Stress. Loneliness. Homesickness. Exhaustion.
These are some of the difficult emotions college students may face. Pepperdine students can turn to the guidance and wisdom of spiritual life advisors (SLAs) to help them cope.
SLAs, also known as student chaplains, seek to offer refuge and encouragement to help students through the week. Few universities provide student chaplains yet they benefit students by being a listening ear, actively praying for them, planning events and spending time with them.
First-year international business major Umeesha D’Alwis said her SLA was instrumental in helping her adjust to college.
“Coming into college there’s a lot of things that happen to you, not only the physical act of moving of moving away from home, but the mentality of it too,” D’Alwis said. “[My SLA] gives us encouragement to not use these expectations to stop us.”
The SLA position enhances community on campus, serves as a resource for students and spiritual upliftment, and provides a unique opportunity for spiritual development, students and SLA leaders said.
What’s the history of the SLA program?
While many campuses have student chaplains, it is rare to see them living among the students. Pepperdine was among the first universities to feature this, beginning in Fall 2000.
Ezra Plank, the creator of the SLAs and current director of the Lausanne program, began the program out of a fear the Christian message was not reaching students as effectively as it could be.
“I became convinced that Pepperdine’s approach toward helping students develop their spiritual lives was essentially event-driven (Convocation talks, concerts, worship nights, conferences, retreats, and so forth),” Plank wrote in an email response.
Unhappy with this approach, he learned about SLAs while touring Christian universities, looking at how they helped students develop their spiritual lives. He met the director of the SLA program at Asbury University, Jeanie Banter.
“[Banter] insisted that true spiritual formation happens through meaningful relationships, and that this needed to start where students lived – in their residence hall,” Plank wrote.
Plank submitted the idea of SLAs to the dean of Student Affairs and got it approved. By 2003, there was an SLA in every living area.
“It replaced ‘event-based spirituality’ with an incarnational approach toward ministry based on the model of Jesus,” Plank wrote. “SLAs lived in the residence halls, met students where they were, lived in vulnerable community with students, shared their lives with students, cared for the needs of the students, discussed what made a meaningful life, and modeled what it meant to live the radical love, justice, and inclusiveness of Jesus.”
What services can SLAs provide for students?
SLAs ensure that all 3,604 undergraduate students get the chance to reach out for help if they desire.
“It’s just numbers,” said Al Sturgeon, University Church of Christ preacher. “It helps [students] to have more people to be able to talk to.”
In fact, SLAs are crucial in creating a plan for at risk students — whether they’re suicidal, depressed or dealing with sexual assault, Religion Professor David Lemley said.
“When I was in the chaplain role, I was part of a staff group that would review cases where students were in crisis and consider what would be best for them and what resources they needed,” Lemley said. “Almost all of the stories began with an RA/SLA that cared for them on the frontline.”
SLAs are responsible for coordinating weekly small group Bible studies, prayer groups and leading several community service events. But beyond these, many SLAs help organize house dinners, plan house events, and plan programs with other houses.
How are SLAs involved with spiritual formation?
SLAs are deeply involved with spiritual mentorship for all of their residents.
About 31 percent of college students find religion is not important to them, according to Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey.
The training SLAs receive equips them to reach students like these on the Pepperdine campus.
“[The training] covers the gambit— everything from faith and interacting with those who don’t share the same faith background, and being able to meet them where they’re at, to those that share a similar faith as Pepperdine and being able to provide support and guidance and act as a spiritual advisor for them,” Andy Swartz, associate director of Residence Life, said.
The personal relationships SLAs develop with students can help students develop their own faith.
“I’ve had more than one conversation with students who have credited their relationship with their SLA with being why they are a person of faith today,” Lemley said. “They are people who were so moved by the faith and the care of the person who was their SLA — probably not in just fulfilling the job, but also just in the relationship they developed — that it was a big part of their own faith journey.”
SLAs need to be good disciples to do their job.
[SLAs] must be aiming to be people who want to love and act in the way that Jesus did,” Assistant Chaplain Lauren Begert said. “Look at the qualities Jesus had and if you see similar qualities in a SLA, you’re looking at a good candidate.”
Frances Meija, a first-year international business major, said she enjoys the discipleship she’s received through her SLA.
“Personally, I think SLAs are really helpful because I come from a Christian background and not going to my church everyday and not having my youth advisor to talk to [is hard], so I’m able to [talk to her instead],” Meija said.
For many SLAs, talking to students outside of their own faith background is challenging but also a great opportunity.
“It’s been such a rewarding experience to help students in different walks of life,” said Sam Hehir, a junior international business major and SLA for Crocker.
How do Pepperdine students feel about SLAs?
Student opinions vary on the SLA program.
A Pepp Post poll of 50 students found that 68 percent said their SLA contributed positively to their college experience, 28 percent said they somewhat contributed and 14 percent said their SLA didn’t contribute anything.
