Lorenzo Romar will return to Pepperdine University and soon begin his second stint as head coach of the men’s basketball program, director of athletics Steve Potts announced today.

Romar, 59, previously coached the Waves for three seasons between 1996–97 and 1998–99. He is currently in his first season as the associate head coach at the University of Arizona, following 15 years as the head coach at the University of Washington. He will return to Pepperdine full-time at the conclusion of Arizona’s season.

“My comfort level with Steve Potts and President [Andrew] Benton played a huge role in my decision to return to Pepperdine,” Romar said. “I grew up in Southern California, and at this point in my career it was my preference to stay on the West Coast. The Christian mission that Pepperdine stands for, its values, the fact that they are committed to putting forth the resources necessary to allow Pepperdine to get back to the highest level where they once were, all this is very exciting to me.”

After a rebuilding season in his first season in charge of the Waves, Romar led Pepperdine to 17 and 19 wins over his next two seasons, including a spot in the NIT in 1999. He left after that year to become the head coach at Saint Louis University, but players that he recruited to Pepperdine would go on to make the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and 2002.

“Pepperdine was my first head coaching job, and I remember us not doing well our first year,” Romar said. “When we took over there had been a couple of losing seasons before that, and in our first year we also had a losing season. Then in our second year, I think we were the second-most improved team in the country. To see the kids on that team experience a little more success was something that was really exciting.”

In 21 seasons as a head coach at Pepperdine, Saint Louis University, and Washington University, Romar’s career record is 391-284 (42-44 in the three seasons with the Waves). He won a national championship as an assistant coach at UCLA in 1995.

“Lorenzo Romar is one of the finest men that I know,” Potts said. “I am extremely pleased and excited that he has agreed to rejoin our program as our men's basketball head coach. His commitment to our Christian mission, to the academic well-being of our student-athletes and to building a men's basketball program that will compete for West Coast Conference championships make him a perfect fit for Pepperdine.”

Pepperdine University president Andrew K. Benton said: “I am delighted that Coach Romar is coming ‘home’ to Pepperdine. I admire his approach to the game of basketball and the way in which he leads his teams in preparation for the game of life. We open this new chapter with confidence, and, of course, with waves of enthusiasm.”

Romar is known as one of the nation’s top recruiters and helped rebuild Washington into a perennial Pac-12 contender during his 15 seasons as head coach (2002–03 through 2016–17). Thirteen of his Huskies were selected in the NBA Draft, including 10 first-round picks, such as Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Spencer Hawes, Terrence Ross, Marquese Chriss, Dejounte Murray and 2017 top overall pick Markelle Fultz. Future NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas also played for Romar at Washington, one of 16 Huskies that went on to play in the NBA during his tenure.

Romar left his alma mater with the second-most wins in program history with 298, averaging nearly 20 victories a season. He led UW to a pair of conference regular-season titles (2009 and 2012) and three tournament championships (2005, 2010, 2011). The Huskies played in six NCAA Tournaments, three National Invitational Tournaments, and one College Basketball Invitational.

At Washington, he earned three Pac-10 or Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors (2005, 2009, 2012) and in 2006 was honored with the John Wooden “Keys To Life” Award. Pac-10 players once voted him as the opposing coach that they would most like to play for.

A native of Compton, California, Romar graduated from Pius X High School and earned an associate’s degree from Cerritos (Calif.) Community College in 1980. He went on to be a two-year starter at Washington and a team captain as a senior. He was selected in the seventh round of the 1980 NBA Draft (141^st overall) by the Golden State Warriors. He would go on to play five seasons in the NBA with Golden State, Milwaukee, and Detroit.

After the 1984–85 season, Romar joined Athletes in Action and played with the organization for seven seasons. He eventually became a player-coach with the organization. That eventually led him to becoming an assistant coach at UCLA under former Pepperdine head coach Jim Harrick. During his four seasons (1992–93 through 1995–96), in which he was the top assistant and lead recruiter, the Bruins won the 1995 NCAA title.

Romar has also long been involved with USA Basketball. He served as an assistant coach for both the U-22 team that competed at the 1997 World Championships and for the Pan American Games team in 2003. He was the head coach of the US U-18 National Team, which won a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas. USA Basketball named him to its competition committee in February 2013 for a four-year term.

Romar earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from University of Cincinnati in 1992. He and his wife, Leona, have three daughters—Terra, Tavia, and Taylor—and they also have three grandchildren.

After winning both the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles, Arizona is a #4 seed in the South Regional in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and opens the tournament against Buffalo on Thursday, March 15 in Boise, Idaho.

The Pepperdine University Student Activities Office at Seaver College will host The Mountain 2018, a live worship celebration led this year by Northern Irish Christian folk rock band Rend Collective at Alumni Park in Malibu on Sunday, March 18, at 5 PM.

The members of Rend Collective have never lacked imagination. From the bewildering array of children’s toys and whimsical, handmade oddities they call instruments, to the wonderfully impractical scheme of recording a live album on the beach around a campfire, to the safety-defying audacity of shooting a music video on a fully-operational fishing boat in the turbulent Irish Sea, this fascinating worship group has always pursued the colorful and unexpected.

