The Politicalization of the Academy: �Pepperdine University�

​

Elizabeth A. (Craigg) Walker, Ph.D.

​

Slave Holders Supported the North’s Infrastructure

•The investments of slave holders existed throughout the North that supported:

•NY Hospitals

•College tuition – and college donors

•Library

•Laid the foundation of the metropolis

•Churches

•“traders could afford to be magnanimous” (Wilder 70)

​

Human slavery was the precondition for the rise of higher education in the Americas (Wilder 114)

Politics and the Academy

• Universities have always been the foundation of our politics - many political leaders either work and/or leaders of the university
• Universities are vital to influencing the creation of educational policy
• These universities became the place to ‘train’ the new generation, as these locations became more important within the North.
• Princeton University is known to develop leaders, as President Woodrow Wilson was the only president who was president of that university before becoming the US President.
• Princeton was known to the most “Southern - Northern” university

The Landscape

• For the first 20 years of Pepperdine University’s (founded in 1937) existence, the neighborhood was predominantly white, as was the university’s student body and employees being predominantly white.
• During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the surrounding community was shifting to have more African American homeowners and businesses within the area.
• Watts Riot in August 11-16, 1965
• Shooting of a young black boy, Larry Kimmons, on March 12, 1969

Politics & University

• This paper focuses on the political alignment Pepperdine University had throughout 1937 – 1981 years, which is the founding of Pepperdine in Los Angeles and the founding of the Malibu campus along with the closing of the Los Angeles Campus.
• The beginning years of Pepperdine University to explain the political affiliation that George Pepperdine felt was out of necessity for the university to gain a reputation.
• George Pepperdine’s financial struggles spilled over to cause Pepperdine University to lose its only donor that led to the necessity of creating a fundraising plan. Simultaneously, the founding of Malibu created a deeper political affiliation with the Republican Party.
• The Los Angeles Campus and the Malibu Campus created a division amongst the political parties, in which the closure of the LA Campus diminished the brief Democratic Party affiliation Pepperdine created to keep the LA Campus open.

The Early Days

• George Pepperdine founded a Church of Christ affiliated school, but not a member of the church
• The only Church of Christ school at the time to do this
• The only Church of Christ school that was integrated
• The early Republicans that was affiliated were the Governor and the Mayor of Los Angeles who came to the campus during the first year of its founding.

Migration out West

• Norvel Young expressed how coming to Pepperdine was a place that he found “a college of transplanted Southerners, both faculty and students,” and it was the move from Los Angeles to Malibu that Banowsky hoped to “rejuvenate[ed] its church roots” from the South (mostly Texas) (Banowsky, 2010; 20 & 11).

The Founding of the Malibu Campus

• M. Norvel Young was committed to having a two-campus model, but Banowsky was not interested.
• It was the Republican Party along with the commitment from Blanche Seaver (single largest donor of $160 million to Pepperdine besides the Mr. and Mrs. Pepperdine)
• The Ahmanson family gave the initial donated land.

​

Ronald Reagan and ‘Reagan’s School’

• Ronald Reagan never gave a financial donation to the university, but he aligned donors for the college that solidified the relationship between Pepperdine and the Republican Party.
• In fact, Governor Ronald Reagan donated a redwood tree to the Malibu campus for the “trees for Pepperdine Malibu project” during the initial opening of the Malibu campus in 1972.
• Governor Ronald Reagan’s first honorary degree was given to him from Pepperdine University.

​

The Hahn Family

• Kenneth Hahn graduated from Pepperdine, becoming the first politician
• He was a registered Democrat who shifted to be a Republican, but he later was a Democrat
• His children attended Pepperdine University
• Kenneth Hahn was a LA Supervisor,
• Single-handedly became involved in approving every single permit to build Malibu Canyon Road to connect to Pacific Coast Highway, relocating mountains of dirt, building permits, and swiftly passing through environmental reviews helped shape the move to Malibu

​

The Great Divide: The LA Campus v. The Malibu Campus

• The Los Angeles Campus became known as the “The Black Campus”
• The Black Student Union officers ran for office within the Student Body Government, in which they did successfully win and govern.
• The student body government openly supported the NAACP promoting a variety of political positions, such as fighting against Prop. 21, which this proposition would stop the busing program that integrated schools.
• The Black Power movement did take hold on campus, as protests, bombings, and civil unrest took place on campus.
• November 1972, The Inner View endorsement of the Democratic candidate McGovern for president against Republican President Richard Nixon.
• The newspaper attempted to question Banowsky’s possible involvement with the Nixon Watergate scandal. Even though there was no evidence of Banowsky having involvement with Watergate, The Inner View believed an investigation should be warranted along with Banowsky stepping down.

The Great Divide: The LA Campus v. The Malibu Campus

• In fact, the LA Campus maintained a hybrid of the professional programs and the liberal arts spirit with a five-point plan for the LA Campus:

(1) To serve as a headquarters for the college’s multi-campus operation;

(3) To develop a liberal arts-based professional school;

(4) To develop an urban affairs college that will contribute to the economic stabilization of the immediate neighborhood of the LA campus and will serve as a base for training students in urban affairs and provide assignments in the worlds of business, community, and government (Daugherty, 1969).

​

The Los Angeles Campus – The Democrats

• Dr. Jack Scott was named Provost
• Left after a year
• Students I interviewed viewed him as a champion for the students
• Dr. Wilburn
• Actively sought to increase Democratic support to donate the LA Campus in order to prevent it from closure.
• The LA Campus became “less desirable” to donate to it, as the Malibu campus was more attractive to donate.

Speaking with both of them, I find it most interesting that they were struggling with how they dealt with race in their lifetime. They truly were reflecting on how they could have or should have done more, but they were much more involved in trying to create opportunity for Blacks.

The LA Campus – Social Justice Campus?

• Both Dr. Jack Scott and Dr. Wilburn rest on the LA Campus being a Social Justice campus.
• This is a controversial statement because current Black scholars struggle with this label, but I stand in the gap and agree it strived to be that

The Malibu Campus – The Republicans

• President Banowsky aligned with the Republican Party, as he was friends with President Nixon and Governor Reagan.
• When the opportunity presented itself, Banowsky became the chair of the re-election of President Nixon, which thwarted Reagan’s attempt to do a primary run against Nixon.
• Banowsky did nothing, but it was a political move Nixon made to prevent him from supporting Reagan.
• The LA Campus Newspaper made allegations that Banowsky was part of Watergate - soon after, the LA Campus Newspaper was shutdown because of the “lack of funding”
• The support for Nixon caused a rift between Reagan and Banowsky’s relationship that privately effected Reagan’s relationship with Pepperdine University.

Building the Malibu Campus

The Malibu campus was almost completely White, which was intentional, as the administration actively recruited Church of Christ students from the Southern states (Banowsky, 2010; 21).

• The first Black faculty member in Malibu, Professor Ines, started when the school opened, and Banowsky was unaware that he existed

Pepperdine University claimed that it was financially unstable to maintained the two-campus location; therefore, the trustees informed the administrators at the LA campus that if money was able to be brought into the LA campus, then it would remain open.

Implications

• Craig Steven Wilder writes in Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities on how higher education has been founded in conjunction with United States American government; therefore, there cannot be a separation of government and the higher educational system.
• Pepperdine University is an example of a modern-day university making decisions to align with a political party solely for financial gain and to increase its notoriety and respect within America’s higher education and social standing.
• The openness of the administration to express the alignment of a particular political party has set the precedent for other universities, such as Liberty University, to do the same.