Pepperdine University - Promenade Yearbook (Malibu, CA)

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Z O m Z 1-4 M H 41 By Cindy Pazuk Many things have changed at Pepperdine since it first opened in Los Angeles in 1937. But since 1961, one thing tor personl has remained constant. J im Atkinson has been the friendly face in the Foreign Student Office for more than 25 years, and after a very successful career as professor, adviser and friend, he is retiring. He came to Pepperdine, while it was still located in Los Angeles, in 1961 as a professor students he has met throughout his years with the university. A great thing about this office is that you can keep in touch with people from all over the world, Atkinson says. I like knowing that 1, maybe in some way, helped make their time at Pepperdine more memorable. Atkinson hasnlt always remained on campus though. For a year he was a visiting faculty member and professor of English at the university's Year-in- Europe program in of English. After eight years of teach- ing he accepted the position of full- time foreign student adviser. During his time as adviser, he has befriended many students who are just arriving in the United States with no prior knowledge of the customs or My dream would be to see all of the students at Pepperdine become better friends. --Jim Atkinson Heidelberg, West Germany. Though he says he only speaks English fluently, and a smattering of a few others, he manages to communicate with norms Americans take for granted. The tforeignl students go through the Foreign Student Office to be admitted as undergraduates to Seaver College, he says. We provide documents, work, and advising--also we provide friendship. There are more than 650 undergraduates at Seaver College who are non-U,S. citizens. All of them must go through the Foreign Student Office and Atkinson, for their classes. But he has provided much more than simply advising. He trys to keep in touch with many of the kindness. In retirement, Atkinson says he will avoid Mondays as much as possible. One improvement that he would like to see is for the foreign and American students to become better acquainted. I would like to see a greater interaction between foreign and American students, he says. We have a microcosm of the world here, and it's sad that so many people's paths never cross. My dream would be to see all of the students at Pepperdine become friends. Jim Atkinson, foreign student adviser, has served Pepperdine University since 1961. Features 19

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By Dwayne Jones It is a little past three in the afternoon and Bob Fraley is just now sitting down to relax for the first time today. He drops into a large leather back chair and lets out a sight of relief. You know, he says, just today tFeb. D I hand- ed in my resignation as dean of admissions, ef- fective July 31. He leans over his desk and with an open palm resting his face in the center of his hand and says, I am over 65 and it is time to retire. He adds, Today will be a good day to reminisce. Fraley glances upward to appreciate the incred- ible view that fills a whole corner of his office. I love to watch the deer when they come down the mountain, he says, but adds that it is sad to think of how many have died because reckless students were driving through campus too fast and too busy to notice them in the road. He has two lloonto-ceiling windows: one offers the Pacific Ocean, and on a clear day Catalina can be seen with the naked eye; the other window allows Fraley to enjoy the deer that come down through the dusty mountainside to nibble the vegetation. Wisdom is often associated with being over 65, and as the interview lengthened, this man's wisdom flowed. One question that has haunted him most of his life: Why am I where I am, and they are where they are? He is speaking of Calcutta, 1943. He was only 18. It was the middle of World War II, and he was stationed in India. I was among the poorest of the poor, Fraley says. I remember the great famine and the flatbed trucks stopping along the streets like the garbage trucks do to pick up garbage, except they were there to pick up bodies that lined Robert Fraley, dean of admissions and enrollment management, plans to move to Washington state. ister so he could serve people. I tell people that my life is made of three 21-year passages. He believes that all good things come through a rite of passage, just as college is a rite of passage. His third passage has been at Pepperdine. He brought his experiences to this job. He came here to serve young people because he believes in what Pepperdine offers. Kids come here with their parents, and they walk the streets.' He describes how they would stack them on the flatbed trucks. One row with heads turned on way and the next row with the heads turned the other way. Then they would pull a rope over What they. tstudent prospectsl are looking for can't be seen. --Dean Bob Fraley around looking in the buildings and peering through the windows, all looking for some- thing, but what they are looking for can't be seen. He is referring to Plato: the top to tie them down to take the Most real things are unset: bodies away to be burned. Fraley is momentarily silent. He has blue eyes which are glistening, as if tears could come at any time. That is how real India and this life-long question, Why am I where I am, and they are where they are? came to him. It is a question without any tangible answer, says Fraley, and I don't expect to ever get an answer. Fraley came home from India and became a min- Fraley believes that Pepperdine is offering an experi- ence, and this can't be seen. His peers, staff, students and wife all say he is a prankster and a great storyteller. Fraley believes that humor clears the air of motives and puts people at eat; A lot of people know Bob Fraley. And a lot of people can say, That's a good man, he really cares. But most people when asked, will laugh and say, He knows the funniest stories. 18 Features

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E-t m LTJ 1-1 :4 9.4 20 Features By Cathy Noe Change is inevitable, and perhaps one of the best judges of that old saying is one who has actually observed the changes. One such observer is Pepperdine's professor of religion, Dr. Gene Priest, who retired in December of 1988. In 1964, Priest was invited, on the strength of his master's in religion, to teach With students of the '805, Priest believes that the general atmosphere and attitude is one that is more mature as they look seriously for career planning and development. Priest also participated in a major change for Pepperdine: the 1971-72 moving of the campus from Los Angeles to Malibu. As for changes in himself and his teaching, Priesr at Pepperdine. Over the years, he has had the oppor- tunity to witness many changes in the students and their general attitudes. During his first years in the '60s, he remembers strong dichotomy among the student body. On the one hand, there were the family. I've enjoyed working with the colleagues in my division, it's almost like a -- Dr. Gene Priest admits that he is a different man and has a different style of teach- ing than when he first began. When I first started teaching, I perceived work more as a plat- form for delivering facts; 3 basic- ally heavy-content style. My strict style was, in part, due to the at- mosphere of the times, the active and rebellious students, Priest students for social change and activism, and on the other were the students who isolated themselves in academics and work. In the early '703, Priest's perception of students changed as the times did. The students seemed much more career- oriented and practical-minded for the future. They had a lot more concern for the future and what it held for them. Dr. Gene Priest, professor of religion, retired from Pepperdine University in December of 1988. says. As the times changed with the 705, and the atmos- phere became on that was materialistic, he says he tried to present a more value-kind of atmosphere in order to create some balance. In the 803, he extended the values-centered goal style of teaching to a more open attitude in his relationships with his students. Through this, he says he was present not so much to dispense teaching with expertise and knowledge, but to give more meaning to it so that the students would truly learn the material. Besides teaching, Priest has written , or contri- buted to, three books: In 1960, Education Work of the Church, a textbook; in 1980, Governmental and J udicial Ethics in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature; in 1988, he served as editor for Johannine Studies: Essays in Honor 0fDr. F rank Pack. In the near future, he plans to complete a book he left half finished and he wants to put a serious effort into writing. My computer is all fired up, he says. if Priest leaves with special feelings and memories that bring the past alive. One of his fondest memories during his career is his acceptance of the Christian-Bible Teacher Award at Pepperdine. It was unexpected; it touched me, and left a plea ant impression, he says. Overall, Priest looks back at all the changes in himself and at Pepperdine, and he does not regret one thing. I've enjoyed working with the colleagues in my division, he says. It's almost like a family.