Hailing from the small coastal town of Bangor in Northern Ireland, Rend Collective developed organically, outside of the influence of the music industry. They gathered at Rend, a ministry for spiritually hungry young adults, desperately seeking an authentic, raw, and real expression of church, which was informally pastored by bandleader, Gareth Gilkeson. This honest and genuine movement of prayer and missions was accompanied by the birth of a new breed of worship songs that became the foundation for their first and critically acclaimed 2010 album, Organic Family Hymnal.

Following the 2012 release of Homemade Worship by Handmade People, the band has gone from strength to strength. Their endearingly raucous live show has brought out thousands of fans to sold-out tours on both sides of the Atlantic, and they have shared stages with some of the biggest names in Christian music, such as Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Tenth Avenue North. Their revival hymn, “Build Your Kingdom Here,” proved to be a mold-breaking hit on Christian radio stations, and with views numbering in the millions, the accompanying concept music video was honored with a Dove nomination.

The Mountain is a student-led ministry that provides a time of worship, prayer, and community, as students, faculty, staff, alumni, local churches, and Los Angeles residents are united under the common banner of worshipping Jesus Christ. Each year during the spring semester, a well-known worship artist is invited to lead over 1,500 attendees in a night of worship at Alumni Park.

Ticket prices range between $15 and $40. For additional information about this event, and to register for tickets, visit The Mountain’s page on the Ticketfly website.

TAIKOPROJECT will perform their dynamic contemporary blend of taiko, music, storytelling, and choreography at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre on Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 PM.

Founded in 2000 in Los Angeles, California, by a group of young, emerging taiko drummers led by Bryan Yamami and Masato Baba, TAIKOPROJECT sought to create a truly American style of taiko, blending traditional forms in which they were raised with an innovative and fresh aesthetic approach to the Japanese drum. Since that time the company has garnered critical acclaim from all over the world for uniting ancient Japanese tradition with 21^st century American innovation, and has amassed an impressive resume.

TAIKOPROJECT first received recognition when they became the first American taiko group to win the prestigious Tokyo International Taiko Contest in 2005, besting all of the Japanese taiko groups in the competition. That same year TAIKOPROJECT was cast in a Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial, the first and still only national ad campaign to prominently feature taiko.

They followed that up with performances in some of America's highest profile events and television programs, including the 2009 Academy Awards and the 2011 Grammy Awards, NBC's The Voice, Syfy's Face/Off, The X-Factor, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ovation TV's The Art Of, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Food Network's Iron Chef Gauntlet, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. In 2012 TAIKOPROJECT performed for the televised National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC. The company was honored to receive the annual Visionary Award for artistic excellence and achievement from the East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian American theatre.

The group has performed and recorded with some of the world's most well-known musical artists, including Stevie Wonder, Usher, 30 Seconds to Mars, Alicia Keys, A.R. Rahman, John Legend, Xzibit, Kanye West, Vicci Martinez, producer Squeak E. Clean, as well as international stars including Greek singer Antonis Remos, Persian singer Mansour, Olodum and DJ Tiësto.

TAIKOPROJECT programs are made possible in part by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, the MAP Fund (Creative Capital), the Japan Foundation, the Sansei Legacy Fund, the Toyota Giving Circle, AAPIP (Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy), the Union Bank Foundation, as well as annual BaseBeat donors.  

Ticket prices range between $10 and $20 and are required for admission. For additional information, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Best-selling author and award-winning columnist Jeffrey J. Selingo will present “There Is Life After College: Making the Most of the Undergraduate Years for Success in Life” as part of the Seaver College W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series. The discussion will take place at Elkins Auditorium in Malibu on Wednesday, March 21, at 8 PM.

Selingo is the author of College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students, a New York Times bestselling education book in 2013, and MOOC U: Who Is Getting the Most Out of Online Education and Why. His latest book, There Is Life After College (HarperCollins), explores how today’s young adults need to navigate school for the job market of tomorrow.

A regular contributor to The Washington Post, Selingo is a special advisor and professor of practice at Arizona State University and a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech’s Center for 21^st Century Universities. He is the former top editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, where he worked for 16 years in a variety of reporting and editing roles.

Selingo’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate magazine, and he is a contributor to LinkedIn, where he posts blogs on higher education. He has appeared on ABC, CNN, PBS, and NPR. Selingo’s work has been honored with awards from the Education Writers Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press. He has been the keynote speaker before dozens of associations and universities, and appears regularly on regional and national radio and television programs.

Selingo holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in government from the Johns Hopkins University.

For additional information about this free lecture, visit the Seaver College website.

The Seaver College Theatre Department will perform the Euripides tragedy Medea at Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus at 7:30 PM from Wednesday, April 4, to Friday, April 6, and at 2 PM and 7:30 PM on Saturday, April 7.

Medea is a wife, mother, and immigrant. When her husband abandons his family for a new life, she exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear. First staged at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Greece, Medea has intrigued and terrified audiences for nearly 2,500 years.

The performances are based on a version of the play developed by British playwright and dramaturge Ben Power, which premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London, in July 2014.

