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Minutes after President George W. Bush announced military action against Iraq on Wednesday night, repercussions of a nation at war reverberated through the media waves and across the world. Hundreds of students in Elkins Auditorium and the Waves Café watched with anticipation as Bush delivered his solemn, yet optimistic speech.
Whether linked to the conflict through a loved one or emotionally captivated by the war’s potential consequences, Pepperdine students must now deal with the instability of a nation at war in addition to the everyday stress involved with being a college student.
Junior Amanda Day was among those in attendance Wednesday night at Campus Ministry’s Care Group in Elkins Auditorium. Her family is directly impacted by the Iraq situation, as her cousin left for the Middle East with the U.S. Army on March 13.
“I just saw him Thursday,” she said. “It won’t affect my academics, but I’ll definitely be worried.”
Junior Scott Long addressed the general concern that war could potentially instigate terrorist attacks in the metropolises of the United States, including Los Angeles.
“I don’t lose sleep at night,” he said. “But it is something that’s always at the back of my mind.”
For these reasons, the university community is planning safe emotional and spiritual environments for all students, faculty and staff who may experience negative emotional impacts from impending war or possible terrorism.
Numerous campus organizations have taken specific measures to help students deal with the war crisis, including the Student Counseling Center.
According to Dr. Emily Scott-Lowe, many students came to the center after Sept. 11 with anxiety and panic attacks, not realizing that the terrorist attacks increased their sense of helplessness and confusion, triggering anxiety and panic.
“We can expect that systems of anxiety will be present although most of our students will not necessarily put it together that these symptoms are related to war,” said Scott-Lowe, who has worked at the Student Counseling Center since 1984.
Dr. Fred Barnes, the Counseling Center director, agreed that these signs might not be easy to detect.
“Students are likely to experience physiological, psychological and emotional symptoms, and they will need a place to share personal concerns and anxieties,” he said. “Based on our practiced experience … students will be uniquely impacted.”
The center will welcome Dr. Jana Martin, a highly trained psychologist from the University of California, Los Angeles on March 31 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. for assistance in counseling the community. Martin was recommended to Pepperdine by the American Psychological Association as one of two Los Angeles-area experts in emotional resiliency in times of crisis, Barnes said.
He added that the Counseling Center always welcomes students to come in if they find themselves in a time of need. In this time of war, Barnes suggested that students utilize personal relationships with friends, roommates and family, while always seeking spiritual assistance.
“Stay in the Word, stay on your knees and know that help is on the way,” he said.
Campus Minister Linda Truschke also stressed the importance of spiritual guidance.
“If you have a relationship with God, you can find comfort in being able to pray alone or with other people,” she said.
Along with Campus Minister Scott Lambert, Truschke said they are trying to anticipate the war’s effects on students by opening their doors to students who need counseling and gearing up Campus Ministry interns to assist students in prayer and advice.
She added that since many students are far away from their loved ones, there is a serious need in the Pepperdine community to give and receive support.
“We will serve as a family … apart from students’ families who may be across the country,” she said.
Scott-Lowe offered social advice to students who are experiencing difficult times.
“During times like these, little irritants can be magnified,” she said. “Our resiliency seems to disappear. Therefore, we need to treat ourselves and others with patience and kindness.”
In order to ensure that its employees were ready to maintain a sense of community for students living on campus, the Office of Housing and Community Living met late Wednesday night with all Resident Advisors, Student Advisors and Spiritual Life Advisors. Lambert, Scott-Lowe and representatives of the Department of Public Safety were in attendance at the meeting.
Associate Dean of Students of HCL Stacy Rothberg said she was impressed at the large amount of collaboration that was involved in organizing the meeting.
“We want to make sure (our employees) receive lots of perspectives and are personally aware of a variety of factors that can affect them,” she said. “People going through different things may need different things from the university.”
Head RA Erik Weigand called the meeting “an overall comfort.”
“Basically we’ll talk worse case scenario: L.A. gets hit,” he said. “That’s something residents could ask and are asking. We want to make our RAs feel comfortable answering their residents’ general questions or at least know where to direct them. Tell them about counseling, about the chapel … it’s acting as kind of a refuge during this whole thing.
“The worst feeling for an RA is going into a situation where they don’t know how to respond,” he added. “Unlike the most recent situation, Sept. 11, which was purely reactionary – there was no way to prepare for it – we didn’t know to what extent anything would be occurring. It’s nice to know we are being proactive.”
University Chaplain D’Esta Love has also planned for the effects the war may cause, especially disunity within the Pepperdine community.
“We need to recognize that our campus is divided in where we stand,” she said. “There are some who support the war and others who do not.”
To promote a closer community, Love has organized an environment for prayer and “a place of peace,” where students, faculty and staff can meditate or pray independently in Stauffer Chapel around the clock, beginning immediately.
From noon to 1 p.m. daily, she will hold a period of public worship where the community can come together, worship and read scripture. Those in attendance will recite the Lord’s Prayer every hour on the hour, and a prayer journal will be open for requests.
“It creates a place of refuge, a unifying experience for members of the Pepperdine community, serving as a place of mourning, or a place of concession, or a place to pray for the protection of our troops or our enemies,” Love said.
Love mentioned several other proposed events to serve Pepperdine in this time of uncertainty, including candlelight vigils and sessions of open dialogue and perspectives, which will be formally announced in the coming week.
Like Lambert, Truschke and the Counseling Center, Love is opening her office to students and is trying to make as much time as she can to assist them and pray with them, she said.
“Students need to seek out people who will hear them and offer support,” she said.
Campus Ministry promotes Care Group as a weekly means of support.
On Wednesday night following Bush’s national address, a packed Elkins Auditorium sat in silence. Lambert’s voice trembled over the microphone.
“Who knows what to say,” he said. “There could be some rough days, so let’s be ready in prayer. I hope that we as Christians can turn this over continually to God.”
— Assistant Sports Editor Joann Groff contributed to this report
Coping with anxiety
The Counseling Center recommends that students who experience stress, anxiety or depression consider the following advice:
• Struggle to stay centered and be OK with the fact that physical, cognitive and emotional reactions are normal.
• Give yourself permission to feel depressed.
• Do not numb your pain with overuse of alcohol or drugs.
• Enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of exercise, sufficient amounts of sleep and a healthy diet.
• Talk to your roommates, classmates and friends about anything that bothers you.
• Keep yourself busy and structure your time.
• Do not make major life-changing decisions for several months.
• Try studying in shorter periods and take frequent breaks.
• Nurture yourself spiritually through meditation, prayer and inspirational reading.
• Avoid excessive exposure to the news, which may increase anxiety.
— Information courtesy Dr. Fred Barnes and Dr. Emily Scott-Lowe of the Student Counseling Center
Submitted March 20, 2003
MALIBU, CA
