Volume 11 Issue 2 Summer 2019
ME, MYSELF, AND
AI
Moments
MEET THE PREZ After sharing the guiding philosophy of his vision for his presidency and introducing his family—a long line of Pepperdine Waves—President-elect Jim Gash (JD ’93), the first alumnus to be named president of Pepperdine, gathered with supporters at his official community welcome event on March 4, 2019.
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Contents F E AT U R E S
14 Me, Myself, and AI
Videographer Ben Holcomb (’14) captures a special moment between the five Rising Tide cast members as they gather at Seaver College commencement for one final shot.
As the healthcare industry moves swiftly into an increasingly technological age, experts weigh in on the factors, fears, and future prospects of artificial intelligencepowered innovation
20 The Ripple Effect He set out to tell the Pepperdine story from the perspective of five Seaver College students. Now the alumnus, videographer, and admission staff member shares his own story from behind the lens
26 Triple Booked Based on tales from her own exercises in self-reflection, an alumna applies the art of storytelling to psychotherapy with wit and wisdom
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VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 2 | SUMMER 2019 Pepperdine Magazine editor
Gareen Darakjian
senior designer
Courtney Gero
writers
Sara Bunch, Ben Holcomb (’14), Amanda Pisani, Jakie Rodriguez (MS ’13)
SPOTLIGHT
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44
Mother Knows Best
Head in the Game
A team of Seaver College faculty and students investigates the benefits and consequences of social media groups for moms
A neuroscientist’s longtime fascination with traumatic brain injuries leads to a first-of-its-kind experiment to help student-athletes
graphic designers
Mallory Bockwoldt (’16),
Danae Doub
photographers
Ron Hall (’79),
Mallory Holcomb (’15)
copy editor
Amanda Pisani
production manager
Jill McWilliams
Published by the Office of Public Affairs Rick Gibson (MBA ’09, PKE 121) Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President for Public Affairs and Church Relations
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Matt Midura (’97, MA ’05)
Write of Asylum
How Sweet It Is
Marketing Communications
After single-handedly changing the law of asylum in a landmark case, an alumna’s impact on international human rights laws becomes the subject of a feature film
One GSEP alumna brings hope and healing to others—with chocolate cake!
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Creative Director
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Sport Stories
Director of Digital Media
Associate Vice President for Integrated
Nate Ethell (’08, MBA ’13) Director of Communications and Brand Development Keith Lungwitz
A Seaver College professor shifts the narratives in sport and dedicates herself to student-athlete success
Beyond the Safe Harbor At the top of the entertainment business at 40, Dave Hollis (’97) took an “unthinkable” career leap. And he couldn’t be happier
Allen Haren (’97, MA ’07)
Ed Wheeler (’97, MA ’99) Senior Director of Operations Mauricio Acevedo Director of Digital Marketing Pepperdine Magazine is the feature magazine for Pepperdine University and its growing community of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends. It is published three times per year by the University’s
1 Moments
9 Headlines
6 Inside Voices
32 Snapshot 48 The Cut
Public Affairs division and is produced with
Each issue of Pepperdine Magazine contains a limited number of half- or full-page advertising opportunities for University departments and initiatives. To learn more about advertising, contact magazine@pepperdine.edu.
cross section of the University community.
guidance from an advisory board representing a
Send address changes, letters to the editor, and other queries to: magazine@pepperdine.edu All material is copyrighted ©2019 by Pepperdine University, Malibu, California 90263. Pepperdine is affiliated with Churches of Christ, of
MAGAZINE.PEPPERDINE.EDU
PA1903096
7 Campus Notes
ADVERTISING
which the University’s founder, George Pepperdine, was a lifelong member.
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Editor’s Letter
I first learned of cardiologist, geneticist, and digital healthcare expert Eric Topol while listening to an episode of Armchair Expert, a podcast hosted by comedian Dax Shepard. On Mondays Shepard interviews, with great candor, celebrities and other recognizable individuals about their rise in the entertainment industry. But each Thursday Shepard satisfies his own insatiable curiosity about the world around him by featuring experts in diverse disciplines who are doing transformative work in their highly specialized fields. As a child and into my adolescence I would pore over my parents’ medical books that lined the dark shelves in their shared office. I had so many questions, and the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy held the key to my answers (and subsequent questions) in great photographic detail. On one memorable occasion, my 14-year-old self was convinced of yet another self-diagnosed ailment and was almost disappointed to discover, thanks to the determination made by a highly amused pediatrician, that it was nearly impossible at my age to develop spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when a baby’s spinal cord doesn’t form properly. Now both retired, my mom—a pre-med graduate who recently completed an incredible 47-year career as a high school biology teacher—and dad—who, with a PhD in immunology, inspired many of his high school and college chemistry students to pursue careers in the medical field—were unable to influence my career path in a way that harnessed my curiosity about genetic engineering as a (short-lived) biology major in college before I transferred to the English department. But as a journalist, I constantly tap into that childlike inquisitiveness by picking the brains of the individuals and covering the stories that interest me most. As I listened to the Topol episode, my questions were endless. “Should patients own their own data?” “Are younger physicians at an
advantage in the age of artificial intelligence due to their advanced technical literacy?” “When will those personal smartphonepowered ultrasound body scanners he talked about be available for purchase?” I took feverish notes while gasping at the staggering data Topol presented about modern medicine and the ways in which artificial intelligence will transform how we engage with those responsible for managing our healthcare. I could listen to him talk forever. So when I learned that he was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Future of Healthcare Symposium hosted by the Graziadio Business School, I knew I had to marry my personal interest in healthcare AI and Pepperdine’s vested interest in this emerging field. Believe me. When I interviewed the experts for this issue’s cover story, I asked all of the questions and geeked out over the overwhelming promise of a new age of medicine. I was fascinated by the advances in remote healthcare currently being used by patients recovering from major medical procedures, and I remain intrigued by the potential of deep learning, which enables computers to adopt the innate behaviors and habits that only humans possess. I hope you’re as excited as I am about applications of AI in healthcare. They will make a significant impact on how we take care of ourselves in ways we were able to only imagine a few years ago.
GAREEN DARAKJIAN editor
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THANK YOU FOR TAKING US TO NEW HEIGHTS! This academic year . . .
312 1,490
funds were supported across the University
current students gave to their Pepperdine passions
87
law students joined the Associates program
alumni from every School of Public Policy graduating class made a gift
members from the Class of 1938 to the Class of 2019 gave back
19,558
conversations were facilitated by the Call Center
3,331 gifts were given during Give2Pepp
9,671
total donors gave to the University
310.506.4579 Online: give.pepperdine.edu Mail: The Pepperdine Fund 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263-4579
Inside Voices “A sense of desperation is in the air—from both prospective students and their parents— about having the best possible chance at getting into the best possible college.”
Beyond the Application By Kristy Paredes Collins (’04, MA ’07) Dean of Enrollment Management, Seaver College Associate Provost, University Financial Assistance
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For many, May 1 is a day that symbolizes the beginning of a new journey. May 1, National College Decision Day, represents the culmination of years of studying, test taking, essay writing, and anxiety for prospective undergraduate students. May 1 is also a significant day for those of us privileged to be on the other side of the admission process. Although recent scandal has thrust college admission into the national spotlight, the controversy, skepticism, and mistrust is familiar to those of us in this field. Books that describe how populations of students have been systematically excluded from elite colleges for more than a century, like The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton and The Price of Admission, were some of the first I read when I started my career in admission nearly 15 years ago. I am well aware of the ways privilege can contribute to higher standardized test scores, increased access to guidance about the college application process, and the cultural capital and time to curate a robust extracurricular resume. I am also keenly aware of the angst associated with the college search process— it is palpable in the media, in high school hallways, and even in the Office of Admission lobby as families wait for their campus tour. A sense of desperation is in the air—from both prospective students and their parents— about having the best possible chance at getting into the best possible college. Some pursue internships or clubs for the benefit of the college application instead of focusing on opportunities for growth and learning. Some take every Advanced Placement class available no matter how much they dislike the subject. I propose a shift in disposition. I want students to volunteer because they are
passionate about a particular organization. To shadow an entrepreneur because they plan to start their own business one day. To deeply and intellectually engage in their academic experience. High school is so much more than a pathway to college. I also want students to care about something other than their own success. A few years ago, I joined more than 140 colleagues to endorse the Turning the Tide College Admissions campaign at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This campaign is a demonstration of our commitment to place greater value on students’ ethical and intellectual engagement in the college admission process. Although the campaign is new, we have been doing this at Seaver College for years. A student’s academic profile is certainly important, but it is only one of many factors that influence the admission decision. We consider a student’s faith journey and ability to engage in deep thought and conversation around topics that matter. We care about realworld engagement outside the classroom. A mutual selection process occurs when admitted students choose Pepperdine. We constantly strive to identify students who will pursue more than grades and a degree. These students are simultaneously drawn to Pepperdine’s commitment to cultivating purpose, service, and leadership within a Christian context. In the end, we as admission professionals are mindful of the role we play in both communicating the uniqueness of Pepperdine to prospective students and selecting the student body. While Pepperdine is indeed a place with incredible opportunity for growth and learning, I want to discourage students from expending all of their energy on a single dream school. Their ability to make the world a better place shouldn’t depend on the college they attend. They can be change makers anywhere. I hope that as an admission professional my decisions help further the growth of all students, but particularly those who come for and embrace the value of the Pepperdine experience.
Campus Notes PEPPERDINE PEOPLE
Rick Aglietti Rick Aglietti, scenic design and technical direction expert, takes the stage to reflect on his 40-year career in theatre production
Aglietti’s second dream job would have been wildlife research and management. His deep love for nature and storylines set outdoors inspired him to design two different productions of Into the Woods at Pepperdine—one in 1997 that featured graphic, three-dimensional motifs on flat planes and one in 2014 that used colorful lighting to illuminate a stark, mostly white stage offering a projection surface for bright colors.
Originally from Pennsylvania,
Aglietti discovered his passion for scenic design in 1977 as an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh during the development of the musical Celebration.
“No two days are the same, and no two production teams are composed of the exact group of directors and designers. Students are constantly arriving and graduating, and their energy is the force that feeds my inspiration. They are on that stage not only as actors and crew members, but within every choice of line, texture, and color.”
“Every chosen element placed into a design must speak to the world of the play at hand. Theatre is a collaborative process, and scenery
has to be designed to allow the actors to move easily and safely in their newly created environment.”
Often designing several productions simultaneously, Aglietti’s creative process begins
Aglietti’s Pepperdine journey began in 1989
with a job listing he came across in ARTSEARCH, a national resource for careers in the arts. He began his service at the University in March 1990 and has been making artistic history in Malibu ever since.
with research, which involves surrounding himself with printed images of period interiors, architecture, landscapes, furniture, props, color palettes, and textures to contemplate, incorporate, alter, or disregard.
“The best advice I’ve ever gotten is, ‘Don’t settle for that first look.
“I am never nervous or intimidated to unveil my vision. My creative style is inspired by asking,
Keep that design evolving. Alter it. Tweak it. Let the excitement wash over you until you’re gasping for yet another opening night!’”