Sarah Morehead, a first-year liberal arts major, is one student who has had a positive experience with her SLA.
“My SLA helped with rush surprisingly,” Morehead said. “She rushed this year and I did too — we were both just figuring out what it meant to be a part of a sorority.”
Morehead is not the only person to receive advice from their SLA.
“Freshman year I began dating my now fiance, and my SLA was very instrumental in sharing her testimony and experiences she had,” said Heavin Hunter, a junior political science major. “She helped us be more intentional in our relationship.”
The survey found that 52 percent felt comfortable asking their SLA personal questions and campus-life questions.
Beyond advice, many students find SLAs fun to spend time with.
Meija enjoys going to small group Bible studies and house dinners her SLA hosts.
“I feel like I was able to create a bond with her through [these events],” Meija said.
Roughly 70 percent of students surveyed said they attended at least one event their SLA put on.
However, some students struggle making a connection with their SLA.
“I don’t really talk to my SLA … it seems like I talk to my RAs more than my SLA,” first-year accounting major Ivy Fowler said. “She’s really sweet, we just live on different floors so we don’t see each other that much.”
Once students leave the first-year halls, it becomes more difficult to get to know their SLA.
“Freshman year SLAs were the most helpful, and by the time you hit sophomore year you kind of have it figured out,” said Edith Vargas, a junior political science and sociology major. “You can depend on other sources.”
Regardless of their interaction level with their SLA, most students described them as “happy,” “positive” and “a good listener.”
What are the benefits of being a SLA?
SLAs get the opportunity to make deeply personal connections with their residents, particularly because they don’t write people up like RAs do.
“SLAs have a great role in where they’re a safe space, meaning their role has no punitive action behind it,” Hunter said. “You won’t necessarily get in trouble for sharing certain information with them, as they act like a counselor.”
SLAs can really make a difference in students’ development by being able to hear what’s really going on in their lives — whether it’s big things like drugs, alcohol or sex, or smaller, like relationship issues, students and SLAs said.
Many SLAs highlight the friendships they’ve made with their students as the best part of the job.
“Being an SLA gives you 48 [people] to pour into and love on, and I think that’s a benefit of itself, just the ability to pray over girls that don’t even know they’re being prayed over,” said Paige Elson, a junior sports medicine major and SLA for Darnell.
The SLA program allows students to give back in a unique way.
“It gives me the opportunity to share my experiences with people and impact the community in a very intentional way,” said Daniel Lua, a sophomore sports medicine major and SLA for Seaside.
Oftentimes, the SLA position is beneficial to their own spiritual development.
“I didn’t realize just how much I would grow this year,” said Dan Chier, a sophomore business administration major and SLA of J. Pengilly. “You join this position ready to change people, but the first thing they told me is you’re going to be changed more than any student in the dorm.”
Research proves this.
“Membership in campus ministry organizations directly impact the student faith development, spiritual development, and leadership development, which leads to the student’s overall development as a student,” Zachary D. Samples wrote in a 2016 in a master’s thesis study on students in campus ministry at Eastern Illinois University.
SLAs have the opportunity to teach students lessons that will remain long after they graduate, what Bergert called “night campus.”
“A lot of life and learning happens in the evenings,” Bergert said.“You learn from your peers, you commune with your peers, and play and have fun with your peers. SLAs are crucial in facilitating these moments for students.”
The challenges of being a SLA
While being a SLA comes with many benefits, it also can be a difficult and time consuming job.
“The job can be very lonely because it’s you with all your residents,” said Hannah Fleming, a senior art history major and SLA for Conner. “The RAs have each other … but you’re the only SLA.”
Because the job can be time consuming, it’s difficult to manage one’s spiritual wellness.
“It’s important to fill yourself spiritually before you can fill others,” Hehir said.
Even before the job officially starts, the workload is intense. Prospective SLAs must be willing to commit hours to training over the summer.
“As a SLA we go through HRL training, which is called Formation,” Lua said. “All the RAs and SLAs participate in this month-long training. SLAs have classes and stations, and a week-long camping trip where we get to know each other.”
This training prepares them for many of the difficult and uncomfortable situations they may encounter as an SLA.
“Throughout the training, they cover everything from learning how to lead a small group, to learning how to problem solve, and go through healthy steps towards building community when there’s conflict in a small group setting,” Swartz said.
Being an SLA can be a balancing act with its many different responsibilities.
“A RAs job is 20 times more defined than a SLA is, because they have to be on duty at this time and this time, and after that, you don’t take anymore calls for the day,” Elson said. “[Being] an SLA, you don’t really have set hours pouring into people or doing your job.”
As a whole students and staff alike agreed that despite its shortcomings, the SLA program provides an unmatched support system and allows growth for the SLA and student.
“Being a SLA has allowed me to touch students on campus, and be the hands and feet of God,”
Hehir said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”
Christian Parham completed the reporting for this story under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos in Jour 241 in fall 2018. Dr. Littlefield supervised the web story.
