is Christian focused and addresses the plight of human rights throughout other targeted regions of the world.

2. Natural Science Division- Senior-level community service project
Person Responsible: Jane Ganske

In this service project, which spanned two separate semesters, Jane Ganske will accompany senior chemistry majors to Los Angeles city schools, where they will teach children and their teachers about urban smog. Dr. Ganske hopes to continue this program in the future. 

3. Graziadio School of Business and Management- Information Ethics: Incorporating Vocation and Stewardship into the Management and Use of Information Resources
Persons Responsible: Charla Griffy-Brown and Mike Hamlin
This funding was used to create a technology- based co-curricular component that incorporates the concepts of vocation and stewardship in an Information Ethics segment of the Information Systems Discipline courses offered in the MBA programs. This program will continue to be used, with hopes to expand it to other areas of the Graziadio School of Business and Management.

4. School of Law- Development of an Institute for Law, Religion, and Ethics
Persons Responsible: Robert Cochran, Lee Boyd, Thomas Bost, Roger Alford, Rabbi Samuel Levine, Joel Nichols, Daryl Fisher-Ogden, and L. Timothy Perrin

This funding has supported the establishment of the Institute for Law, Religion, and Ethics at the School of Law. A series of three conferences were funded: "Vocation and the Legal Profession" in February 2004; "Lawyers, Faith, and Social Justice" in February 2005; and "The Lawyer as Peacemaker" in February 2006. The funding also supported a course entitled "Christian Perspectives on Law and the Legal Vocation" taught by Robert Cochran twice during the course of the grant period.

5. Social Science Division- Research and Vocation

Person Responsible: Cindy Miller-Perrin
This funding allowed undergraduate psychology students the opportunity to present their academic research at national and regional professional psychology conferences. Two groups of students participated in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years and also participated in a series of readings and group meetings which enabled them to reflect meaningfully on their research experiences.

Dr. Miller-Perrin continues to work with the Pepperdine Voyage as co-director of the assessment component and will continue her work with psychology students, assisting them to present their research.

6. Communication Division- Media Vocation Models

Person Responsible: Michael Murrie
This funding supported two conferences to explore the relationship between a vocation in media and our call as Christians, to identify individuals who demonstrate media service to God, and to identify media models that encourage service to God and people. These conferences, entitled "Comm Connection" will continue annually at the Communication Division.

7. Communication Division- Narrative and Vocation

Person Responsible: Juanie Walker
This is an academic program that helps students and faculty together explore the centrality of narrative in the study and practice of human communication and mass communication. Activities include student-led focus groups using communication major alumni who have followed a strong vocational calling; a speaker series featuring communication professionals who would present their vocational narratives; and student poster sessions presenting their research findings on vocational narratives. Dr. Walker continues to teach a course and sponsor student activities and publications focusing on vocation and narrative.