‘What new designs can I make that satisfy my creative needs and excite the director, the production team, our students, and our audiences?’”
First String Get to know the 15 talented young musicians who competed in the fifth Parkening International Guitar Competition from May 28 to June 1, 2019. playing guitar on average
16
years
6
countries and
35–40 hours of weekly rehearsals
5
US states represented
3 play other instruments
15 have won other international awards
$310,000 awarded
1
leads a non-music career
to winners since
13
teach guitar lessons
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Campus Notes SOUND BITES “Resilient people rise above what happened yesterday and they live life focused on today. You cannot be powerful and pitiful at the same time.” Stasia Washington (MBA ’13), Senior Vice President and Managing Director, First Foundation
Find
EVENT: “Graziadio Business School Spring 2019 Commencement”
Pepperdine Alumni
“We live in a world that is complex, and many times, we are missing the history, culture, and identity of the community we are working with.” Ashley Labosier (MPP ’09), Executive Director, Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, Pepperdine School of Public Policy EVENT: “Gov 2.0: Technology and Public Engagement”
on Instagram!
Follow @pepperdinealumni for stories, events, and photos of the Waves community! Join the conversation and tag us to stay connected through the newest alumni social platform.
Stephen Davis, Distinguished Professor of Biology, Seaver College
#PEPPALUM #PEPPERDINEPROUD
DID
“Where does the love [for nature] come from? People with faith in the Abrahamic tradition—Jewish, Christian, or Muslim—know about the Genesis account of creation . . . and it was created out of love.”
EVENT: “Climate Calling”
YOU KNOW
Every March and October, the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies hosts L’Dough V’Dough, a noontime gathering to bake challah bread with Holocaust survivors and hear their stories.
“Preservation cannot exist in isolation. While change can result in losses, preservation must embrace the future boldly.” Michèle Cloonan, Professor and Dean Emerita, School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University EVENT: “Balancing Preservation and Access in the 21st Century: A Pepperdine Symposium”
FROM THE ARCHIVES Pepperdine University student float representatives Alyssa Allen (’88) and Hung Le (’87, MA ’03) ride “The Quest for Atlantis” during the 98th annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on January 1, 1987.
Source: University Archives Photograph Collection
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Headlines
Sara Young Jackson Named Chancellor of Pepperdine Sara Young Jackson (’74), who has served Pepperdine University in key administrative positions since 1979, was named chancellor on April 18, 2019, and began her new role on August 1. Most recently, Jackson served as senior vice chancellor, a role in which she promoted and advanced the progress of the University through major-gift fundraising. In this capacity, she sat on the University Board, managed the Seaver College Board of Visitors, and acted as the liaison for the student life committee of the Board of Regents. As chancellor, Jackson will take a leadership role on major initiatives to help strengthen the University’s endowment while cultivating meaningful relationships to extend Pepperdine’s reach throughout Southern California and around the globe. The chancellor is also a member of the University’s senior leadership team and will serve as an important advisor to President Jim Gash (JD ’93). “As Pepperdine’s incoming leadership team advances its shared vision to be recognized as a preeminent Christian university with a global reach, its goals require the dedication of people who know and love Pepperdine, who are deeply connected to the friends of Pepperdine, and who have demonstrated the capacity to build significant new friendships for Pepperdine,” said Gash. “For the past 15 years as senior vice chancellor, Sara has brought professionalism, grace, and an impressive track record of fundraising to her role. I am honored to partner with her to advance our shared aspirations.” Jackson, a lifelong member of the Pepperdine community and Churches of Christ, received her first introduction to the University when her father, M. Norvel Young, became its third president in 1957. For the next four decades, the Youngs cultivated the growth of the University, playing instrumental roles in the development of the student body and the move from Pepperdine’s original campus site in South Los Angeles to its current location in Malibu. “Sara is an extraordinary professional who has, for decades, demonstrated a true commitment to Pepperdine and its students and the worthy cause of Christian higher education,” said Keith Hinkle, senior vice president for advancement. “Her enthusiasm for sharing the Pepperdine story with friends near and far has facilitated meaningful support for the University in effective ways. Pepperdine’s future is brighter with the institutional pride that Sara will bring as chancellor.” Jackson began her decades-long career at Pepperdine as the assistant director of student life and soon advanced to the director position. Under the leadership of President David Davenport in the late 1980s, she was called on by Seaver College professor Carolyn Vos Strache to work with student leaders to design and launch the
Pepperdine Volunteer Center, a center where students, staff, and faculty members live out the University mission by engaging in service opportunities and building lasting partnerships within the community. In her post as founding director, Jackson developed the managing board and created the earliest campus-wide volunteer programs. Harnessing her background in marriage and family therapy and passion for strengthening families, Jackson collaborated with Dennis Lowe, professor at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, to establish the Center for the Family, later named for Pat and Shirley Boone, and serve as its executive director. Jackson played a fundamental part in program development, fundraising, and seminar instruction until 2004, when she assumed a key development role for the University as vice chancellor. Fueled by her enthusiasm for promoting the growth of women leaders, Jackson, in partnership with Pepperdine’s human resources department and Center for Women in Leadership, launched the Women in Leadership Institute at Pepperdine, a program that nurtures the career and spiritual development of young women leaders at the University through mentorship and fellowship. “I am truly thrilled to be offered this appointment by President Gash,” said Jackson. “After many years of investment in this beloved community, I can’t think of anything more meaningful than joining the leadership team as we launch expectantly the next chapter of Pepperdine.” Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Seaver College and was the recipient of the college’s 2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award. She also holds a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis in marriage and family counseling from Fuller Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Sam (’75, EdD ’84), are the parents of Jessica (’09), Joseph, and Madeline (’13).
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Headlines Pepperdine Mourns the Passing of President Emeritus William S. Banowsky William Slater Banowsky (MA ’94), the fourth president and chief executive officer of Pepperdine University who served from 1971 to 1978, passed away on April 28, 2019. “Few can appreciate the impact of Dr. Banowsky’s leadership and his lasting impact on Pepperdine today,” said President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton. “He was a visionary determined to assure a bright future for the University, often willing the institution forward with his considerable talents and very often against the odds. He must always be regarded as one of the central heroes of our story.” M. Norvel Young, president of Pepperdine College at the time, persuaded Banowsky to join the institution in 1959 as associate dean of students. By 1963 Banowsky had been promoted to dean of students at Pepperdine and completed his doctorate in speech communication. Having been fully immersed in academia for eight years, Banowsky left Pepperdine to minister to the 2,000-member Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, and grew the church membership significantly during his five-year tenure. In California, the 1,500-student Pepperdine College, situated on a 34-acre site with neither space nor funds to expand, was faced with increasing competition for students. President Young recognized that the college desperately needed an infusion of new energy and invited Banowsky to return to Pepperdine. With Banowsky’s return, the dreams of Young and many others began to take shape in an ambitious master plan that called for the establishment of a new campus and the addition of professional and graduate programs. Banowsky became chancellor in 1969 and turned his attention to raising money for the development of the Malibu campus following the gift of 138 acres of prime Malibu real estate by the Adamson-Rindge family. Banowsky exceeded expectations, and ground was broken on the windy
bluffs of Malibu in 1970. A year later, amid the flurry of construction in preparing for the 1972 campus opening, Pepperdine College was elevated to university status and Banowsky was named its fourth president. Throughout the course of his meteoric career, Banowsky wrote and published four books, including The Malibu Miracle: A Memoir, which highlights the most notable challenges and victories that resulted in Pepperdine’s move from South Los Angeles to Malibu. During the exciting decade from 1968 to 1978, Banowsky led the development of Pepperdine College from a small, innercity school to a major university on the rim of the Pacific. Banowsky was recognized with an honorary doctor of laws degree from Seaver College following his departure from Pepperdine, and in 1991 the University honored him by naming the road stretching across the south side of the Malibu campus Banowsky Boulevard. Banowsky is survived by his wife, Gay; sons David, William, Jr., Baxter, and Britton; and several grandchildren.
43rd Annual Pepperdine Associates Dinner Honors President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton Eight hundred distinguished guests, including alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends, paid tribute to the leadership and legacy of President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton at the 43rd annual Pepperdine Associates dinner on May 11, 2019, at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE. The event kicked off with a processional of longtime George Pepperdine Society members followed by an introduction to this year’s honorees. In his opening remarks, Keith Hinkle, senior vice president for advancement and chief development officer, paid tribute to Benton’s influence on the entire Pepperdine community. “Pepperdine has always been blessed with a very real sense of community, of being a family,” he shared. “But over the past two decades, Andy Benton, as the head of that family, has managed to make that sense
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of fellowship even stronger through his faith, compassion, and commitment to service.” Dinner chairs Ed—who concluded his service in June as chair of the Pepperdine Board of Regents—and Paula Biggers spoke about the confidence that Benton and former first lady Debby Benton’s leadership inspires in the University community. “All of you have invested generously in their vision, and today we can see that your ‘return on investment’ has been astronomical,” Ed shared. “Not only in the form of rising academic rankings or innovative new programs and beautiful new facilities worldwide, but in the form of students’ lives forever changed—and the lives that their Pepperdine education will inspire them to change wherever they go.” Exploring the theme “Promises to Keep”— also the title of his inaugural address—Benton remarked on the milestones he achieved since the beginning of his term in 2000. He also recalled the challenges he determined to be particularly significant at the time of his inauguration and the challenges to which he would devote his presidency. “Many wonderful things have happened at Pepperdine over the past 19 years, but I haven’t accomplished any of them all on my own,” he said, as he mused on his time
as president. “The ‘promises kept’ that we reflect on tonight are promises all of us have delivered together, for the benefit of our students, our stakeholders, and all the communities that Pepperdine touches.” The evening also included heartfelt and powerful tributes to Benton, including a rousing spoken-word performance by Demi McCoy (’14). The crowd was later entertained by legendary musician, composer, and producer David Foster, who performed some of the iconic tunes that he developed for superstars such as Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Josh Groban. In his closing comments, Benton acknowledged that “the most difficult four days of my entire career” occurred just last fall in the aftermath of the Borderline shooting and the Woolsey Fire, and expressed his gratitude to the Pepperdine community for the resilience it demonstrated during tragic times. “We show our true character not when things are easy, but when they are hard,” he shared. “This was a test of character that the Pepperdine community passed with flying colors. The picture of courage and resilience that all of you painted together in the wake of those tragedies is an image that will stay with me forever.”