Pepperdine associate professor of theatre Bradley Griffin will direct the student cast, which features C.J. Babcock, Sarah Barney, Nate Bartoshuk, Morris Chen, Will Craig, Sydney DeMaria, Mallory Erwin, Jackie Ferguson, Brit Hope, Peace Ikediuba, Isabel Klein, Kate Klimist, Clayton Mattingly, Audry McKee, Julia Pankow, George Preston, Madeleine Riddle, Katy Semple, and Isaiah Wright.

“The power of Medea lives on. It's one thing to read a Greek tragedy in a classroom setting; it's another thing entirely to experience that same story on stage,” Griffin said. “In an era when some new atrocity scrolls across our news feed every day, the students in this production have committed themselves to telling this harrowing story as a way of bearing witness to the pain, while also exposing our desperate need for a more just, equitable world. Even at 2,500 years old, this is a story for today.”

The production will feature an original musical score created by Pepperdine professor of music N. Lincoln Hanks.

Ticket prices range from $10 to $15. This production is not recommended for children under 12. 

For additional information about this event, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Cellist Sang-Eun Lee will visit Pepperdine University's Raitt Recital Hall in Malibu on Sunday, April 8, at 2 PM, as the final artist of the 2017-2018 Recital Series. Pianist Carlos Avila will accompany Lee on stage.

The evening’s program will include Frédéric Chopin’s Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 and César Franck’s Sonata in A Major.

Hailed for her expressive artistry and dazzling technique, Lee has won top prizes in various international competitions; she won the 2014 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions, and First Prize at the 2014 YCA Auditions in Seoul, Korea. At age 15, she won First Prize at the 2009 Johansen International Competition in Washington, DC, Second Prize at the 2009 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and the Young Musician Prize of the Emanuel Feuermann Competition in Berlin, Germany. She was also awarded Germany’s Kronberg Academy Cello Festival’s 2009 Ingrid zu Solms Culture Prize.

Her 2017-18 season includes recitals at the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Shenson Chamber Music Series, Abbey Church Events, The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and as soloist with Sinfonia Gulf Coast, the Brevard Philharmonic, Fort Smith Symphony, and the Long Bay Symphony.

Past seasons have included performances at the Morgan Library and Museum, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Evergreen Museum and Library, as well as her debut as soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, her acclaimed Kennedy Center debut, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts and supported by the Korean Concert Society Prize, and her New York recital debut, sponsored by the Michaels Award, on the Young Concert Artists Series. She has also performed at Colgate University, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, the Paramount Theatre, the Jewish Community Alliance in Florida, the Lied Center of Kansas, and the Music@Menlo Festival.

Lee has been invited to perform as a soloist with Korea’s leading orchestras including the Seoul Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung, the Suwon Philharmonic, the Prime Philharmonic, the Korean National University of Arts Orchestra, the Gangnam Symphony, and GMMFS orchestras. She made her Seoul recital debut at the age of 13 on the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series and has given recitals at the Blue House in Seoul and the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Lee has been featured on the Korean Broadcasting System.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Lee attended the Korean National University of Arts, from the age of nine, where she worked with Myung Wha Chung and Sang Min Park. She is a grant recipient of the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, and currently attends the Curtis Institute of Music, working with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey.

Tickets range between $10 and $28. For additional information about this performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

The Seaver College Fine Arts Division will host the third biennial Up Against the Screen outdoor film concert, which will feature original music scores composed by Pepperdine students. The concert will take place at the Amphitheatre on the Malibu campus on Monday, April 16, at 7:30 PM.

Up Against the Screen will feature screenings of three classic silent films, accompanied by music composed by The Pickford Composers, three Pepperdine student composers selected to develop an effective music score for live players. The original music pieces will be performed live by the Pickford Ensemble, a chamber ensemble comprised of Pepperdine student musicians under the direction of professor of music N. Lincoln Hanks, with support from chamber music director Louise Lofquist.

“This is such a unique music and film event. Audience members will be thrilled to hear the creative work of our talented students alongside these fine films—all under the stars at our outdoor Amphitheatre,” said Hanks.

This year’s silent films will include Le voyage dans la lune, directed by Georges Méliès with new music by Joshua Edward; La coquille et le clergyman (excerpts), directed by Germaine Dulac with new music by Wynn Nordlund; and Metropolis (excerpts), directed by Fritz Lang with new music by Jeremy Zerbe.

The Pickford Composers are provided special funding at the beginning of the fall semester, and receive direction and creative insights on the art and presentation of silent film scoring from Hanks through private weekly lessons. Selected through an audition process, The Pickford Ensemble, the University’s premier new music group, is comprised of Pepperdine’s finest student performers. The films for Up Against the Screen are selected by Hanks from the archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

This performance is free and open to the public. For additional information, visit the Events page on the Seaver College website.

The Triplets of Belleville Cine-Concert will bring the much beloved French feature The Triplets of Belleville to life at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre on Tuesday, April 17, at 8 PM. Internationally recognized composer-conductor Benoît Charest will conduct the performance.

