This Saturday, Karen and I went up to Pepperdine University for the inauguration of Andy Benton as the seventh President of Pepperdine University. The fact that Andrew K. Benton never calls himself anything other than Andy, tells you at once a great deal about the man. It would be near impossible for anyone to think of him as Andrew, or anything other than Andy.
We’ve known Andy since soon after we bought The Malibu Times more than a decade ago. I’ve interviewed him on occasion, watched him in action in the community, talked to him many times, visited with him and his wife, Debby, and their children in their home and at university events, and came to know them.
He is one of those people who manage to find the time to do everything. If he wasn’t such a sweet person you could hate him for it. He not only does his job superbly and has an active family, social and religious life, but somewhere along the way he manages to coach his kid’s teams. He also plays the guitar in a band of Pepperdine people, called the Mid-life Crises, which gives you some sense of the age of the band.
In all the years I’ve known him, I have never seen him lose his cool, at least publicly. Although I’m sure–like all of us living an overscheduled, overworked and over stimulated life–there is always a period when one goes home, rocketing off the walls. If those demons drive him, he’s never taken them out on anyone else.
I never doubted that he was a man who knows who he is and where he’s going, but this weekend I saw a side of him I have never seen before–a clear view of his sense of personal mission.
This Saturday the Pepperdine community put a medallion–a badge of office–around his neck and something was immediately different. Maybe he hadn’t changed, but the audience had. People were looking at him differently, to see his vision, his picture of the future, to serve as a guidepost for the rest. In his inaugural address, Andy talked about strengthening Pepperdine’s diversity. He said: “Clearly, we do not want to be a lonely outpost in Malibu, uninvolved in and unmoved by the great metropolis across the bay. As much as possible, we must reflect what is good and exciting about Los Angeles, including its diversity.”
To use an old clich, in my opinion, it’s time for a new beginning for all of us. Malibu is also part of that diversity. If the university has sometimes been parochial about us, we, the citizens of Malibu have been equally as parochial about it. The relationship between the university and some in our community of Malibu is strained and needs mending. Part is probably just the normal, almost historical tension that exists between town and gown, which probably exists all over the world. Part of it is maybe when the university opted out of the community. Part of it has been a shortsightedness of Malibu citizens. Many have approached the university as if it were nothing more than just a land-use and traffic problem. A university is so much more.
What was apparent as faculty and visitors marched into the ceremony in an academic processional, dressed in academic robes and caps that probably date from the Middle Ages, is that a university is also a community of scholars. It’s the flow of western culture passed lovingly hand-to-hand throughout the generations. It’s the reasoned discourse of reasonable people.
We should celebrate it. We have in our midst a rich resource of intellect that we little use and little appreciate, which is truly a shame.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Pepperdine has a new leader and it’s time for the community of Malibu to also show some leadership and try to mend the breaches.