School of Public Policy Forms New Academic Enterprise with Los Angeles Homeland Security Advisory Council The School of Public Policy has formed a new academic enterprise with the Los Angeles Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) focused on disaster preparedness and crisis management. The initiative, called the Homeland Security Advisory Council at the School of Public Policy, is positioned to prepare the next generation of public leaders by harnessing the School of Public Policy’s unique curriculum dedicated to exploring a full range of cross-sector and information technology solutions to public policy challenges. The formation of the enterprise with HSAC, a nonprofit organization that seeks to ensure the security and resilience of the Los Angeles region in the face of threats and hazards, is Pepperdine’s first step in exploring a newly imagined institute for homeland security. “Through the trail-blazing, innovative work of the Homeland Security Advisory Council we are actually seeing viable solutions to issues important to our community,” said President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton. “That Pepperdine, through its School of Public Policy, is going to have a major hand in this important and
shaping effort is a great opportunity and a point of pride. We hope to use this opportunity to build social capital in greater Los Angeles and help make our community a safer, more caring place for all of our citizens.” HSAC currently offers a variety of programs focused on technology, engagement, capability building, and partnerships for crisis management, policy, and first-response professionals in addition to students pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree. Through the partnership with the School of Public Policy, HSAC will expand its current offerings, create new programs, and reach a broader participant group that includes Pepperdine students and alumni. Demonstrating a shared commitment to service, community, and the public good, the move also includes the acquisition of HSAC’s crisis and event management platform, SALUS - The Crisis Hub™, that uses geographic information systems to manage and analyze data in order to build upon existing relationships with municipal and state governments.
ཁཁLearn more about the new enterprise: magazine.pepperdine.edu/hsac-spp
Parkening International Guitar Competition Announces 2019 Winners Following a week of classical guitar performances, Christopher Parkening and Pepperdine University announced the winner of the fifth Parkening International Guitar Competition. The event, recognized as the world’s preeminent guitar competition, took place at Smothers Theatre from May 28 through June 1, 2019. Andrea Roberto, a 23-year-old musician from Italy, took the gold medal with his rich interpretation of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto No. 1 in D Major during the sold-out final round on June 1. He received the $30,000 Jack Marshall Prize in addition to his medal. Alec Holcomb, a 24-year-old native of Nashville, Tennessee, won the silver medal and received $15,000. Russian guitarist Sergey Perelekhov, 22, was awarded the bronze medal and $7,500. The three finalists, each of whom performed a concerto with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra under the baton of conductor Michael Stanley, were selected from a pool of 15 standout competitors from seven different countries. A winner was
announced after a deliberation following the final performance. The distinguished panel of five judges representing different areas of the music world included Mia Bongiovanni, assistant general manager of media and presentations for the Metropolitan Opera; Charlotte Lee, president and founder of Primo Artists; Steve Schoen, former vice president of Sony Music Masterworks and Sony/BMG; David Thomas, recording producer; and Pablo Sáinz Villegas, classical guitar virtuoso and winner of the 2006 Parkening International Guitar Competition. “It has been a true inspiration to see the extraordinary level of talent of all who have performed in the competition. We can say with confidence that the future of classical music is bright,” said Lee, who served as the jury chair, at the awards ceremony on June 1. “We’d like to acknowledge each and every competitor for what you have sacrificed to participate in this competition. You have given your commitment, your discipline, your time, your dedication, and your heart. This journey has made you a better musician and a better person.”
ཁཁLearn more about the Parkening International Guitar Competition: magazine.pepperdine.edu/parkening2019
Dee Anna Smith Named Chair of Pepperdine Board of Regents Dee Anna Smith (’86), chief executive officer of Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, has been appointed chair of the Pepperdine University Board of Regents. The selection was announced at the annual Board of Regents meeting on June 11, 2019. “I am thrilled that Dee Anna Smith will be lending her unique perspective and extraordinary skills to help shape and direct the policies of the University,” said President Jim Gash. “I look forward to partnering with her on accelerating Pepperdine’s ascension to the next level in higher education.” In her role as chair, Smith will be responsible for guiding the board to strategically advance the progress of the University, welcoming the expression and exchange of a wide array of perspectives and ideas, and helping lead the University in generating financial resources to foster academic excellence and spiritual growth in all students. Smith is the first Pepperdine graduate to chair the board, as well as the first woman to occupy the position. She is a member of Churches of Christ and attends Ethos Church in Nashville, Tennessee. “I am both proud and honored to serve my alma mater in this important capacity and to work alongside President Gash to engage deeply with the strategic direction of the University,” shared Smith, who has been connected to Pepperdine for more than 30 years and a member of the board since 2014. “I am inspired by the opportunity to support the next generation of Waves as we begin a new chapter in Pepperdine’s history.” Appointed as Sarah Cannon’s CEO in 2006, Smith is responsible for leading the organization’s overall mission and vision to make a global impact on cancer research and care. Under her leadership, Sarah Cannon has grown its reach in bringing world-class cancer care closer to home for hundreds of thousands of people facing cancer across the United States and United Kingdom. Additionally, the organization has been a key contributor in clinical research that has led to the majority of newly approved cancer therapies over the last decade. magazine.pepperdine.edu
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Headlines Pepperdine Announces Waves of Innovation IV Winners Pepperdine faculty Nelson Granados and John Mooney, alumna Lene Martin (EdD ’16), Seaver College professor Jennifer Smith, and Seaver College student Kaytlynn Welsch were awarded funds totaling $347,000 to facilitate the expansion and implementation of their cutting-edge projects through Waves of Innovation IV. The awardees, who first presented their proposals as part of 89 applicants in December 2018, were announced at the Waves of Innovation IV Talks in Malibu on March 18, 2019. “In only four iterations of President Emeritus Benton’s Waves of Innovation initiative, we have seen the genesis of popular new academic programs, new University collaborations, exciting new technologies, and multiple strategies to more fully engage the community,” explains biology professor Lee Kats, vice provost for research and strategic initiatives and Frank R. Seaver Chair of Natural Science. “In this most recent round of Waves of Innovation, we again see both students and faculty pushing the envelope of what is new and forward looking in higher education.”
ཁཁLearn more about the award-winning proposals: magazine.pepperdine.edu/woi-2019
Graziadio Business School and Dignity Health Global Education Announce Partnership
Graduate School of Education and Psychology Receives National Science Foundation Grant
The Graziadio Business School and Dignity Health Global Education (DHGE) announced a partnership in March 2019 to offer online professional certificate courses for healthcare professionals. “There are few industries that are changing more quickly than healthcare,” explained Lynda Palmer (MBA ’91), practitioner faculty of marketing at the Graziadio School, where she is leading the development of the new program. “Rapid technological advances coupled with societal and regulatory pressures make it imperative for all healthcare professionals to stay ahead of the curve. The Dignity/PGBS partnership is a perfect fit, as the business school’s focus on Best for the World Leaders and a healthcare powerhouse like Dignity will positively impact the future of healthcare.” Initial courses will focus on healthcare analytics, information science, and marketing to provide training and education designed to improve workforce development, quality, and patient outcomes. The agreement combines Pepperdine Graziadio’s experience in creating applied learning and DHGE’s access to data, informatics, and lifelike scenarios. Samuel Seaman, professor of decision sciences, will lead the creation of the healthcare analytics certificate.
In April 2019 the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $100,000 grant to the Graduate School of Education and Psychology for a critical research workshop on next-generation STEM learning environments. To strategically structure research around learning technology and education, NSF set aside $1 million for synthesis and design workshops that would create complementary strategy papers to address and guide future federal research investments. Following an intense national competition for funding, Pepperdine joins nine other universities nationwide, each awarded $100,000, to contribute to this strategic effort. Earlier this year, Pepperdine hosted a series of webinars that culminated in a live workshop at the Malibu campus in May. The workshop’s focus was similar to an international STEM makerspace project currently overseen by Eric Hamilton, GSEP professor of education. With participants from the United States, Kenya, Finland, India, Iran, and Namibia, the project, known as the International Community for Collaborative Content Creation, explores how learning, collaboration, and culture influence each other when students work together globally on STEM–themed media projects in after-school or other informal learning environments.
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School of Law Announces $2 Million Endowment of Parris Institute for Professional Excellence The School of Law announced a pacesetting $2 million gift by benefactors Carrol and R. Rex Parris to formally endow the Parris Institute for Professional Excellence. A national model for professional leadership training, the institute, formerly the Parris Institute for Professional Formation, is committed to enhancing the core internal character competencies that have marked the great contributions of lawyers throughout human history. “The commitment to fostering the human and professional skills that take a lawyer from great to distinguished is what sets Pepperdine Law apart,” said R. Rex Parris. “Our family is proud to announce that we are expanding the reach and impact of the Parris Institute.” The Parris Institute provides all first-year law students with training in character and professional development, assistance with planning their law school experience, and exposure to different legal professionals through mentors across practice areas including judges, notable alumni, and entrepreneurs. With the latest gift from the Parris family, the program will expand to serve second- and third-year students as well.
ཁཁLearn more: magazine.pepperdine.edu/parris-institute
L-R: Paul Caron, Carrol Parris, R. Rex Parris, Jim Gash
Graziadio Business School and Los Angeles Venture Association Cohost Startup Pitch Competition The Graziadio Business School and the Los Angeles Venture Association partnered to host the Startup World Cup Los Angeles regional event on April 24, 2019. Deryck J. van Rensburg, dean of the Graziadio Business School, served as one of five judges. Sponsored by Fenox Venture Capital, the Startup World Cup is a global series of pitch competitions hosted in more than 40 international regions. Startup companies previously developed through the help of Fenox Venture Capital have designed innovative approaches toward advancing agriculture, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, financial technologies, healthcare, robotics, and transportation with the purpose of transforming industries and improving lives. On May 17, 2019, the selected startup from each region traveled to Silicon Valley for the grand finale to compete for a $1 million investment. AudioCardio, a Los Angelesbased company that strives to protect, maintain, and improve hearing through mobile assessments and physical therapy treatments, was selected as this year’s winner.
School of Public Policy Joins the Public Interest Technology University Network The School of Public Policy joined the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) in March 2019 as one of 21 founding member institutions. Launched by a collaboration comprising the Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and New America, PIT-UN is composed of leading academic institutions working at the intersection of the public, technology, and government sectors. “I’m very excited about the opportunities provided by this new network,” said Pete Peterson (MPP ’07), dean of the School of Public Policy. “Our work over the last several years—both inside and outside the classroom—has involved preparing leaders in local and state government to use technology in ways that make government more transparent and responsive. This nationwide association offers great promise to broaden the impact of these efforts.” Along with its master of public policy course work offerings, the school has increased its early- and mid-career seminars and professional certificate classes in topics ranging from public engagement skills to government technology. “We’ve trained more than 2,500 local government leaders over the last decade in how to better involve the public in policy making,” said Ashley Labosier (MPP ’09), executive director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership. “I look forward to expanding our training in government technology through our membership in this new network.”
