With a small group of my peers and several faculty and alumni, I have led recent efforts to bring
a news organization to life at Pepperdine University. Our vision for The Pepperdine Beacon is to
promote, preserve, and communicate the values of Pepperdine University identified by George
Pepperdine in his 1937 dedicatory address. Our goal is to foster free and open debate among the
student body, faculty, and alumni.
Our first priority is to be academically inclusive. Our student-led newspaper will recruit reporters
and writers representing each of the five Pepperdine schools. Our advisory board will include
Pepperdine faculty, staff, and alumni from various disciplines. We believe that journalistic
responsibility spread broadly across disciplines can better ensure balanced news coverage. Many
will be invited to share letters, essays, and opinions. This allows us to highlight inspiring stories
and share perspectives of value at the Beacon.
Our second priority is to foster a greater intellectual conversation where “truth, having nothing
to fear from investigation, should be pursued relentlessly in every discipline” (Pepperdine’s
Affirmation Statement). Recognizing that no one person has a monopoly on truth, we commit to
publishing all opinions and viewpoints of academic and reasonable argument. Even those views
that our staff may not personally endorse will be included as long as delivery affirms the
mission and values of Pepperdine.
Our team will seek out and showcase the wealth of wisdom on campus by publishing vigorous
and to some, controversial content. The very presence of this content will produce conversations
that illuminate Pepperdine’s mission of being a premier center of virtue, intellect, and service.
Where there is no light, there is darkness. With Pepperdine’s mission and values as our beacon,
we invite you to join the conversation. Join the Beacon.
Caden Benedict, April 2021
Founder
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18