In 2003 the animated French feature The Triplets of Belleville swept the globe, raking up dozens of awards and nominations—not to mention the hearts of countless admirers—along the way. Much of it came down to the Oscar-nominated score by Charest, which transports audiences to the exciting streets of 1920s Paris and Le Jazz Hot. Charest will conduct alongside the 8-piece band Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville, and recreate the original score live as the film itself is beamed onto the big screen. 

The Triplets of Bellevillefollows a Tour de France cyclist named Champion who is kidnapped by a mysterious, square-shouldered henchman, and spirited across the ocean to the teeming metropolis of Belleville. Champion’s near-sighted grandmother and faithful dog follow his trail and are taken in by a trio of eccentric jazz-era divas. The motley sleuths follow the clues to an underground speakeasy, where they entertain the crowd. 

Charest is an Oscar-nominated composer from Montréal, Québec. He has written over 20 film scores, and is mostly known for his 2003 Triplets of Belleville score. Besides being a versatile composer, Charest is an accomplished jazz guitarist and performs regularly with some of Montréal’s finest musicians. 

Like many teenagers of his time, Charest picked up the guitar at age 13 learning Beatles and Led Zeppelin tunes. He then took private guitar lessons and went on to further his musical studies at McGill and Montréal universities. He honed his trade touring as a sideman with various bands in Québec and abroad. Charest wrote his first score in 1992 for a National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary. He is presently involved in writing music for his jazz organ trio and touring with the Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville. 

Ticket prices range between $10 and $40. For additional information about this performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University has on display Is This It: The Studio Art Thesis Exhibition, featuring works by seven artists who are graduating from Seaver College this spring with bachelor’s degrees in studio art. The exhibition will continue through April 28. 

The artwork includes paintings and installation, as well as reflective concept art focused on social commentary, from the following student artists:

• Reagen Brewster
• Grant McCutchen
• Iris Lee
• Carissa Mosley
• Peau Porotesano
• Angelica Ramos
• Julia Solazzo

“The show will engage all the senses; we have everything from defaced currency to immersive installation work. The variety should make for a rich dialogue between viewer and artist,” explained artist Carissa Mosley, who has spent her senior year exploring indigenous plant species and video-installation work.

“Throughout college, people have asked me what my major is, and so far, I’ve only been able to tell them. I’m excited to finally show them,” illustrator and installation artist Peau Porotesano shared.

For these rising artists, this show will represent the culmination of four years of work. “Not only is this our last show, it’s also work that we have been developing for the last four years,” painter Julia Solazzo said. “The title, Is This It, reflects on the finality of the show for our undergraduate careers, and the beginning of our stepping out as rising artists.”

The Weisman Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 11 AM to 5 PM, and admission is free.

For additional information about this exhibition, visit theWeisman Museum website.

Comedy duo The Passing Zone will bring their award-winning combination of dexterity, danger, and hilarity to Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre on Sunday, April 22, at 2 PM.

The Passing Zone, comprised of Owen Morse and Jon Wee, is one of the most successful and sought-after comedy acts working today. Morse and Wee met in 1986 at a juggling convention while they were both in college, and instantly knew they were destined to be a team. Two weeks after their first performance together they won the Silver Medal at the International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) Teams Competition. The next year they won the Gold. That recognition earned the duo an invitation to appear at the renowned Comedy and Magic Club in Los Angeles, where on their first night they were approached by The Tonight Showtalent scout and booked for their first national television appearance in September 1990. 

Their first feature film followed, The Addams Family Movie, where Morse and Wee doubled for Gomez (Raul Julia) and Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) in the climactic Mamushka dagger-passing scene. This was followed by an appearance in the award-winning comedy documentary, The Aristocrats. The Passing Zone’s first London appearance was in the Royal Variety Performance at the Dominion Theatre, performing for Prince Charles and sharing the bill with Tony Bennett and Riverdance. The Passing Zone has also performed at the White House. 

Morse and Wee are known as much for their comedy as their juggling skills. They were featured twice on the gala stage at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montréal and have opened for comedians George Carlin, Bob Newhart, Bob Hope, and Penn & Teller. Television appearances have included Comic Strip Live, An Evening at The Improv, MADtv, Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular, Steve Harvey’s Big Time, the Miss America Pageant, Seasons 1 and 11 of America’s Got Talent, and regular returns to NBC’s Today talk show. Morse and Wee were also commentators on ESPN for their coverage of the World Juggling Federation competitions. 

The group has received numerous awards and recognitions. They are the first juggling duo to ever pass 11 clubs, and hold five Guinness World Records and 18 Gold Medals from the IJA. They are also recipients of IJA’s Award of Excellence, given to only 13 acts worldwide since the organization’s inception. 

In their newest show, “The Passing Zone Saves the World,” Morse and Wee attempt to take on the troubles of life through power of infectious laughter and the thrill of dangerous stunts involving a stun gun, chainsaws, ping pong balls, and more. 

Ticket prices range between $10 and $35. For additional information about this performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

The Pepperdine University Frank R. Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences spring 2018 commencement ceremony will take place at Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, April 28, at 10:30 AM. The event will bestow an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Gregory J. Boyle.

Boyle is the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world.