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ME, MYSELF, AND
By Gareen Darakjian
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As the healthcare industry moves swiftly into an increasingly technological age, experts weigh in on the factors, fears, and future prospects of artificial intelligencepowered innovation
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notification appears on the tablet screen. “Record your daily weight,” it advises Patient X, recently discharged from the hospital following double bypass surgery. He steps on the digital scale in the comfort of his home and checks the number on the display. He notices a five-pound weight gain in a span of two days—a common symptom that follows the procedure he underwent last week. This type of weight gain, however, typically caused by fluid buildup called edema, could signal diminished blood flow, and it must be treated with diuretics to expel water and salt from the body and increase the volume of blood in circulation. At the hospital, a team of nurses who have been monitoring Patient X in real time in the days following his surgery send him a same-day appointment request through the system he uses to record his vitals and communicate remotely with those individuals responsible for delivering his postoperative care. The preprogrammed tablet, which uses an algorithm to detect abnormal vital sign ranges, and the digital scale are part of the handful of appliances that includes blood pressure monitors and pulse oximeters that Patient X came home with after surgery. Individuals who are eligible for this type of remote monitoring—those
Lindsay Brooker
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managing chronic diseases such as diabetes or recovering from surgical procedures— are more likely to have potentially serious problems detected early and typically experience better recovery outcomes than individuals without such personalized care. At UCLA Health, telehealth implementation manager Lindsay Brooker (MPP ’11) identifies strategies for expanding the use of digital health across the enterprise, including video visits and postsurgical remote patient monitoring programs for high-acuity patients like Patient X. “Very sick patients often do not understand how their lifestyle and decisions affect their health outcomes,” she explains. “Remote patient monitoring is one way for these patients to visualize in near real time how eating poorly or skipping an important medicine can directly affect their vitals.” Beyond empowering patients to generate their own data and gain deeper insight into customized treatment plans, Brooker explains that telehealth services also move low-acuity patients out of the clinic, minimize waiting room bottleneck, and reduce the rate of hospital readmission and emergency room visits—results that would help hospitals avoid associated penalties and fines. “Remote monitoring is going to be a standard of care in the next decade, but most likely even sooner than that,” Brooker continues. “The next layer is determining how to take the information that patients are already gathering about themselves and creating an algorithm that’s actionable so we can start identifying trends in public health.”
O As machines get smarter and become better at performance, human intelligence is not going to change. But machines will. —ERIC TOPOL
ver the last decade, artificial intelligence (AI) and, specifically, deep learning—when computers learn and adopt skills only possessed by humans—have overtaken the healthcare industry, from AI-enhanced microscopes that have learned to detect deadly diseases faster than humans can to applications that enable ultrasound capabilities on a person’s smartphone to surgical robots. But beyond the benefits of diagnostic accuracy, self-guided care, and convenience for both patients and providers, many are skeptical of the impersonal qualities of AI practices in contemporary medicine and wonder how emerging technologies will further erode the clinical experience. In the foreword to world-renowned cardiologist Eric Topol’s Deep Medicine, a revealing book on the emergence and limitless potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare, author Abraham Verghese cites a 2,000-year-old phrase by Hippocrates: “It is more important to know what sort of person has [a] disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.” Not known for its personalized approach by any standards, the healthcare industry as we know it and the reality of the clinical experience do not often suggest a caring healthcare environment. Topol, who was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Future of Healthcare Symposium founded by the Figueroa family and hosted by the Graziadio Business School this April, explained that AI, especially in the realm of healthcare, enhances productivity and efficiency and improves workflow in ways that can and will repair patient-doctor relationships.
“Keyboards are the enemy of doctors and patients,” Topol explained, referring to the disconnected nature of data entry and note-taking during already compressed office visits—the leading source of patient dissatisfaction during medical encounters. In a study conducted in partnership with NHS England, Topol and team tested a natural language processing technology and found that introducing the clinical speech recognition practice during patient consultations not only enhanced the quality and accuracy of the data gathered but also saved time—about three minutes per patient. Voice-synthesized notes, he says, will also be able to deploy orders, tests, and billing. Topol explained that these results could relieve the pressure of routine and systematic office visits, which, if implemented properly, can also reduce the alarming rates of burnout and depression among healthcare professionals. “As machines get smarter and become better at performance, human intelligence is not going to change. But machines will,” said Topol at the symposium. “We need to get more humane. That’s what defines us, and that’s what people want when they’re sick: to be able to deal with their data and be able to have a better outcome.” Gary Mangiofico, academic director of the Graziadio Business School master of science in organization development and executive professor of organizational theory and management, echoes Topol’s optimistic outlook on the future of the doctor-patient relationship and explains that healthcare systems that use AI and other major data analytics free up healthcare providers so that they may deliver better care. “Instead of doctors or nurses being overloaded with sorting through data and moving from patient to patient as fast as they can, data is going to enable them to have answers at their fingertips,” Mangiofico says of the activity volume-based healthcare system wherein physicians are incentivized to see as many patients as possible. “Doctors will be freed up to spend more time with patients. We should see the quality of the actual care delivered go up.”
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mong both experts and laypeople, criticisms of AI almost unanimously identify radiological error as the sources of greatest concern. A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology cites earlier research that implicates medical error as the third most common cause of death in the United States after cancer and heart disease. At a 4 percent error rate, that translates into approximately 40 million interpretive errors per year. John Figueroa (MBA ’97), former CEO of Genoa Healthcare, argues that radiology is the area that will be revolutionized most significantly by AI, explaining that once a machine learns the human skills of scanning and analyzing medical images, it is three times more effective at identifying and diagnosing injuries and diseases. “AI compounds [the human capabilities of] sight, intelligence, and predictive modeling to improve medicine significantly,” Figueroa says. “That’s the essence of AI to me. It’s a math equation. We teach the computer everything that we know, and then it begins to run a predictive model of the knowledge it has gained and even continues to develop more knowledge. This exponential knowledge gathering of predictive modeling is going to solve a lot of our health and healthcare mysteries. As great as that sounds, however, it still will take a while.” But what about cases in which patients are denied assistive care because an AI system misrepresented their condition
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and failed to recommend the appropriate care? Although the benefits of AIsupported healthcare abound, questions, concerns, and fears still remain. In a 2018 study, Syneos Health Communications surveyed approximately 800 European and American patients in three disease areas and caregivers for patients in a fourth disease area in one of the earliest insights into patients’ thought processes about the ways in which AI could impact their health outcomes. The top two fears that both patients and caregivers expressed were lack of human oversight and the potential for machine errors leading to mismanagement of their health. “You could point to an example where AI made a mistake and ask how we can rely on a technology that has the potential to make a mistake,” says Figueroa. “But consider how many times a human doctor or an X-ray or a lab result produces an inaccurate result. The opportunities for human beings to make mistakes using basic human knowledge are vastly greater than those for AI products using the same information.” Figueroa says that patients unsatisfied by AI determinations are still able to use the same methods they’d use today in the form of a first, second, or third opinion. “The AI is never the be-all,” he says. “AI is a system to help make a decision, but the patients always have the right to challenge that decision. Human agency is not going to go away just because someone relied on an AI decision point.”
The exponential knowledge gathering of predictive modeling is going to solve a lot of our health and healthcare mysteries. —JOHN FIGUEROA
Gary Mangiofico
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ith advancements in AI and analytics, access to electronic medical records and information on the internet, and the distribution and breadth of available information, healthcare providers and consumers are now more informed and more empowered to choose the best courses of action for their respective healthcare needs. But the question still remains: could machines degrade the human relationship that’s at the core of medicine? Mangiofico maintains that the use of AI will allow physicians to provide more personalized care. “Despite the intervention of artificial intelligence, someone has to ultimately educate and care for the patient,” Mangiofico says. “While machines can deliver enormous amounts of data, especially data that’s directed toward diagnostics or clinical interventions or even prophylactics, what machines can not do is care. With the increasing use of AI, we now see the landscape shifting so the individual is at the center of healthcare.”
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Photos: Mallory Holcomb (’15)
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By Ben Holcomb (’14) He set out to tell the Pepperdine story from the perspective of five Seaver College students. Now the alumnus, videographer, and admission staff member shares his own story from behind the lens
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t’s been said that every story is about a fivesecond moment, and the parts that come before and after simply explain its significance. As university marketers, we celebrate the milestones in students’ lives, particularly the five seconds it takes for a graduate to walk across the stage and receive his or her diploma. But it is also important to consider all the moments preceding the walk that make it so consequential. In the best cases it is because the graduate has been profoundly transformed by the experiences of their past four years and is prepared to embark on a lifetime of purposeful work. In 2015 the Seaver College admission office sought to move beyond the traditional “five seconds” of the student experience story and focus on the events that make it matter. That’s how I found myself huddled up in the back of an incoming freshman’s van, next to her mother and moving boxes, filming the chaos that is lower dorm road at New Student Orientation (NSO).
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To best understand the origins of Rising Tide, a four-year docuseries following the experiences of five Seaver College students, you have to revisit the collective cultural consciousness in 2015. In February of that year, the independent film Boyhood garnered six Academy Award nominations. Boyhood received critical acclaim for its labored approach to storytelling: director Richard Linklater filmed over the course of 12 years, allowing his main actor to literally grow up on camera. The result was a sweeping epic about growing up and getting older, pieced together by the seemingly insignificant moments that make up a life. On television, a different phenomenon was occurring. Fifteen years after the premiere of CBS’ Survivor, roughly 750 reality shows aired on primetime cable—83 percent higher than the number of scripted shows according to Courteney Monroe, the president of National Geographic Global Television Networks. These trends spoke to a sentiment shift in the general public from content that is polished and compact to authentic, long-form storytelling that is often rough around the edges. In other words, the tide had shifted toward content that mirrored life as we know it. We saw this trend manifest in our Office of Admission recruitment marketing. Pepperdine’s dorm tour videos had consistently ranked as our most frequently viewed content. Companies like College Prowler published popular books on what it was “really like” to be a student at Pepperdine, and when our admission decisions went out, our office phone boards lit up with inquiries about the “true” student experience. This post-decision discovery phase was to be expected; the US is home to 2,474 four-year institutions of higher education, and almost all of them produce slick, colorful marketing material promising a transformational educational experience. As a high school student, it would be easy for the dozens of university brochures showing up in your mailbox to blur together. And in that case, the students seeking (and the universities offering) truly life-changing academic experiences would be the ones to suffer. This was where the Seaver admission marketing team found itself in the summer of 2015. Out of this problem, a question arose: what if, instead of telling prospective students about the transformational Pepperdine experience, we simply showed them?
RISING TIDE WAS SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE IT CAPTURED THE PEPPERDINE COMMUNITY AS WE HAVE ALL KNOWN IT. IT UNCOVERED THE HEART PULSING BENEATH EVERYTHING WE DO.
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pplications poured in by the dozens in July, before students—or our team—had a clear concept of how a Rising Tide docuseries would unfold in the fall. Our team carefully pored over more than 80 inquiries and conducted many Skype interviews before finalizing our cast of five: Katelynn Quick (Overland Park, Kansas), Chanse Alexander (Dallas, Texas), Esther Wong (Fresno, California), Aiden Howard (Vancouver, British Columbia), and Olivia Belda (Bakersfield, California). These students agreed to document their freshmen year on film so that prospective students could understand what it was like to attend college at Pepperdine. This was no small leap of faith on their parts. Driving onto campus for New Student Orientation is nerveracking enough as an incoming freshman. It is a few multiples worse when a relative stranger stops you at the entrance with
a video camera and asks to sit in the back seat. Starring in a reality show is a jarring experience. One day you are living a normal life, and the next day your every move is being recorded for public consumption. As it turns out, filming a reality show is rather jarring as well. As a cameraman, you watch a moment unfold through the pixelated screen of a camera, your eyes experiencing the same detached view as the eventual audience. But you are also occupying the same space as the subject. You are in the room, at the cafeteria table, and in the mosh pit at President Benton’s NSO reception. Like most things in life, the Rising Tide students and our marketing team made sense of it through trial and error, together, and often with the understanding that we would over-record now and uncover the story later.
