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Issue 6
Pepperdine-graphic.com
october 4, 2018
Unite Pepp movement continues
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Good Samaritan Policy Gets c h a n n a s te i n m e tz so c i al m e d i a m anag e r
Final Grade | A display about the Good Samaritan Policy hangs on the Freedom Wall. Students behind the Unite Pepp Movement wanted to spark a conversation about drugs and alcohol.
Students corrected and graded the Good Samaritan Policy for a public display on the Freedom Wall on Thursday, Sept. 27. The seniors leading the Unite Pepp movement, Elijah Zoarski and Julia Donlon, utilized the Freedom Wall once again to spark a conversation about drugs and alcohol on campus. In April, Zoarski asked students to submit their most shocking stories regarding parties and alcohol, and if they have ever not used the Good Samaritan policy due to fear of repercussions. The answers started a movement. Red-pen edits to the Good Samaritan parable peppered Pepperdine’s policy with commonly heard phrases such as, “He’s fine dude! He just needs water!” The display included a QR code to a two-part video interviewing freshmen on if they would use the policy, and a break down of what the policy entails. “We’re trying to help,” Zoarski said. “At the end of the day, we want a safe campus. We’re leaving in seven months, and we want to make sure that this place is safer than it was when we walked on it.” Zoarski and Donlon explained that in order to initiate actual change, the campus culture must change. Donlon said that process starts with the presentation and understanding of the policy. “Last year, we were really focusing on administration needing to be better and make some changes,” Donlon said. “Once they did, we’re like, great, now we all need to be better. That’s why we wrote
at the bottom, ‘Who’s at fault?’ Everyone. It’s campus culture.” The idea to work with freshmen came along only a couple weeks into school when a freshman admitted to Zoarski that he would not use the Good Samaritan Policy, Zoarski said. “We then asked quite a few people,” Zoarski said. “Most of it was either ‘No, I wouldn’t use it,’ or ‘I would use it, but only in some cases—only if my friend was literally dying.’ We were shocked. There was already this mistrust, and they just went through education [of the policy].” Donlon added the two of them offered to speak at New Student Orientation (NSO), but the offer never went to fruition. Video Part 1 The first part of the two-part video included interviews from various freshmen. When asked if they would or would not use the Good Samaritan Policy and why, their answers varied. The Unite Pepp video featured freshman Presley Duyck. In the video, Duyck changed her answer from she would use the policy to “never mind” when they asked her to explain why. “I like the idea of the Good Samaritan Policy and was all for it,” Duyck said. “But I have heard a lot of scoop on not to use it from older kids.” Duyck said NSO leaders and RAs presented the policy in a “comfortable and confident” manner but she later heard conflicting advice. If the situation were to arise, Duyck said she would call 911, but would be unsure of get-
SE E u n i te, A3
WAVES WEEKEND draws alumni back m adeleine carr new s e dit or
Next week, Pepperdine will celebrate its ninth annual Waves Weekend, an event that brings 200 to 300 alumni back to campus to celebrate alongside students, parents, faculty and friends, Chad Quiñones, associate director of Alumni Engagement for the Alumni Relations department, said. In combining alumni reunions, parents’ weekend and homecoming into one gathering, Waves Weekend encourages a celebration based on a shared love for Pepperdine, not one that is restricted to a certain graduating class or university institution, Quiñones said. It brings alumni back to campus so they can rejoin the greater Pepperdine community. “Waves Weekend is meant to be a celebration of all things Pepperdine, which means alumni are a part of that, students are a part of that, faculty and staff, even our surrounding community and friends and donors,” Quiñones said. Waves Weekend not only allows alumni to reconnect with one another, but also gives them a chance to catch up on the changes on Pepperdine’s campus, Quiñones said. “It’s important for alumni to come back to campus because they get a chance to see all the fantastic improvements that are going on
this week in SGA the waves report
and they get to reconnect with faculty members, staff members and just enjoy campus and bring their families back,” Quiñones said. “So it’s a great time for them to come back to campus and show their families and show their kids where mom and dad went to school.” Shelby Strecker, alumna of the Class of 2015 and assistant director of alumni engagement of Alumni Affairs, said she still recalls a piece of what it was like to experience Waves Weekend, particularly the event’s concert, as a student. “Especially freshman year, [Waves Weekend] is having an excuse for your parents to come back and see how you’re doing and see ‘Hey, mom and dad, look at the friends I’ve made and here’s my dorm and I’m happy and I’m comfortable and I’m not my awkward, you know, unknowing freshman self in my first week,’” Strecker said. “It’s a pep rally and just pumping up Pepperdine.” Each year, alumni return to Pepperdine for their fifth, 10th, 20th and 30th reunions, Quiñones said. Many also take part in affinity reunions, which bring together previous members of student groups, such as Pepperdine Ambassadors Council, a specific year of an international program or Greek organizations. Alumni Relations helps any interested alumni plan affinity
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reunions, Quiñones said. Alumni that want to create a reunion for their specific organization respond to Alumni Relations’ request for affinity reunions and the staff helps sort out the details of the event. “The Seaver Alumni Relations office is here to help anybody who wants to hold a reunion, whether it’s at Waves Weekend or not,” Quiñones said. “We prefer them to do it at Waves Weekend because it’s the one time we want everyone to come back to campus. We help make that happen sometimes with monetary ways, always with support in finding locations on campus or off campus. So we do our best to make sure that if they’re interested in doing a reunion, that it happens.” Before Oct. 2010, alumni reunions and parents’ weekend did not coincide and were separate events, Quiñones said. The two then merged to create Waves Weekend. “[Alumni reunions and parents’ weekend] didn’t have the same audiences, but they had the same goals and that was Pepperdine pride and spirit and bringing people to campus,” Quiñones said. “[The] powers that be decided to join those two events into one large event in the fall where we could celebrate the fall sports teams, we get to celebrate the Pepperdine spirit and we could
SEE al umni, A3
SGA discussed the division of representatives into committees to address specific student life areas.
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sat: 3-5 ft
Annual Reunion | (top) The Alumni Relations Department sets up an alumni VIP tent every year. (bottom) Students and alumni gather on Alumni Park for the 2017 Waves Weekend.
SGA talked about how to promote use of green boxes rather than paper boxes in dining services to make the university more eco-friendly.
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SGA talked about a potential resolution to add an orientation process and an adviser to the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.
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