A native Angeleno, Boyle entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1972 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed pastor of Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. At the time, Dolores Mission was the poorest Catholic parish in the city, located between two large public housing projects with the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angeles. He witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during what he has called “the decade of death” that began in the late 1980s.

By 1988, having buried an ever-growing number of young people killed in gang violence, Boyle, Dolores Mission parishioners, and Boyle Heights community members sought to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth by developing positive opportunities for them, including establishing an alternative school and day care program, and seeking out legitimate employment. They called this initial effort Jobs for a Future.

In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Jobs for a Future and Proyecto Pastoral, a community-organizing project started at Dolores Mission, launched their first social enterprise business in an abandoned bakery that Hollywood producer Ray Stark helped them purchase. They called it Homeboy Bakery. Today, Homeboy Industries employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, and provides critical services to 15,000 men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

An accomplished community leader, Boyle is the author of the New York Timesbest seller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, which was named one of the Best Books of 2010 by Publishers Weeklyand received the PEN Center USA 2011 Creative Nonfiction Award. He is the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary, G-Dog. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014 the White House named Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation, the national culinary arts organization.

Boyle holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Weston School of Theology, and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

For additional information, visit the Seaver College Graduation website.

The Intercultural Affairs office at Seaver College will host Loqui: A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence at Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Friday, April 27, at 1 PM.

The annual event, held one day before the Seaver College commencement ceremony, honors the soon-to-be graduates as well as distinct cultures that shape the Pepperdine experience and deepen the community's collective sense of belonging.

“Reflection is good for the soul. Loqui is Latin for ‘when words come to fruition.’ We set aside this time to reflect and celebrate the work that God has brought to fruition in the lives of our graduating seniors and the Pepperdine community, specifically through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the 2017-18 school year,” explained David L. Humphrey Jr., associate dean of student affairs for diversity and inclusion at Pepperdine University. 

“This event is one of those edifying moments for our community. Intercultural Affairs and Student Affairs is honored to have the privilege to play a role in organizing this ceremony.”

Helen Easterling Williams, dean of the Pepperdine Graduate School of Education and Psychology, will be the guest speaker at the Loqui celebration this year. Additionally, the Bowers, Davis, and Todd Award for Leadership in Diversity and Inclusive Excellence will be presented to two graduating seniors who have demonstrated an active commitment to advancing institutional diversity and inclusive excellence as part of their spiritual journey.

For additional information about Loqui, visit the Seaver College website.

Longtime college tennis coach Adam Schaechterle has been hired as the head coach of the Pepperdine University men’s tennis program. Schaechterle will be the 16^th head coach in the program’s history. 

Schaechterle is currently the associate head coach at the University of Notre Dame. He has also spent time at the helm of the University of North Florida, and assisted at his alma mater, Northwestern University.  

“We are extremely excited that Adam has agreed to join our Pepperdine family as our men's tennis head coach,” said Steve Potts, Pepperdine University director of athletics. “He is a perfect fit for every aspect of our program and I have great confidence in his ability to lead our men's tennis program back to a championship level. We are looking forward to welcoming Adam and his family to our community.”

Pepperdine has made 38 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 2006 national championship and runner-up finishes in 1982 and 1986. The Waves have also had two doubles pairs take home the NCAA doubles championship crown in 1984 and 1985. In singles, Robbie Weiss won an NCAA singles title in 1988, while the Waves have finished as runner-up on two other occasions. 

“I want to thank Dr. Steve Potts and President Benton for the opportunity to lead the Pepperdine men’s tennis program,” said Schaechterle. “Pepperdine tennis has an incredible tradition, and it’s a dream come true for me and my family to be part of that legacy. We look forward to building a program that represents the values of the University and that competes for championships.”

At Notre Dame between 2013 and 2018, Schaechterle helped lead the team to its first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2007, its first two National Indoors appearances since 2008, and the second-highest year-end ranking since 1992. While there, the team posted an 82-63 overall record in five seasons, including a 21-10 record in 2014 en route to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. This season, the team finished with a 19-14 record and reached the NCAA second round.

Schaechterle also coached the first singles player in Notre Dame history to reach the NCAA singles semifinals and the second doubles pair to reach the NCAA doubles semifinals since 1994. He was also selected as the United States Tennis Association Men’s Collegiate National Team Coach for the 2017-18 campaign. 

Prior to his tenure with the Fighting Irish, Schaechterle was the head coach for the University of North Florida from 2011-13. He led the squad to its first undefeated Atlantic Sun regular season, the first appearance in the Atlantic Sun Tournament final, as well as to many team, singles, and doubles year-end rankings.  

He was named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in 2013. While at the helm of the Ospreys, the team went 35-14 overall through two seasons, including a 19-6 record and an ASUN championship match appearance in 2012.

Schaechterle graduated from Northwestern University in 2006. After a brief stint working for Wilson Sporting Goods as a Tour and Juniors Manager in America from 2007-10, he returned to his alma mater to take up coaching at the collegiate level, where he was mentored by head coach Arvid Swan.

In his time as a player, Schaechterle led his team to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, was a team captain, and ranked in the top-30 of the ITA’s national doubles rankings at the end of the season. He was an ITA regional doubles finalist and recorded the most doubles wins in program history (this record was broken in 2017), while also earning the 2006 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.

