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“Freely ye have received, freely give.”
After every meal eaten in the cafeteria, with full stomachs and empty plates, students see this motto, posted in plain view on the wall in front of the tray return. Many may ignore it, or fail to give it much thought, but these words are as important as the first cornerstone that was laid in the fall 1937.
Based on the values contained in this simple scripture, George Pepperdine founded not only an institution of higher learning, but a legacy.
With $5 and a dream, George Pepperdine started his own auto parts company and diligently built an empire which ulitimately provided the resources needed to turn that dream into reality.
In June 1937, Pepperdine College’s first bulletin was published, outlining Pepperdine’s intentions for his multi-million dollar investment:
“…to improve civilization; to advance knowledge, both the scientific knowledge of men and the wisdom which is from above.” Those words were recounted in “Crest of a Golden Wave,” a cumulative pictorial history of Pepperdine written by historian and Director of Curch Relations Dr. Jerry Rushford and Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Bill Henegar to commemorate the school’s 50th anniversary.
FOUNDATIONS
When the doors were opened Sept. 21, 1937, only four glass-sided buildings were operational on the 34-acre plot located on the south side of Los Angeles. Dormitories not yet completed, students were temporarily housed in the William Penn Hotel, one of George Pepperdine’s many assets.
Long before its manifest-destiny style relocation to Malibu, Pepperdine was making waves. In April 1938, Pepperdine College was granted full accreditation by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, an unprecedented honor for a brand new college whose first graduating class consisted of four students.
That first year of operation was a time of definition for the infant college. Things that characterize Pepperdine today had yet to be decided and were still on the table for discussion.
The school colors, blue for the Pacific Ocean and orange for California’s orange groves, were suggested by President Batsell Baxter; a vibrant combination that compliments the school’s spirit while depicting its coastal climate. A committee appointed to select the school’s colors suggested blue and gold, but President Dr. Baxter had creative insight and his touch made Pepperdine’s banner cheerfully unique.
With colors decided, a team name had to be chosen to embody Pepperdine’s athletic squads. Although the school was located several miles from the ocean at the time, Baxter, Pepperdine’s first president, suggested the name “Waves,” a powerful personification that strays from the traditional practice of naming teams after cunning beasts or violent historic characters.
GROWTH
Before the end of Pepperdine College’s first decade, students were treated with the introduction of a football program, and then thrilled by the team’s superlative first season. In 1947, the Waves won the Will Rogers Bowl, the national small college championship.
In the years following, enrollment steadily increased, thanks in part to the G.I. Bill. Implemented in 1945 immediately following the Second World War, the bill enabled students from all over the country to attend.
According to Pepperdine historians it was the close-knit family atmosphere, Christian values, outstanding academics and athletics that applicants were admittedly attracted to.
By now, those four glass-sided buildings that had once housed all activities was expanding into a full-fledged campus. In 1947, the business administration building, a small science building, an infirmary and Marilyn Hall women’s dormitories had all been completed.
The 1950s was a time of continued growth for Pepperdine, as well as a time of struggle. America was once again in the midst of war, this time with Korea.
Enrollment fell as a result, but the decline was short lived. Financial problems plagued the school, but needs were met with the help of Associated Women for Pepperdine, a group that has provided financial support through fund-raising since 1958. George Pepperdine retired at the age of 70 in 1956 and published his biography, “Faith is My Fortune” in 1959.
EXPANSION
Pepperdine College celebrated its 25th anniversary in September 1962 only two months after the death of its founder. Coming to life that same year was Pepperdine’s year-in-Europe program. Students at the upper division level could spend a year studying in Heidelberg, Germany. Pepperdine’s third president, Dr. Norvel Young, had been part of an effort by the Churches of Christ to deliver aid to war-torn Germany.
In 1966, just one year after the Watts riots shook the L.A. community, President Young appointed a committee to select a new site for GPC.
The 34-acre campus limited expansion, and Young would not allow Pepperdine’s continual growth to be restricted. The committee investigated sites for more than a year, but a 138-acre gift of Malibu land from the Adamson family helped to make the final decision a little easier.
Instead of uprooting Pepperdine from its Los Angeles home and transplanting it to the Malibu coast, a multi-campus concept was adopted.
“Saying that Pepperdine moved from Los Angeles to Malibu is really a misnomer,” Henegar said. The Los Angeles campus remained open and operational for nine years after the Malibu location was completed.
Today, Malibu houses Seaver College, School of Law and the School of Public Policy. The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Graduate School of Education and Psychology operate mainly out of Pepperdine University Plaza, located in West Los Angeles. For every student in Malibu there is a student enrolled in one of the six graduate school campuses.
Pepperdine’s total enrollment is approximately 8,000.
DESTINY
Four months after achieving university status, the school broke ground in Malibu April 1971. At this time, tuition, room and board only cost $3,114. This figure is low considering that Pepperdine, having only been in operation for 34 years, was building a brand new campus, offering more fields of study and adding new programs left and right.
The Malibu campus has been called magnificent, and the events surrounding its establishment have been called miraculous. The California Coastal Commission was created only two months after classes started in Malibu. That group, along with a small minority of detractors living in the Malibu community, could have halted or drastically stifled the university’s progress. But as it turned out, Pepperdine was fully operational before it could be affected by any new legal or environmental regulations.
Not one man, not even man alone can be credited with Pepperdine’s phenomenal development, historians said. There was divine intervention. According to Pepperdine historians, The “Miracle of Malibu,” as it has been dubbed, was the result of a combined effort.
All the roads and all the buildings at Seaver College are named for those who made integral contributions; even the undergraduate college itself is named for Frank and Blanche Seaver, who have more than matched all other donations combined.
LOOKING AHEAD
As far as progress is concerned today, current President Dr. Andrew K. Benton points to the heavy construction Pepperdine has endured for the last two years and will continue to endure for a few years to come. What began as a 138-acre gift and what Benton called an “experiment” has grown into an 830-acre success.
The newly completed Center for Business and Communication and the Keck Science Center follow the original architect’s modified Spanish Mediterranean design and look as if they have always been a part of the Seaver landscape. Upon completion of the first phase of the Drescher campus next year, Malibu will experience what Benton calls a “recentering.”
“When the United States acquired Alaska, Kansas was no longer the center,” Benton said.
His words suggest that as the campus expands to cover more of the 830 acres that belongs to Pepperdine, what we now know as main campus may not be the center of activity it is today.
With a new center comes new focus. Emphasis on scholarship, faculty research and the quality of students are all on the rise.
Two new programs are now available for overseas study: Lyon, France and Japan. Over the next several years, improvements will be made in the library, the weight center and the intramural programs.
George Pepperdine’s goals and expectations have been carried out by those entrusted with the responsibility. Students, like faculty, staff and benefactors share a large portion of that responsibility. Evolution does not happen by itself.
“Students today have a big job of developing tradition,” Henegar said.
Before King Neptune, there was Willie the Wave, and before the rock, there was Delores. The university that stands in Malibu today is not the college that stood in South Central Los Angeles 30 years ago.
The class of 1950 may look back on their days as Waves and remember the football games, the war and the $750 price tag. The class of 1970 may remember the buzz of a college on the verge of becoming a university.
How will the Waves of tomorrow remember Pepperdine?
Submitted November 14, 2002
MALIBU, CA