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L-R: Olivia Belda, Esther Wong, Ben Holcomb, Chanse Alexander, Katelynn Quick, Aiden Howard
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s the only episodic university docuseries in America, we had the luxury—and challenge—of building the series from scratch without reference material. In the first season, we released one episode per month for eight months. We watched as four of the students joined Greek organizations and witnessed as various members of the cast agonized over decisions to study abroad, struggled through midterms and finals, established friend groups on campus, ran for student government positions, served on Step Forward Day, took the stage at Songfest, screamed their lungs out at a sold-out basketball game, and all those moments in between that encapsulate the first-year Seaver experience. Most importantly, we watched them grow. Their stories resonated with prospective students in a way our office never could have predicted. YouTube views topped 100,000 in the first year, and 76 percent of enrolled students watched the series. More significantly, more than half of them—56 percent— said they were “(strongly) influenced” to attend Pepperdine because of the series. In one year, Rising Tide had grown into our office’s primary marketing tool to prospective students. And so, we decided to keep the cameras rolling. Three years, 32 episodes, three continents, and some 400,000 views later, Rising Tide filmed its series finale on April 27, 2019, at Seaver commencement. Our project ended as the cast members took the stage to accept their diplomas, shake President Emeritus Benton’s hand, and embark on their new journeys as Pepperdine alumni.
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At Pepperdine you often hear that the people are what make our university special. As the creator of Rising Tide, now on the other side of this project, I can confirm that’s true. This series was successful not because of some sort of marketing genius or boardroom-conceived branding effort. It was successful because four classes of prospective students deeply connected with five individuals who were authentic, honest, flawed, and reflective of our university’s mission in every way. Furthermore, their growth as individuals did not occur in a vacuum. They were changed by their travels and studies, to be sure, but more importantly, they were shaped by a loving, God-fearing community of faculty, staff, and peers who deeply invested in their lives, who challenged them to be their best selves, who encouraged them at their lowest points, and cheered them on at their highest. Rising Tide was successful because it captured the Pepperdine community as we have all known it. It uncovered the heart pulsing beneath everything we do. Sometimes, it takes four years to do a story like that justice. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the commitment of our five Rising Tide students. In many ways they became the faces of Pepperdine in the last four years. At Malibu Reception, our annual admitted students day, prospective students would often be starstruck when they’d run into a member of the cast around campus. This extended into each new fall semester, as new classes of incoming students brought fans of the show. Next fall all four Seaver College classes will have gone through our recruitment cycle with Rising Tide as our primary digital marketing initiative. A large number of current students are here in Malibu because they were influenced by the stories of Katelynn, Olivia, Esther, Chanse, and Aiden.
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epresenting the University in our daily lives is a profound responsibility, one each of these students shouldered well. Katelynn graduated summa cum laude and accepted a scholarship to attend New York University’s master’s program in higher education this fall. Esther was a Regent Scholar and spent multiple years in Housing and Residence Life as a spiritual life advisor, helping underclassmen adjust to life on campus. She graduated with a degree in computer science for business and plans to move to Washington, DC, soon to begin her professional career. Chanse graduated with a degree in psychology and moved home with hopes to continue his psychology education. Aiden earned a degree in accounting and moved home to Vancouver where he signed with an agent and is pursuing his dream of screen acting. And Olivia graduated magna cum laude with a degree in integrated marketing communication. She is moving to Chicago to begin her “dream job,” as a junior project manager at Ogilvy. The Rising Tide students were just five of some 800 students who graduated from Seaver in April. Each has a unique story that they are telling with their lives. In our modern reality television-saturated, social media-influenced world, we often mistake the presence of cameras for importance. But reality shows, like our own Rising Tide, actually reveal a deeper truth: whether or not cameras are rolling, you are always on the center stage of life and have the potential to deeply influence the people around you—your friends, your family, your colleagues, and strangers. Whether in standstill traffic on the freeway or long, serpentine lines in the grocery store, you never know who is watching. You can never know the ripple effect your actions will have on the life of another. As members of the Pepperdine University community, we are all charged with fostering its mission every day. If you claim this place—on bumper stickers, hats, office walls, or short bios on LinkedIn profiles—you may be the only personification of our school with which a person will ever come in contact. Our daily lives market this place more than any branding initiative ever will. How are you choosing to tell our story?
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Triple Booked Based on tales from her own exercises in self-reflection, an alumna applies the art of storytelling to psychotherapy with wit and wisdom By Sara Bunch
Photos: courtesy of HMH
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Lori Gottlieb (MA ’10) loves a good story. Throughout her career the journalist turned psychotherapist has shared poignant insights—most notably as the author of the Atlantic’s weekly “Dear Therapist” advice column and as a regular contributor to the New York Times—that have been informed by her experiences in her private practice as well as in her personal life. With the release of her third critically acclaimed book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, an instant New York Times bestseller, Gottlieb reveals the truth about us all: that none of us—not even those who are called upon to guide us through life’s most challenging moments—are immune from the fundamental struggles of the human condition. Pepperdine Magazine sat down with the Graduate School of Education and Psychology alumna to discuss the circuitous path that led her to a career in mental health, misconceptions about what happens in the therapy room, and her most recent book, currently being developed for television.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
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Pepperdine Magazine: What led you to pursue psychotherapy after working—quite successfully—in so many different fields? Lori Gottlieb: As a young executive at NBC when the show ER first aired, I was spending a lot of time in emergency rooms with real physicians. I loved the rich human stories that I was seeing, so I enrolled at Stanford Medical School because I had this fantasy of being involved in people’s life stories as their family doctor who continually guided them through the course of their lives. When I realized how difficult that would be in the era of managed care, I decided to become a journalist so that I could explore people’s stories. But when I had a baby, like many new moms, I discovered I needed to get out of the house and talk to other adults throughout the day. The UPS delivery man would come to drop off a package and I would strike up a conversation with him about diapers. One day I called the Stanford Medical School dean and said, “Maybe I should come back and finish medical school and become a psychiatrist.” She said that my interest in forming deeper and longer-term relationships with my patients seemed like a call to pursue psychology. That’s how I ended up at Pepperdine. PM: How did you draw the connection between storytelling and providing therapy? LG: Stories are how we make sense of our lives. Most of my work as a therapist is helping people edit their stories. I feel like I went from telling people’s stories as a journalist to helping them change their stories as a therapist. Many clients come in with faulty narratives, like “I’m unlovable” or “nothing will ever work out for me,” and I help them edit their stories so that they’re more accurate. If we’re attached to a story that’s holding us back, it’s time to reassess that story: is the protagonist going in circles or moving forward? Who are the heroes and the villains in the story, and is there another possibility?
PM: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone has achieved remarkable, widespread success. Why do you think it resonates so strongly with a broad audience? LG: The book follows the stories of four very different patients, but I don’t tell these stories as though I’m the expert up on high. I also show my vulnerability as I go through an upheaval in my own life. I bring readers into my world as both clinician and patient. What I want people to understand from the stories is that we’re more alike than we are different, and that we grow in connection with others. People often feel isolated in their circumstances and struggles, and either they don’t get help or they feel like they’re the only one getting help, which is just not true. Everybody is struggling with the universal condition of being human, and I want readers to see that throughout the book. I also want them to see how we get through these struggles. PM: The stigma of seeking mental health treatment is pervasive and often delays healing in those who need it most. How does the book approach the touchy topic of therapy? LG: My goal was to show what therapy actually is and not what some people believe it to be. Some people think that you sit in a room and talk about your childhood ad nauseam. But therapy is like holding up a mirror to your clients so they can see their reflections in a new way. By seeing their blind spots, they begin to understand what their patterns are and how they repeatedly end up in the same situations. Often people will say, “Isn’t it hard being a therapist—listening to people complain all day?” But that’s not at all what we do. Who would sign up for that job if that were the case? In reality, I’m seeing the human condition up close and getting to know people who are grappling with important universal questions that we all come across at some point in our lives. A lot of what happens in the therapy room is heroic, transformative, and exciting, especially when people learn to take risks they couldn’t take before or make choices that push them outside of their comfort zones, which completely changes the course of their lives. PM: In the book you discuss the differences between “idiot compassion” and “wise compassion.” Can you describe each one? LG: Idiot compassion is what our friends tend to offer with the intention of being supportive. We often reflexively take our friends’ sides by saying, “Yeah, your boss is a jerk!” or “You’re absolutely right and your boyfriend was wrong to do or say that!” In idiot compassion, we don’t ask our friends to consider a broader view of the situation. Wise compassion is what therapists practice with their clients. We help them to see that perhaps their interpretation of the events is not helping them grow or move forward. I like to say that we offer compassionate truth bombs. PM: Common misconceptions about therapy include ideas that seeking help is a sign of weakness or that a person has to hit rock bottom before reaching out for professional support. What advice would you give to those who, for one reason or another, avoid therapy?
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Features LG: You don’t have to be in crisis to go to therapy—just like you don’t have to be dying to see a doctor. I think we have this culture of overvaluing independence. We all want to have a sense of agency and feel like we can do things on our own, but the richness of life comes from connections with other people. Connecting with others is not only good for our mental health but it’s also good for our physical well-being because it lowers our heart rate and boosts our immune system. A lot of people nowadays spend so much time staring at a screen and don’t experience simply sitting in a room with someone face-to-face, just listening and being present with nothing pinging or beeping. One thing I often say is that insight is the booby prize of therapy. In other words, you can have all the insight in the world, but if you don’t make changes out in the world, the insight is useless. I want my clients to take the insights and connect more meaningfully and more deeply with the people in their lives. PM: How have your experiences as both a therapist and a client shaped your perspective on the other side of the proverbial couch? LG: When clients come in for therapy, I’m listening not just to their story but also to their flexibility with their story. Are they willing to think about their own role and how that might change? Are they willing to think about the other “characters” in the story? Broadening their perspective to understand the viewpoint of others helps them to have more compassion for others and for themselves. When you go into therapy as a therapist, you really have to take off your therapist hat and not be a backseat driver. You have to stop looking at your sessions through the lens of a therapist and be just like any other patient.
I went from telling people’s stories as a journalist to helping them change their stories as a therapist.
