Convo adds pressure to busy students

Wednesday Morning Convo (Photo by Diana Kim)

Sophomore John Lawlor often finds it difficult to fit Convocation into his busy schedule. He is taking a full course load, totaling 18 units, is a member of the cross-country team and pledging the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

“I just have so many other things that take priority over Convocation,” Lawlor said. “I usually get most of the required credits, but I could definitely be doing something more beneficial with my time.”

Convocation is mandatory and weighted by academic credit, but those influences still are not motivating enough for all students to regularly attend. The commitment and enthusiasm level varies among the student body, some students say. But others say being present and embracing the message of Convocation can add greatly to the experience.

Sophomore Savannah Thies, who prefers Club Convos over traditional Convocation events, said that taking 16 units, commuting to campus every week and being actively involved in her sorority is almost too much to handle as it is.

“I don’t live on campus and I’m extremely busy,” Thies said. “It’s hard to find time to fit it all in.”

Every student is required to complete 14 Convocation credits each semester. Students receive one credit for each event they attend and in the case of Club Convos, students must attend five or more to receive any credit at all. There are 30-plus events organized each month where students can go to earn Convocation credit, not including Club Convos or last-minute special events.

Pepperdine is not the only school with religious requirements. Santa Clara University and Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington also require three classes in religious studies, but neither school has a convocation requirement. Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee has a six-credit hour religious studies requirement and also requires its students to attend 30 hours of organized convocation assemblies each academic year. Notre Dame requires its undergrads to take just two courses in Christian theology.

There are those students, like junior Akela Newman, who see right to the heart of Convocation’s intention. Newman, who organizes Surf Convo every Wednesday morning at Zuma Beach, said believes that the benefit you get from it is directly influenced by the attitude you go into it with.

“If you’re just going into it with an attitude of negativity, oftentimes, then that’s all you’re going to get out of it,” Newman said. “But in a lot of cases there are students who maybe have a little bit of (negativity), but because there is such a wealth of different Convocation events, they can chose ones that are interesting to them regardless of their level of spirituality or what faith background they come from. And they can find ones that are even less about faith as (they are) about life enrichment.”

Students will often show up to Surf Chapel just for the credit and not out of a love of surfing or God, Newman said. When students show up that are not especially into the experience, Newman said she sees it as an opportunity to share her love of God and surfing with them. She said she tries to reach out to at least a few people and help them make the connection between surfing and Convocation, or even surfing and God. Newman said she also hopes her passion will inspire others to make the most of the experience.

“I’m here every week, and I’m here because I love it,” she said, “not just because I am getting Convo credit.”

When looking at Convocation, you have to look at the odds and the overall outcome, Newman said. It’s better to force everyone to go, with the odds that some of them will get something out it, than not require anyone to go and risk having no one attend. Because if no students attend at all, then no one gets anything out of it.

“I think making it mandatory can have consequences,” Newman said. “But if it’s not, I don’t know how many people would go to it.”

Junior Tanya Garcia said requiring students to attend Convocation can essentially force them to do something they are not especially interested in, resulting in many students just counting the minutes until it’s over or leaving abruptly at the end. If you’re going to go, try and get as much out the experience as you can, she said.

“The least they could do is be respectful of the person who has given up (their) time for the students’ benefit,” Garcia said.

Lawlor, who admitted to being not actively religious, said the requirements and Christian affiliation of Pepperdine were not a deterrent for him to attend. He also said even though he attends most Wednesday morning chapels, there are a lot of times where he is not engaged and would rather be working on something else. Students can’t blame the administration for having a religious requirement, Lawlor said. Every student knew that this was a very religious school before applying.

To get an accurate sense of what Pepperdine is trying to accomplish with Convocation, students need only to look to the latter part of the Mission Statement for the University’s Chaplain. The mission statement says that the university does its best to tend to matters of the heart and spirit, while also enabling students to grow as people and mature spiritually. The Office of the Chaplain can only offer so much guidance; it is up to individual students to determine their own level of commitment and enthusiasm.

Gus Peterson, the interim director of Convocation, said there is a balance that needs to be maintained between the student’s initiative to grow spiritually and the university’s influence to ensure that they are getting the most out of their experience here.

Peterson, who is responsible for most programs that come out of the Office of the Chaplain and who is relatively new to his position, said the university cares about the students’ academic and spiritual growth, but that message of caring is sometimes lost in translation because students often see Convocation as just another academic requirement being imposed on them.    

“We care deeply about them,” Peterson said, “and academic credit muddies that.”

Peterson also mentioned his own struggle with the multiple facets of his job and how he hopes that students see him as more of a trusted staff member, who is there to encourage them spiritually, and less as an administrator with influence over their GPA.

“When academic credit touches things, that’s where the administration-heavy side of this job comes into play,” Peterson said. “But I take very seriously the ministry side of that job.”

Freshman Bria Dunlap said she understands that Pepperdine is a Christian university and must adhere to certain requirements not necessarily enforced at other colleges. But she is still skeptical about how much benefit students are actually getting from organized Convocation. Dunlap said she is much more interested in “house groups” and “campus families” that meet solely because they want to, not because academic credit is awarded.

“I think people can take so much more from being surrounded by people that truly feel like contributing to a relevant conversation,” she said. “Not when people are there just counting the minutes until it’s over, (and) they can scan out and leave.”

Alec McPike completed this story in Professor Wendy Fontaine’s spring 2015 Jour 241 class.