To learn more about the Pepperdine men’s tennis team, visit the Pepperdine Athletics website.

Dan Caldwell, assistant professor of political science, was quoted in The Atlantic in an article that sheds light on arms control deals throughout modern history in response to current conversations surrounding Iran's nuclear deal.

Read "What Does Iran Think? Ask the Soviets" on The Atlantic website

Nearly 300 students have been named to the Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences Dean’s List for the Spring 2018 semester.

The purpose of the Dean’s List is to provide recognition for the positive academic achievements of students at Seaver College, and to serve as an additional incentive for academic excellence to all students.

In order to earn Dean’s List honors*, students must be in the upper 10 percent of their class, complete at least 12 letter-graded units during the semester, and their grade point average (GPA) must not be less than 3.500.

Congratulations to the following students:

*Please see the Pepperdine Seaver College 2017-2018 Academic Catalog for a full description of requirements to earn Dean’s List honors.

Leading interpreter of the Great American Songbook Michael Feinstein, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Grammy-winning singer Sheena Easton, and acrobatic troupe Cirque Mechanics, are just a few of the artists set to appear at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University during its 2018–2019 season.

Among the musicians and bands coming to Pepperdine University's Malibu campus are legendary Grammy-winning songwriter Jimmy Webb with special guest Ashley Campbell; joyful jazz band Sammy Miller and the Congregation; Americana country group The Lone Bellow; acoustic folk trio I’m With Her; Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther; Celtic bluegrass quartet We Banjo 3; acclaimed jazz singer Nicole Henry; the Lovin’ Spoonful founder John Sebastian; dynamic string duo Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas; and a special collaboration between roots and folk groups The Dustbowl Revival and Hot Club of Cowtown as they celebrate the 50^th anniversary of The Band. 

This season also features the Parkening International Guitar Competition, the world’s preeminent classical guitar competition, including the Final Round and Awards Ceremony where guitarists compete for a $30,000 cash prize and the Jack Marshall Gold Medal.

The thrilling Chinese Warriors of Peking kicks off the season's dance and spectacle offerings, which includes the visionary Ailey II, visually striking Jessica Lang Dance, and the Los Angeles-based Pacifico Dance Company, with their focus on fostering appreciation for Mexican culture. 

The Gregg G. Juarez Stars of Stage and Screen series includes guitarist and composer Bill Frisell and his interpretations of music from film and television, New York theatre celebration concert On Broadway, and the innovative illusions of Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders.

This season, the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts will once again present Family Arts Fest, a day of face painting, food trucks, backstage and museum tours, art projects, and two public performances by Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, a family-friendly New Orleans Jazz band. Other family shows throughout the year include Childsplay's Tomás and the Library Lady, and children’s musicians Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza.

The Recital Series, featuring the talents of young classical musicians, includes performances by the pianist Fei-Fei, harpist Cristina Montes Mateo with flutist Susan Greenberg Norman, pianist Kenny Broberg, and violinist YooJin Jang.

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art will feature an exhibition highlighting the influence of pop art, as well as two separate exhibitions focused on iconic California artists Richard Diebenkorn and Squeak Carnwath. The museum is open from 11 AM to 5 PM, Tuesday through Sunday, and one hour prior to most shows through intermission. Admission is free.

The Pepperdine Fine Arts Division presents Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Die Fledermaus; theatre productions of Deanna Jent’s Falling; the Tony-nominated murder mystery musical Curtains; Lisa Kron’s family drama Well; a gender-flipped version of The Taming of the Shrew; and a series of performances by Pepperdine student music ensembles throughout the fall and spring semesters.

Additionally, Pepperdine Student Activities will present productions of Dance in Flight and Songfest.

“It's my pleasure to announce our new season at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts. Each year, we present an innovative, unique, entertaining, and diverse program of exceptional performances and museum exhibitions. The 2018–2019 season will include several returning favorites as well as many new-to-Pepperdine performances,” says Rebecca Carson, managing director of the Center for the Arts. “I look forward to connecting these talented artists with our enthusiastic audience.”

Tickets for all performances are available beginning June 25 by calling 310.506.4522 from noon to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, and two hours prior to curtain time. Tickets to all events are also available through the Center for the Arts website.

Season subscribers (those who purchase tickets to four or more shows) are entitled to a 10 percent discount on select ticket prices. 

Leading interpreter of the Great American Songbook Michael Feinstein, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Grammy-winning singer Sheena Easton, and acrobatic troupe Cirque Mechanics, are just a few of the artists set to appear at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University during its 2018–2019 season.

Among the musicians and bands coming to Pepperdine University's Malibu campus are legendary Grammy-winning songwriter Jimmy Webb with special guest Ashley Campbell; joyful jazz band Sammy Miller and the Congregation; Americana country group The Lone Bellow; acoustic folk trio I’m With Her; Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther; Celtic bluegrass quartet We Banjo 3; acclaimed jazz singer Nicole Henry; the Lovin’ Spoonful founder John Sebastian; dynamic string duo Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas; and a special collaboration between roots and folk groups The Dustbowl Revival and Hot Club of Cowtown as they celebrate the 50^th anniversary of The Band. 