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Going to therapy has made me a better therapist because it gave me a visceral sense of what my own clients were experiencing. In the book, you can see that I wasn’t any different with my therapist than my clients were with me. I would talk around certain issues or reject something my therapist said that later I came to see as spot on. I wanted my therapist to like me and I wondered what he thought of me. One night I even Googled him, found out something about his family, and avoided telling him because I was so embarrassed by what I’d done. Experiencing all of that made me appreciate even more how hard my clients were working in therapy. PM: Eva Longoria is developing Maybe You Should Talk to Someone for television. How will the show capture the themes presented in the book? LG: It’s important to me that we create a realistic portrait of the human condition, which means not using old clichés about therapy that aren’t accurate. So many times in the media therapists are either the brick wall—you know, the person who just nods—or the train wreck, the person who’s professionally competent but a hot mess in his or her personal life. Neither of these reflects the therapists I know. To that end, we want the show to be about a woman who works as a therapist, the people she sees, and all of their worlds—their families, relationships, careers, and struggles. Like my favorite TV shows, it’s about compelling stories of people going through the daily problems of living, but in this case, it just happens that the main character is a therapist.
“It is important at our place of teaching and learning to support a growing field of knowledge and practice and to help prepare tomorrow’s leaders to serve our national, state, and local communities to lead in exigent circumstances.” — President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton
The Homeland Security Advisory Council at the School of Public Policy (HSAC@SPP) is an innovative academic enterprise focusing on disaster preparedness, crisis management, and resiliency through engaging the public, private, and civic sectors. HSAC@SPP is positioned to prepare the current and next generation of leaders by exploring a full range of cross-sector and technology solutions to public policy challenges.
Technology
Web-based crisis and policy mapping platform SALUS - The Crisis Hub
Engagement
Speaker series and workshops on emerging issues in crisis leadership and emergency management
Capability
Educational and professional development programs in policy research and best practices for crisis managers, public safety professionals, and graduate students interested in crisis management
Partnership
Leadership workshops and trainings that focus on past, current, and emerging issues for public safety professionals
DISCOVER HSAC@SPP: PUBLICPOLICY.PEPPERDINE.EDU/HSAC
Snapshot
PRESERVING For decades Pepperdine has collected and shared rare books, documents that capture Malibu and University history, film and television materials, and archives of the Restoration Movement. In fall 2016 the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Pepperdine with a $700,000 grant to renovate the spaces used to store these priceless materials, including the development of a sustainable temperature and humidity-controlled preservation environment inside Payson Library. Learn about the common environmental threats to historical materials and how Pepperdine preserves its prized collection of rare cultural heritage items.
The Chemistry of Deterioration The elements of a book that may react in different ways to the environment:
The Smell of Old Books Paper’s Degradation Into Volatile Components The volatile substance furfural is a characteristic emission from older books lending an aroma of almonds or baking bread. Furfural arises from the decomposition of cellulose and lignin, two substances found in paper.
FURFURAL
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PAPER
SIZING MATERIALS
INK
WOOD
ADHESIVES
LEATHER
PEPPERDINE Factors in Deterioration Temperature and Humidity
Air Pollutants
Light
These photographs were once stored in a garage in a desert area, where extended exposure to low humidity caused them to curl. Pepperdine re-flattened these photos through hydration.
Silver mirroring, a phenomenon in which oxidationreduction caused by pollution results in a silver glow, has obscured parts of this photo.
Fading is one of the most significant and visible effects of damage. All light can damage materials, but shorter wavelengths increase the potential for damage.
To flatten photographs without incurring the risk of cracking them, a conservator will slowly introduce them to humidity by placing them in a humidity chamber. As the humidity softens the photographs, the conservator flattens them under pressure and dries them in a flattened position. SOLUTION
Pepperdine’s new custom-built HVAC unit maintains a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a 40 percent relative humidity level within collection storage areas. Special monitors record temperature and humidity readings every five minutes. This controlled environment has already more than doubled the usable life of the stored collections.
HUMIDITY 40%
SOLUTION
Payson Library now features high-grade air filters in the HVAC system that almost entirely remove even the tiniest particles, such as pollen, smoke, mold spores, and dust. All products and finishes inside the preservation spaces, including flooring, paints, and shelving, were evaluated both for their preservation qualities and environmental sustainability. TYPES OF AIR POLLUTANTS Automotive Exhaust
Industrial Exhaust
Building Materials
Agriculture
SOLUTION
All newly installed light bulbs at Payson Library are LEDs, most of which do not emit UV or IR wavelengths. Motion sensors have also been installed so that lights turn off automatically when no one is present in the storage spaces. LED light bulbs are not only ideal for collection preservation, but they are also quite energy efficient. One LED light bulb might last 25,000 hours, while a fluorescent light bulb emitting the same light would last 8,000 hours, and an incandescent would last 1,000 hours. This equals energy and cost savings.
HIGH-GRADE AIR FILTER
Candle
Incandescent
CFL
LED
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Spotlight
Mother 34 Pepperdine Magazine
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1h Like Reply
A team of Seaver College faculty and students investigates the BENEFITS and CONSEQUENCES of social media groups for moms
By Sara Bunch
1h Like Reply
Lauren Amaro’s 1-year-old son was battling eczema and asthma when she sought support through online groups for parents experiencing similar issues. While some of the information she came across was useful, Amaro’s glimpse into the lives of other moms, and the strategically curated phrases and photos that floated throughout their comment threads, left her questioning her own mothering instincts. Between visits to numerous pediatricians, allergists, and dermatologists, the first-time mom and assistant professor of communication at Seaver College found herself trapped in a vortex of social media communities overloaded with criticism and advice.
1
Spotlight
INSECURITY MEASURES
After sharing her experiences with Theresa M. de los Santos (’01, MA ’08), associate professor of communication and a new mom at the time, Amaro discovered that her feelings of inadequacy and isolation while seeking social media support were not uncommon. “I found myself sometimes struggling to trust my judgment while so many moms had such a range of differing opinions,” recalls Amaro, who couldn’t help but compare her approaches to her son’s healthcare with that of other moms online. Driven by a curiosity to better understand the ways in which communication impacts family dynamics and a shared desire to improve the social media experience for moms, Amaro and de los Santos conducted three separate studies to examine the emotional and relational influence of interactions with online communities focused on parenting. To incorporate a psychological perspective, particularly the biopsychosocial framework, the two approached Nataria Tennille Joseph, assistant professor of psychology at Seaver College, to join their endeavor.
In the inaugural study “Social Comparison and Emotion Across Social Networking Sites for Mothers,” the results of which were published in the May 2019 edition of Communication Reports, three undergraduate research assistants analyzed 984 individual posts and 1,730 associated comments written in Facebook groups, blogs, and forums for moms. Based on the results, the team concluded that the most common topic presented across the platforms was the role of the mother, particularly expectations of motherhood, and that in most instances, mothers demonstrated downward social comparisons—expressing superiority after comparing themselves to those they believe to be inferior mothers. Through the content analysis, the researchers discovered that each social communication platform offers a unique benefit. For example, informational inquiries are best conducted on Facebook where moms typically post questions about the best baby products, such as strollers and educational toys. Blogs tend to offer a sense of emotional support and encouragement for those not necessarily interested in answers to specific questions. Forums, on the other hand, provide a sense of whether certain parenting techniques or children’s behaviors are considered typical. From the results of this study and others, the professors recommend the development of media literacy courses for moms that educate them on how to best use these sites to maximize social support benefits and minimize harm. In their next study, the professors shifted their focus to asking moms about what they observed on the social networking sites. They conducted a national survey of 336 moms of
Theresa de los Santos
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Lauren Amaro
children between the ages of 6 months to 5 years in order to examine their social media experiences in relation to social comparisons, feelings of belonging, negative emotions, and parenting satisfaction. Published in the May 2019 edition of Journal of Family Communication, the study suggests that while downward social comparison does not directly cause moms to second-guess their parenting skills, it is a related component of mothers’ parenting insecurity. “Women who practice downward comparison are in these groups to feel a sense of belonging by inflating their own parenting satisfaction,” explains Amaro. “But the moms who look at other women and feel like they don’t measure up primarily feel negative emotions and discount their parenting abilities and satisfaction.” As she puts it, “If you’re getting support online versus support from your spouse, parents, or friends you know, love, and trust, then you are likely missing the multiple benefits that come from face-to-face relationships, like lower stress levels through physical affection. By overly investing in digital relationships, women may experience more of the negative emotions that directly influence mental and physical health.” So why do women keep turning to these sites for knowledge and reassurance? According to de los Santos, one reason might be a fear of missing out. “You know it makes you feel bad, but at the same time the cultural expectations of your child keeping up with socially determined milestones compels many moms to continue using the sites and groups to see what the latest trends and activities are,” she explains. “You stick with it to remain in the know.”
Nataria Joseph
By overly investing in digital relationships, women can experience MORE OF THE NEGATIVE emotions that directly influence mental and physical health. Lauren Amaro
CHECKS AND BALANCES In a new, third project spearheaded by Joseph, the team began collecting data in spring 2019 for a study that measures cortisol levels in the saliva of moms in the greater Los Angeles area with children between 6 months and 5 years old as they participate in social media parenting groups. Recruited with permission through posts in Facebook mom groups, the women are required to use an app that reminds them to check in four times a day over the course of four days. At each check-in, moms use the app to document the nature of their most recent social media interactions about motherhood and how these interactions made them feel while simultaneously collecting a sample of their own saliva to be later examined for cortisol, a stress hormone with health implications. The ongoing study, funded jointly by the Seaver College Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative, the Cross-Disciplinary/Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program, and the Dean’s Research Grant, thus far
suggests that moms who were recently engaged in negative social comparison to other moms on social media indeed have higher cortisol levels in those moments. Joseph contends that it is critical to maintain a balanced outlook. “Sometimes seeing mothers who are performing well in this role can inspire other mothers and give them the information they need in order to perform their own roles better,” she explains. For women who seek support through online mom groups, Joseph advises that they interact with social media in an informed manner and find an environment that gives them more positive than negative responses in order to prevent stress-related health outcomes. “Mothers don’t have to completely disconnect from social media because it’s not all bad,” she says. “But they should be selective and intentional about which sites they visit.”
Spotlight
After single-handedly changing the law of asylum in a landmark case, an alumna’s impact on international human rights laws becomes the subject of a feature film Film stills and set photos: Blue Fox Photo of Dmitry Portnoy: James Huang
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By Sara Bunch
I
n Afghanistan in the late 1970s, Asefa Ashwari, a young mother, was jailed and tortured by the Taliban for committing what was determined to be an act of defiance by the patriarchy of her home country. Her actions—opening a school for girls and leading them in the public square without a male escort—were grounds for an honor killing.
With the help of a friend, Ashwari managed to escape to bordering Pakistan in search of eventual sanctuary in the United States. But when Ashwari landed in California without a visa, desperately seeking treatment for her physical and emotional wounds, she was held at a detention center in Los Angeles where she spent a year praying for a judge to grant her petition for asylum. The law of asylum is an internationally recognized humanitarian law that allows applicants to qualify for refugee status if they fear persecution in their home country. Applicants must prove that their oppression is a direct result of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The law grants refugees the right to travel to the United States to escape persecution, and to some extent, how they enter the country is irrelevant to their asylum case as long as they declare their presence. Judith L. Wood (JD ’81), a Los Angeles-based immigration attorney who has helped thousands of refugees escape persecution through asylum law, represented Ashwari in a landmark case that argued that, should she return to Afghanistan, she would surely be murdered solely because she was a woman. The case, which went through several appeals before being presented before a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, resulted in the recognition of persecuted women as a protected class and social group. “With Asefa, I made a tremendous effort to incorporate international human rights law into asylum law, which was an influential move because no one had ever done that before,” reveals Wood, adding that in one of her first cases, she called an international human rights expert to testify before a chief judge in a Los Angeles court, who was so impressed with Wood’s integration of this legal angle that he ultimately ruled in her client’s favor.
