Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's 830-acre (340 ha) campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy. Courses are taught in Malibu, at six graduate campuses in southern California, and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, China, Switzerland, and Argentina.

In February 1937, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, George Pepperdine founded the university as a Christian liberal arts college in the city of Los Angeles. On September 21, 1937, 167 new students from 22 different states and two other countries entered classes on a newly built campus on 34 acres (14 ha) at West 79th Street and South Vermont Avenue in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, referred to later as the Vermont Avenue campus. By April 6, 1938, George Pepperdine College was fully accredited by the Northwest Association.

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

West is a 1973 graduate of Harvard University and a doctoral graduate of Princeton University. He is currently a professor of African American studies at Princeton and of Religious philosophy and Christian studies at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.

West is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement.^{[citation needed]} The bulk of his work focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society and the means by which people act and react to their "radical conditionedness." West draws intellectual contributions from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, pragmatism and transcendentalism.

West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Sacramento, California, where he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. His father was a general contractor for the Defense Department, and his mother was a teacher and a principal. Irene B. West Elementary School in Elk Grove, California, is named for her.

Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas (born August 15, 1989) is an American pop singer, musician, actor, and dancer. He is a member of the Jonas Brothers, a pop-rock band made up of him and his two brothers, Nick and Kevin. He starred as Joseph Lucas on the Disney Channel original series Jonas, and released his debut solo studio album, Fastlife in October 2011.

Joseph Adam Jonas was born in Casa Grande, Arizona. His mother, Denise (née Miller), is a former sign language teacher and singer, and his father, Paul Kevin Jonas, Sr., is a songwriter, musician and former ordained minister at an Assemblies of God church. Joe is of Italian (from a great-grandfather), German, Irish, English, Cherokee, and French-Canadian descent.

On August 17, 2007, Jonas, along with his brothers, guest starred in an episode of Hannah Montana. The episode debuted alongside the television film High School Musical 2 and a sneak peek of the new Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb. The episode broke basic cable records with a record 10.7 million viewers, and became basic cable's most watched series telecast ever.

Steven James Rodríguez (born November 29, 1970) is a former second baseman/shortstop in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers during the 1995 season. Listed at 5' 8", 170 lb., Rodríguez batted and threw right-handed. A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, he was selected by Boston in the fifth-round of the 1992 draft out of the Pepperdine University.

A two-time Pepperdine Waves All-American (1991–92), Rodríguez helped his team claim its only national championship in the 1992 College World Series, when he was named West Conference Player of the Year and also was a member of the All-Tournament Team, earning Player of the Series honors against Mexico and Cuba.

In 1991, Rodríguez collected a .419 batting average –the third-highest single-season average in school history–, and his 104 base hits that season are also a Pepperdine single-season record, as he finished with a .382 average in the round-robin phase of the 1991 Pan American Games for the Bronze Medal USA baseball team. Then, in 1992, Rodríguez was named one of the West Coast Conference's Top Fifty Athletes of all time.