This season also features the Parkening International Guitar Competition, the world’s preeminent classical guitar competition, including the Final Round and Awards Ceremony where guitarists compete for a $30,000 cash prize and the Jack Marshall Gold Medal.

The thrilling Chinese Warriors of Peking kicks off the season's dance and spectacle offerings, which includes the visionary Ailey II, visually striking Jessica Lang Dance, and the Los Angeles-based Pacifico Dance Company, with their focus on fostering appreciation for Mexican culture. 

The Gregg G. Juarez Stars of Stage and Screen series includes guitarist and composer Bill Frisell and his interpretations of music from film and television, New York theatre celebration concert On Broadway, and the innovative illusions of Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders.

This season, the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts will once again present Family Arts Fest, a day of face painting, food trucks, backstage and museum tours, art projects, and two public performances by Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, a family-friendly New Orleans Jazz band. Other family shows throughout the year include Childsplay's Tomás and the Library Lady, and children’s musicians Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza.

The Recital Series, featuring the talents of young classical musicians, includes performances by the pianist Fei-Fei, harpist Cristina Montes Mateo with flutist Susan Greenberg Norman, pianist Kenny Broberg, and violinist YooJin Jang.

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art will feature an exhibition highlighting the influence of pop art, as well as two separate exhibitions focused on iconic California artists Richard Diebenkorn and Squeak Carnwath. The museum is open from 11 AM to 5 PM, Tuesday through Sunday, and one hour prior to most shows through intermission. Admission is free.

The Pepperdine Fine Arts Division presents Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Die Fledermaus; theatre productions of Deanna Jent’s Falling; the Tony-nominated murder mystery musical Curtains; Lisa Kron’s family drama Well; a gender-flipped version of The Taming of the Shrew; and a series of performances by Pepperdine student music ensembles throughout the fall and spring semesters.

Additionally, Pepperdine Student Activities will present productions of Dance in Flight and Songfest.

“It's my pleasure to announce our new season at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts. Each year, we present an innovative, unique, entertaining, and diverse program of exceptional performances and museum exhibitions. The 2018–2019 season will include several returning favorites as well as many new-to-Pepperdine performances,” says Rebecca Carson, managing director of the Center for the Arts. “I look forward to connecting these talented artists with our enthusiastic audience.”

Tickets for all performances are available beginning June 25 by calling 310.506.4522 from noon to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, and two hours prior to curtain time. Tickets to all events are also available through the Center for the Arts website.

Season subscribers (those who purchase tickets to four or more shows) are entitled to a 10 percent discount on select ticket prices. 

Leading interpreter of the Great American Songbook Michael Feinstein, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Grammy-winning singer Sheena Easton, and acrobatic troupe Cirque Mechanics, are just a few of the artists set to appear at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University during its 2018–2019 season.

Among the musicians and bands coming to Pepperdine University's Malibu campus are legendary Grammy-winning songwriter Jimmy Webb with special guest Ashley Campbell; joyful jazz band Sammy Miller and the Congregation; Americana country group The Lone Bellow; acoustic folk trio I’m With Her; Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther; Celtic bluegrass quartet We Banjo 3; acclaimed jazz singer Nicole Henry; the Lovin’ Spoonful founder John Sebastian; dynamic string duo Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas; and a special collaboration between roots and folk groups The Dustbowl Revival and Hot Club of Cowtown as they celebrate the 50^th anniversary of The Band. 

This season also features the Parkening International Guitar Competition, the world’s preeminent classical guitar competition, including the Final Round and Awards Ceremony where guitarists compete for a $30,000 cash prize and the Jack Marshall Gold Medal.

The thrilling Chinese Warriors of Peking kicks off the season's dance and spectacle offerings, which includes the visionary Ailey II, visually striking Jessica Lang Dance, and the Los Angeles-based Pacifico Dance Company, with their focus on fostering appreciation for Mexican culture. 

The Gregg G. Juarez Stars of Stage and Screen series includes guitarist and composer Bill Frisell and his interpretations of music from film and television, New York theatre celebration concert On Broadway, and the innovative illusions of Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders.

This season, the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts will once again present Family Arts Fest, a day of face painting, food trucks, backstage and museum tours, art projects, and two public performances by Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, a family-friendly New Orleans Jazz band. Other family shows throughout the year include Childsplay's Tomás and the Library Lady, and children’s musicians Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza.

The Recital Series, featuring the talents of young classical musicians, includes performances by the pianist Fei-Fei, harpist Cristina Montes Mateo with flutist Susan Greenberg Norman, pianist Kenny Broberg, and violinist YooJin Jang.

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art will feature an exhibition highlighting the influence of pop art, as well as two separate exhibitions focused on iconic California artists Richard Diebenkorn and Squeak Carnwath. The museum is open from 11 AM to 5 PM, Tuesday through Sunday, and one hour prior to most shows through intermission. Admission is free.