“You have to fight for everything in immigration,” says Wood. “When I go to immigration court, I must know every letter of the law and enunciate the particular social group to which the respondent belongs, which may be difficult because the phrase ‘particular social group’ has two distinct and separate definitions: particularity and social visibility.”
INTERN OF EVENTS Dmitry Portnoy (JD ’13), a School of Law alumnus who started interning at Wood’s Downtown Los Angeles office in 2011, was struck by her unconventional approach to building clients’ cases and establishing their credibility. He relates Wood’s strategy of encouraging clients to recall their most harrowing memories of being persecuted and demonstrate the raw emotions that most attorneys advise against when presenting facts before a judge. According to Portnoy, most people are uncomfortable divulging their innermost fears, but in immigration court, clients must prove their own cases in a way that reveals their pain and desperation. “The laws see immigration clients as guilty until proven innocent,” explains Portnoy, whose own family was granted asylum in the United States in 1979 in order to be spared from the religious persecution endured by Jews in the Soviet Union. “In these circumstances, ‘guilty’ equates to ‘banishment.’” In fall 2015 Portnoy, who had studied film at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, presented Saint Judy, a script based on Wood’s most revolutionary
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Spotlight
“THE LAWS SEE IMMIGRATION CLIENTS AS GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.” —Dmitry Portnoy career achievements—namely her involvement in Ashwari’s trial—to fellow USC alumnus Sean Hanish. Hanish is an awardwinning commercial director and the president of Cannonball Productions who assisted in developing the script into a motion picture the following year. Prior to this collaboration, Hanish had directed the films Return to Zero and Sister Cities, both of which depict leading female characters immersed in significant social and psychological issues. The films also feature celebrated actor Alfred Molina who agreed to join Michelle Monaghan and the rest of the Saint Judy cast upon reading Portnoy’s script. “When I watch the movie, I don’t listen to the dialogue because I already know all the words,” says Portnoy about the project that took only 23 days to shoot. “Instead, I pay close attention to the actors’ interactions and facial expressions to experience the emotional story created by the cast and the director.” On the portrayal of Ashwari’s character, Portnoy explains that, “The real Asefa is an extremely private person, and understandably so. She experienced turmoil that I could never bring myself to interview her about because I don’t want to trigger her emotional distress and make her relive those traumatic memories. That’s why, in the movie, we intentionally never show scenes of her persecution.”
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CALLED TO COURT
A devout Christian, Wood is continually inspired by the deep spirituality of the clients she interacts with. “I met these women from Central America who worked their fingers to the bone to support their children back home, and they didn’t have one ounce of self-pity,” she says, recalling the early years of her career. “Even while working hard under the most extreme conditions, they demonstrated faith greater than my own.” In fact, it was the notion of a Christian education that encouraged Wood to attend Pepperdine. A single mother on the brink of divorce, she was especially moved by the way her professors cared for her well-being, offering her guidance and words of wisdom. “I loved how faculty treated the students,” she shares. “It wasn’t so much that they incorporated Christianity into understanding law, but that they were exceptionally compassionate in their nature when teaching law.” Throughout the decades, Wood’s spiritual fervor has inspired in her the conviction to pursue paths that seem almost impossible to cross and doors that appear to be closed forever. “When I first started in this business, I decided to never work on a case haphazardly, but to do so only with the intention to provide my clients with the best results possible,” she says. “It amazes me to see how these results have transformed their lives, and I am grateful to have played a role in that transformation.”
Why WE Do It “When I give to Pepperdine, I know exactly where, who, or what my money is going to. Departments like the Student Care Team do amazing work to provide students with the means to ease and alleviate pressures out of their control.” CHRISTOPHER SHEA (MDR ’18) School of Law alumnus Graziadio Business School student
“I give back to the Natural Science Division because it has opened the doors to many opportunities in the science and healthcare field for me, such as my internship at Hoag Hospital this summer. I view my gift as a thank you for all that Pepperdine has done for me.” MADISON MENEFEE
Seaver College student
“Supporting our school demonstrates to accrediting agencies that we believe in Pepperdine’s legacy. Having served on the faculty for many years here, I see the positive impact of alumni giving on our students. It gives students a vision for what they could be and do in the future.” SUSAN GIBONEY (’62) George Pepperdine College alumna
Now it’s your turn. Give back to your Pepperdine passion and cast your vote of confidence in our University today.
Online: give.pepperdine.edu Mail: The Pepperdine Fund 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263-4579
Spotlight
BEYOND
THE SAFE
HARBOR At the top of the entertainment business at 40, DAVE HOLLIS (’97) took an “unthinkable” career leap. And he couldn’t be happier By Amanda Pisani
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Like many people, Dave Hollis began to dig deeply into the purpose of his life as he entered his forties. “I found myself asking all these big existential questions about why in the world I was on this planet,” he recalls.
ME NOT
Hollis had spent 25 years in the entertainment industry, the last 17 of them at Walt Disney Studios. He started at Disney in the packaged media business and spent his final seven years there as president of distribution of the company’s live action and animated features. During Hollis’ tenure as the person in charge of getting movies into theatres, the company acquired Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios. It was hard to imagine a more exciting career. So when Hollis decided to leave it behind to run his wife’s business in 2018, the idea was received by most with no small amount of incredulity. As Hollis put it, “People thought that I’d actually lost my mind.” But Hollis was not dissuaded. “Me not living a full life in order to prevent others from worrying about me is literally crazy,” he says. And oddly enough, although some people were genuinely concerned with how he would provide for his family, Hollis discovered that under the surface of such conversations, most people were actually concerned with how his transition reflected on them. His decision provoked people to look at their own experiences and doubts about their choices, sharing thoughts like “Wow, I’ve never thought about actually tapping into my potential or about focusing on my impact instead of my paycheck.” It made them uncomfortable. But for Hollis, feeling challenged and purposeful went to the core of his being. As a newcomer to the theatrical side of the business, he’d had a steep learning curve. “I thrived during the first two or three years of the job because of how much I was growing and learning, and how hard I had to work to do the job well.” But as he grew into the role, Hollis said he “didn’t have to study hard to get straight As.”
LIVING A
FULL LIFE
IN ORDER
TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM
WORRYING ABOUT ME
IS LITERALLY CRAZY.
At the same time, his wife Rachel’s online enterprise, Chic Media, was becoming increasingly successful. Rachel had suffered from anxiety attacks, and to move past them, she’d taken a journey of intensive self-discovery. Along the way, she shared her experiences and advice—most notably in her book Girl, Wash Your Face, which was bumped from the top of the best-seller list by her followup title Girl, Stop Apologizing. Hollis decided to join her team because his “season of discontent” collided with her business’ growth and need for additional leadership. But perhaps more importantly, he saw that she had moved into a more expansive, fulfilled way of being while he was stuck. “I’d have been an idiot to not do that same work myself,” he says. Now Hollis and Rachel manage the Hollis Company in Austin, Texas, offering a variety of tools to help people make positive changes in their lives. While his wife is the central figure in their personal growth work, together they host live personal development conferences and a daily self-empowerment show online called the Start Today Morning Show. The program provides a platform to bare their souls and an opportunity to inspire people to “get their hearts right and show up for their lives.” With more than 200,000 daily viewers, the show alone is having a significant impact. Hollis is refreshingly candid about the challenges he faced in his own reinvention. He begins his upcoming personal growth book for men, Get Out of Your Own Way: A Skeptic’s Guide to Growth and Fulfillment, out March 2020, by “debunking lies that I at one time believed,” he reveals. “The first is that self-help is for broken people.” Hollis doesn’t shy from the benefits of therapy and selfexploration, acknowledging that he had to rid himself of old ideas about “what real men do.” His advice to other men is to “not let pride be the reason you drown.” “As a man who’s proud,” he admits, “I have had to fight the impulse to act like everything was fine, and when I have asked for help, and been willing to accept it, I got help, and I got better.” Taking a dramatic leap into the unknown has been tremendously rewarding; the feedback about the life changes he and Rachel inspire in others is a constant source of gratification. Best of all, perhaps, is the opportunity to serve as a model for his four children. On Hollis’ arm, a recently acquired tattoo reads “A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” It’s a reminder, he says, that “he was built for this,” and to embody for his children the confidence to endure the waves of life. “They don’t need to wait for a midlife crisis to realize their growth lies outside the safe harbor.”
