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The plains of Kansas. 1889 George Pepperdine was born here in America's Heartland where he learned the meaning of hard work, honesty and trust in God. As a young man, he left the farm and moved to Kansas City with his wife Lena with a $5 investment. He

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started a mail order parts business for a new contraption called the automobile, which resulted in the successful Western auto supply company, a marketing expert. Pepperdine built stores in several states in 1916. He and his family moved to Los Angeles and he was immediately captivated by the

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Golden State. But shortly after tragedy struck, Lena died of a rare disease. George eventually rediscovered life when he met and courted Helen Louise Davis. They were married in 1934 George and Helen convinced they had freely received now, felt compelled to freely give as the Bible encouraged,

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though they supported many worthy causes, they decided to give their fortune to one in particular to a kind of higher education that trained students in Christian character and faith as well as academics. 1937 the depth of the depression saw them establish a school that dared to

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stand for the principal they held dear. The college was built on a lovely estate in Los Angeles. The new students, most of them transfers from midwestern colleges were so excited about California that they called their athletic teams. The waves though they were several miles from the

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ocean. They adopted Pacific blue and California orange is the school colors which was prophetic. The college received full accreditation in its first year, an unheard of achievement. And from the beginning, the school excelled in athletics. In spite of its small size, it even had a championship

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football team. You wanna play football? And I want him to hustle. You can play ball for me. Hi, I'm Holly Atkinson sever class of 85. And I'm standing here right now on the old Pepperdine campus. It's funny. I actually grew up here. My father was a

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professor and right behind me is the campus drive. It was called the promenade and it became a favorite place for guys to romance girls. Right over here, that's the administration building. And when G PC was on this site, all the buildings were painted of Pepperdine light

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blue in this fountain at the center of the campus, the students placed a statuette and they called her Dolores. And actually this fountain is a lot like the fountain in front of Elkins Auditorium on the sever campus. It became a place for students to meet, get

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together the oasis, a student snack bar was a favorite gathering spot. Journalism students took the college's initials and cleverly named the newspaper Spring Sing. A student talent competition was started and it eventually evolved into the popular song fest of today. George and Helen Pepperdine remained involved

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with the students. Helen cooked dinner every year for the entire graduating class and George would walk the grounds encouraging all he encountered. The school's academic programs grew steadily throughout those early years with the business and education departments becoming separate schools. A law school in Orange County

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was also added to the family and Pepperdine became a university in 1971. When it was decided that a second campus was needed. A committee was formed to investigate a new site among dozens of possibilities including Palace Verdes in Westlake Village. The one they chose was of

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course this one here in Malibu. The move to Malibu coincided with the appearance of a benefactor named Blanche Seaver who had caught Pepperdine's dream. Her husband Frank Roger Sever built the hydro oil drilling company into an industry leader after becoming acquainted with the school. In 1960

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he remembered it in his will. Now his devoted widow, Blanche wanted to honor his memory through this Christian school. Just two years after planning the new campus, it was a reality. And in 1975 Ronald Reagan came to Pepperdine to dedicate Frank R. Sever College. George Pepperdine

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died in 1962 but the university has grown in both academic excellence. And reputation beyond his and Helen's fondest dreams. As Helen would often comment, Pepperdine has remained faithful to their vision for it. 1970. At the dedication of the Malibu Ground upon which sever college would be

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built. Then President William Bowski said, what we hope to create here in these hills is a spirit of place, a place where minds will be opened, where lives will be changed, where lasting relationships will be formed from this day forward. Let it be known that in

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this place, we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal. George Pepperdine would be proud one. Imagines and deeply thankful to God.