The Pepperdine Fine Arts Division presents Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Die Fledermaus; theatre productions of Deanna Jent’s Falling; the Tony-nominated murder mystery musical Curtains; Lisa Kron’s family drama Well; a gender-flipped version of The Taming of the Shrew; and a series of performances by Pepperdine student music ensembles throughout the fall and spring semesters.

Additionally, Pepperdine Student Activities will present productions of Dance in Flight and Songfest.

“It's my pleasure to announce our new season at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts. Each year, we present an innovative, unique, entertaining, and diverse program of exceptional performances and museum exhibitions. The 2018–2019 season will include several returning favorites as well as many new-to-Pepperdine performances,” says Rebecca Carson, managing director of the Center for the Arts. “I look forward to connecting these talented artists with our enthusiastic audience.”

Tickets for all performances are available beginning June 25 by calling 310.506.4522 from noon to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, and two hours prior to curtain time. Tickets to all events are also available through the Center for the Arts website.

Season subscribers (those who purchase tickets to four or more shows) are entitled to a 10 percent discount on select ticket prices. 

In a new study published in Conservation Biology, researchers from Pepperdine University, the US Geological Survey, and University of California, Los Angeles, along with collaborators at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and Mountains Restoration Trust, investigated the effect that invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) have on native, juvenile dragonflies and mosquito larvae within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Since its introduction to California in the early 1900s, the red swamp crayfish native to the southern and southeastern United States has invaded streams and displaced top predators in aquatic ecosystems. Within local streams and pools, juvenile dragonflies, or dragonfly “nymphs,” typically play a key role in consuming mosquito larvae and reducing their numbers. The study ties the presence of invasive crayfish to higher numbers of mosquito larvae within the Santa Monica Mountains.

Gary Bucciarelli, adjunct biology professor at Pepperdine and the paper’s lead author, explains that understanding the ways in which non-native species are introduced into a system and the ways in which their presence compromises the ecosystems of native species shed light on the importance of healthy ecosystems and their role in public health and disease control.

"The general public is deluged with information from the media about the importance of native species and protecting environments and restoring natural ecosystems,” Bucciarelli says. “This is a very clear example of how the dimensions of human diseases and natural healthy ecosystems directly impact the public’s well-being.

The research outcomes indicate that the presence of the red swamp crayfish could be particularly problematic in urbanized streams with slow-moving or still water, where mosquitoes thrive. Lee Kats, vice provost for research and strategic initiatives and professor of biology at Pepperdine, has studied these particular streams for decades and led the lab and field experiments that uncovered the staggering results.

The Pepperdine team, comprised of Kats, Bucciarelli, and two former Seaver College students, Avery Davis (’16) and Dan Suh (’16), discovered an abundance of mosquito larvae and few dragonfly nymphs in the streams inhabited by crayfish. However, in streams not inhabited by crayfish, the team found no traces of mosquito larvae and more evidence of dragonfly nymphs. The loss of the dragonfly nymphs, they discovered, was directly linked to the crayfish that had decimated local native species population sizes. An increase in mosquito larvae, due to the absence of native predators that feed on them, leads to the increase in mosquitoes, which poses a greater risk to human health.

The scientists led field surveys and collected crayfish and dragonfly nymphs, bringing them into the laboratory to test whether crayfish affected nymph and mosquito larvae abundance, and dragonfly nymphs’ efficiency as predators. In addition, field crews spent months in the Santa Monica Mountains, carefully recording abundances of dragonfly nymphs and mosquito larvae in streams with and without the red swamp crayfish. Back in the laboratory, other researchers watched as crayfish and dragonfly nymphs hunted mosquito larvae separately and together.

On average, dragonfly nymphs in the lab consumed 70 percent of all mosquito larvae within the first hour. When crayfish were the primary predator, or when dragonfly nymphs and crayfish were placed in the same tank, they consumed only 12 and 7 percent of mosquito larvae in the same time period. Within two days, the crayfish had consumed the dragonfly nymphs themselves.

“Sometimes people are not overly concerned about invasive species,” says Kats. “But this study nicely illustrates that disruptions produced by invasive crayfish have the potential to come back and negatively impact human health.”

Crayfish photo: US Geological Survey

Pepperdine University has been recognized as one of the top 50 universities in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. In the newly released numbers for 2019, Pepperdine is ranked 46 out of 312 national institutions of higher learning, maintaining its position as one of America’s “Best National Universities.”

According to the publication, the rankings evaluate colleges and universities on 16 measures of academic quality, including first-year student retention, graduation rates, and the strength of the faculty following the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education's Basic Classification.

Advancing one spot to number 44, Pepperdine’s Seaver College was recognized as maintaining one of the country’s “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” a ranking that is determined solely by surveys of business school deans and senior faculty.

Placing at number 20, Pepperdine was named as one of America’s “Best Colleges for Veterans.” Pepperdine is an active participant in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program, which enables 80 percent of the University’s current student veterans to attend tuition-free.

In an assessment of which colleges and universities offer students the best value, Pepperdine placed number 39 in the nation, a ranking that, according to the publication, “takes into account a school's academic quality, as indicated by its 2019 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking and the 2017–2018 net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.”

For additional information about the 2019 rankings, visit the U.S. News & World Report website.