How to make a difference at Pepperdine

During your time at Pepperdine, you will get to know how the university runs and the different issues it faces. As you learn more, you may discover that there is a policy or system that the university has that you do not agree with or want to change. Because Pepperdine is a small school with a student-centered administration, there are many avenues that you can take to affect change on campus. It is easy to be discouraged or angry when we see something going wrong in our community, but we can do something about it. In this blog, I want to highlight three of these paths of change: Organizations, Activism, and Individual Outreach.

1) Organizations:

A great way to make change at Pepperdine is through student organizations that work directly with the administration. Two of the organizations that work the most with the administration are the Pepperdine Ambassadors Council (PAC) and the Student Government Association (SGA). PAC is a group of 20 juniors and seniors that are selected to represent the university and student body to administrators and to the Malibu Community. SGA is an elected body of students including class presidents, senators, and other members who work with the administration to make specific policy changes at Pepperdine. Other organizations spend their time meeting with administrators, where as these two groups meet with and form relationships with upper-level administrators, including the president

As a member of PAC, I have had the opportunity to speak directly with President Gash, many of the vice-presidents, the Chief Financial Officer, and many others about issues that matter to both myself and other students. For instance, when Pepperdine announced that it would not be instituting a tuition freeze in response to the pandemic, PAC organized a meeting with the CFO to discuss the reasoning behind this decision. 

SGA is focused on solving specific issues at Pepperdine, including everything from asking for facilities to fix broken chairs in the library to releasing the university budget for any student to access. The student body president also meets directly with the President on a regular basis. Being on SGA is a great way to represent your fellow students and improve life at Pepperdine.

Both of these organizations are avenues for you to make change on campus. The opportunity to have access to administrators and staff is an invaluable tool, and it makes it possible to affect change at our university.

PAC website:

https://www.pepperdine.edu/pepperdine-ambassadors-council/

SGA website:

https://community.pepperdine.edu/seaver/studentactivities/sga/

2) Activism

If you want to affect the policies and culture at Pepperdine but you are not a part of one of the aforementioned organizations, another opportunity you have is to engage in activism. Whether it is with an organization or on your own, you can make your voice heard on campus by informing and inspiring other students. From writing on the Freedom Wall to organizing a protest, there are a few forms this activism can take.

If your goal is to inform people about issues that affect students on campus, then working with the Pepperdine Volunteer Center (PVC) is a great option. The PVC devotes a lot of time and energy to awareness campaigns meant to highlight various issues, including the experiences and challenges of marginalized groups on and off-campus. For example, the PVC has done much work pointing out and criticizing the lack of accessibility on campus for students with disabilities. You can either contact the PVC to help out with events like these or apply to work there yourself.

If there is a specific group or issue that you want to focus on, then there may be a club on campus that you can join or support. Groups like the Black Students Association (BSA) or Crossroads (the LGBTQ+ club) focus on advocating for black students and LGBTQ+ students respectively. Reaching out to organizations like BSA and Crossroads is a good option if you are passionate about supporting these or other groups of students

https://www.pepperdine.edu/volunteercenter/

https://pepperdine.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/bsa

Pepperdine Crossroads - crossroads@pepperdine.edu

3) Individual Problem-Solving

If there is an issue on campus that you are personally passionate about but that is not connected to a specific organization, then you can individually reach out to administrators. In my experience, Pepperdine administrators are very receptive to student concerns and will take the time to listen to you. 

For example, I had the opportunity to talk to the head of HRL about their hiring practices for International Programs RAs. I sent an email with my concerns, and multiple administrators replied to me with the head of HRL eventually setting up a meeting with me. Even though I was only one student voicing a concern, the administrators I contacted took the time to listen to me and discuss my concerns. If there is a concern or an idea that you have, you can also figure out who at Pepperdine is in charge of the area that pertains to your concern and contact them. Even if they cannot help you, they will listen and consider what you have to say.

Whatever path you take to make change at Pepperdine, I’d encourage you to be proactive. It may be easier to voice one’s complaints without acting on them, but that will not help anyone as much as action. The university can only get better when students are committed to working to improve it.

By: Joel