Dave and Rachel Hollis
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Spotlight
Game
Head IN THE
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A neuroscientist’s longtime fascination with traumatic brain injuries leads to a first-of-its-kind experiment to help student-athletes By Sara Bunch
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in 2014 alone 2.87 million people sought medical treatment for or died from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a diagnosis that typically follows a violent or forceful bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Of these cases, more than 800,000 occurred in children and teenagers—groups more likely than adults to be involved in participatory sports. Repeat brain injuries are of particular concern in individuals age 17 and younger because their extensive participation in sports coincides with a time of critical cerebral development. a $2.9 million grant, allotted over a five-year span, A concussion, classified as a mild TBI, is a clinical to fund their “Timing of Exercise in Concussed Rat syndrome that transiently disturbs normal brain function Athletes” project. causing neurological, cognitive, and behavioral signs and symptoms. Research suggests that 33 percent of Folkerts’ official partnership with his colleagues adolescents with a history of one concussion will likely from UCLA, whom he met at the National Neurotrauma experience multiple concussions in the future, and the risk Symposium, began in 2017 during his research for subsequent TBIs increases with the number of previous sabbatical. The group joined forces to develop a rat model that resembles adolescent athletes who have incidents, as well as with age. Even more alarming is that experienced multiple concussions. children under 14 are twice as likely to sustain a second “There is great strength in collaborative and injury, and individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 are interdependent research both within and between three times more likely than those never injured to do so. universities,” Folkerts explains. “Pepperdine’s While concussed male and female athletes are commitment to a research laboratory in psychology directed to abstain or limit themselves from sports until and the funding for research sabbaticals have allowed their symptoms completely subside, many wonder what me to re-energize, explore a new area of research with is actually happening in their brains and when they can experts in my field, play a role in reclaim their positions on the field obtaining external funding, and without causing further harm. conduct research that has direct Even after they have experienced Growing evidence shows applications to human ailments— a full recovery of their behavioral that the brains of athletes all of which I will bring back to symptoms, they worry about my students.” whether their brains are still are very different from Saul Sandoval Estrada, a metabolically or neurovascularly the brains of those who psychology major and studentvulnerable. athlete on the Waves baseball Michael M. Folkerts, associate are sedentary, and these team, played an instrumental professor of psychology at Seaver differences influence how role in assisting Folkerts with this College, is part of a research project during the spring 2019 team that seeks to answer these an athlete’s brain responds semester, though the two have questions. By studying male and to concussive injuries. been working together on brain female sedentary adolescent rats trauma research for three years. and “rathletes,” Folkerts’ project — M i c h a e l F o l k e rt s “Often athletes try to play is the first to examine the pre-TBI through head injuries sustained physical activity levels of adolescent athletes to determine when they can safely return to sports. during a game and put themselves at risk of getting another concussion during the same game,” Sandoval Folkerts’ team, which includes three faculty members Estrada notes. “The objective of this neurotrauma at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University research is to model real-life concussions that can occur of California, Los Angeles, set out to determine which more than once and see what we can learn from the behavioral paradigms assessed during a post-injury many biological and behavioral variables involved.” neurological examination would be appropriate for Sandoval Estrada reveals that the research assessing specific changes in motor balance, headache, experience has taught him valuable leadership, critical anxiety, memory, and social interaction. They examined investigation, and teamwork skills. His role in the lab return-to-play guidelines both immediately following involved data collection and analysis of voluntary multiple concussions and following three days’ rest running wheel behavior, as well as training new student and measured specific markers of brain plasticity and assistants on the behavioral and injury paradigms. metabolism at different points in time. “I have seen how conducting research changes the “Growing evidence shows that the adolescent brains way students ask critical questions, the strategies they of athletes and rathletes are different from the brains of develop to tackle new problems, and the hypotheses those who are sedentary, and these differences influence they form that take them into the future,” shares how an athlete’s brain responds to concussive injuries,” Folkerts, who believes that undergraduate student says Folkerts, whose deep interest in the relationship participation is a crucial benefit to the project. between biology and psychology shaped his lifelong “Research experiences also allow students to more scholarship of neuroscience. “Experimentally, no one fully comprehend what it means to be a scientist and to has ever addressed these factors in a male or female present and publish research alongside faculty, which adolescent rat or rathlete athlete model.” may propel them with the maturation and motivation In January 2019, after two years of establishing toward a graduate program and, perhaps, a lab of their their experimental parameters, the National Institutes own down the road.” of Health awarded the UCLA-Pepperdine team with
“
”
Risk for subsequent TBIs increases with # of previous incidents and age
33% of adolescents with one concussion will likely experience multiple concussions
Children under 14 are twice as likely to sustain a second injury
15- to 24-year-olds are three times as likely to sustain a second injury
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Spotlight
How Sweet It Is One GSEP alumna brings hope and healing to others—with chocolate cake! By Amanda Pisani
“I literally could not walk up a staircase” isn’t something you expect to hear from a recent college athlete. At age 28 Laurel Gallucci (MA ’10) despaired as she felt her energy levels seemingly diminish by the day. She had spent most of her twenties combating Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder in which sufferers’ own antibodies attack their thyroid. Having been told years earlier that the disease was incurable, Gallucci had responded well at first to the synthetic hormone treatment traditionally prescribed for those with the disease. But after two years of the treatment, her health began to spiral downward. Gallucci’s energy was waning dramatically and she lost 40 pounds in just two months. She didn’t ovulate for years and worried that she and her husband would never have a family. In her fifth year of teaching in Beverly Hills, her father, a cardiologist, insisted she quit work and allow herself to heal. With her faith in conventional Western medicine sorely tested, Gallucci turned to a functional integrative doctor. “She took one look at me and said, ‘I know exactly what your problem is,’” Gallucci recalls. “You need to go 100 percent grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and legume-free for a year, and then see if it makes a difference in your body.” Having been raised by a doctor, Gallucci did not question the relationship between food and health, and she decided to go with it. She was determined. To her great relief, and her old doctor’s amazement, her energy returned, and she started to feel like herself again after a few months. Determined to stick with her new diet, Gallucci began to create her own sweet treats with almond flour and 100 percent maple syrup in lieu of more conventional—
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Photos: Claire Thomas and Stephanie Todaro
and forbidden—ingredients. Her friends were floored with the results. One bite of chocolate cake convinced Gallucci’s friend Claire Thomas, a chef and food stylist, that Gallucci had to start baking for dollars. Together they started Sweet Laurel as an Instagram account, posting photos of her creations that attracted a following, and Gallucci began giving workshops on antiinflammatory eating. Today, with Gallucci as CEO and Thomas as the brand’s creative director, Sweet Laurel is working on its second cookbook and now has a full line of baked goods that are sold in grocery
“Things that seem super bleak and
dark can turn around.”
stores, shipped nationally, and available to sample and purchase at a stunningly sweet storefront at Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades, California. The company’s offerings are as beautiful as they are healthful, and the healing quality of her food is reflected in the loveliness of the Sweet Laurel shop itself. “It’s all part of the branding,” Gallucci says. “The aesthetic of the brand is natural beauty, like a secret garden that is effortless, feminine, and beautiful.” Sweet Laurel’s success has derived in part from Gallucci’s studies. She notes that when it comes to running a business, she actually studied her “learning by doing” method while earning her master’s in education at Pepperdine. More directly, she now teaches workshops in nourishment and healing for anyone interested in pursuing a more natural lifestyle but particularly for those with autoimmune disorders. Gallucci now believes that she could not be more blessed. She has the joy of bringing her two-year-old son to work with her and the satisfaction that comes with helping others on their healing journey through food. “These experiences have shown me that you truly can make lemonade out of lemons,” she says. “Things that seem super bleak and dark can turn around. It’s proof that having an open mind is definitely the way to go. It’s given me a lot of hope, and it’s given other people hope too.”
SpSTORIES rt By Jakie Rodriguez (MS ’13)
T
A Seaver College professor shifts the narratives in sport and dedicates herself to student-athlete success
worked with director of athletics Steve Potts (JD ’82) and senior associate director of athletics Karina Herold to identify areas for improvement. Jessop’s research and scholarship have led her to examine the value of an NCAA education, and while she has found that the student experience for student-athletes at most NCAA universities can benefit from programwide improvements, Pepperdine excels at gig within 24 hours of her first published preparing students for life after graduation. post and, six months later, signed with a “Competitors at Pepperdine are truly students sports agent whose client roster also included first,” Jessop shares. “Pepperdine is a premier Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers. As program in that regard.” the website continued to grow and gained Providing students and student-athletes a following, Jessop became a credentialed with the experiences and skills to help them member of the media and began covering succeed after graduation is at the forefront of Jessop’s mind and is the reason why she continues to write, most recently Sport is a CONDUIT as a contributor for the for CHANGE. It has Washington Post and the Athletic. While managing the power to bring the demands of her career in academia, she remains PEOPLE together committed to reshaping the “bad athlete” narrative across the world. and expanding her network to connect students with industry leaders as they pursue their major sporting events from the Super Bowl to postgraduation goals. the NBA Finals. She also contributed regularly From the locker room to the classroom, to Forbes, SI.com, and the Huffington Post. Jessop considers herself lucky to tell stories Today, as an active member of the and educate students through sport. “Sport Pepperdine athletics department and the is a conduit for change,” she says. “It has University Athletic Committee, Jessop has gained a better understanding of the issues the power to bring people together across student-athletes face and, since 2017, she has the world.”
he Miami Heat locker room was at maximum capacity during the 2014 NBA Finals after it became clear that the San Antonio Spurs would likely take the championship. After a suspenseful penultimate game, members of the press crowded around Heat superstar LeBron James to get his take on the remaining game in the series. Amid the chaos, James noticed a cameraman physically move a reporter that was standing in his way, and the power forward immediately demanded an apology for the young woman.
Stories that demonstrate athletes doing the right thing, like the one about James, are what motivate Alicia Jessop, assistant professor of sport administration at Seaver College, academic director for sport administration at the Institute for Entertainment, Media, Sports, and Culture at Pepperdine, and the aforementioned reporter. Three years prior to the locker room incident, Jessop, a practicing lawyer at the time, was frustrated with the ways in which athletes’ bad behaviors made headline news. Seeking to highlight narratives that featured athletes making a positive impact on their communities and beyond, Jessop launched RulingSports.com, a website dedicated to covering the great sport stories that go untold. “Everything that you read about athletes, especially in 2011, was negative,” Jessop recalls. “As a person who had been surrounded by athletes for most of my life, I had a hard time believing that the narrative the media was perpetuating was true.” The launch of RulingSports.com in 2011 coincided with the fourth-ever NBA lockout, and Jessop’s expert legal commentary about the heavily scrutinized event garnered the attention of many. She booked her first radio
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The Cut YOU (REGULARLY) PROCRASTINATE We all procrastinate from time to time, but if procrastination is more of a lifestyle than an exception, you may be causing yourself unnecessary stress. If you regularly struggle to manage your time, your workload is likely to pile up, causing you to feel overwhelmed and, eventually, burned out.
YOU ARE A PERFECTIONIST You have high standards, and that standard is perfection. You constantly worry about making mistakes or failing, and hold yourself to this standard in all areas of your life. Moreover, you hold others to this standard and may find yourself redoing their work.
RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MORE THAN HALF OF WORKING PROFESSIONALS WILL EXPERIENCE SYMPTOMS OF BURNOUT, defined as
continual exposure to stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, lack of achievement, and overall feelings of pessimism and detachment. Burnout recently crossed the threshold from nuisance to a diagnosable condition—one that you, according to the World Health Organization, can now justify with a doctor’s note. Ilona Salmons (MA ’11, EdD ’17), a Los Angeles-based licensed therapist and leadership consultant, works with individuals and companies to create healthy workplaces to reduce and even prevent employee burnout. Here, she shares the seven research-backed habits of highly burned-out people.
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YOU ARE A HIGH ACHIEVER High achievers are at highest risk for burnout because they constantly push themselves to go above and beyond— not just at work, but in all areas of their lives. Excelling in all they do is just their typical way of functioning. The term “high achiever” is not necessarily tied to external achievements as much as it is related to psychological processes, such as drive.
YOU CAN’T SAY NO In 2008 Jim Carrey starred in a film called Yes Man, in which he played a character who said yes to everything in hopes of living a more fulfilling life. The reality is that if you go around saying yes to everything and everyone, you are more likely to be burned out than fulfilled. If you struggle with setting boundaries with people or otherwise asserting yourself, you will regularly overcommit yourself, resulting in a never-ending to-do list and an increased level of stress.
YOU DON’T ASK FOR HELP Perhaps you are afraid of being rejected, you don’t want to trouble your colleagues, or you like to have control of everything. No matter the reason, this can be a dangerous habit, especially when coupled with number 2.
YOU ARE CRITICAL OF YOURSELF OR YOUR WORK You have a difficult time accepting a compliment. In fact, you are critical of yourself and your work and are regularly unsatisfied with your work product. You may find that you frequently measure yourself against your colleagues or compete with others to see how you match up.
YOU FAIL TO ENGAGE IN SELF-CARE PRACTICES Perhaps you regularly don’t get enough sleep, exercise, eat a healthy diet, or—like most Americans—take your allotted vacation days. Without these (and other) healthy habits, your scales will quickly tip toward burnout.
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