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Seaver College News

Students Share Fun and Frights with President Benton at Brock House Camp Out

President Benton makes breakfast pancakes

It was a dark Friday night, the 13th of the month, and a large group of young adults huddled around a campfire for warmth. As owls hooted from the trees nearby, they roasted marshmallows and told spooky stories. It would have been the perfect scenario up for the beginning of a scary movie, but these young people were enjoying the setting with their university President, Andrew K. Benton, who hosted the night long camp out in order to enjoy some quality time with his students.

Looking out over the Pacific Ocean, under the Malibu stars, approximately 60 Pepperdine students enjoyed the company of Benton, at his home, Brock House, atop the Pepperdine Malibu campus. To maximize the Friday, Nov. 13 event, they enjoyed a screening of the classic horror film, Friday the 13th, about a serial killer whose rampages take place on that fateful date. The group made s'mores around the campfire, enjoyed the swimming pool and Jacuzzi, and slept in tents at the edge of the grounds.

"In the morning, President Benton scrambled the eggs, cooked the sausages and toast, and flipped the pancakes for everyone's breakfast," says student Luci Prosapio, who sits on the Student Programming Board, which organized the event. "It was wonderful – he even made chocolate chip pancakes!"

Students woke up to a Pacific Ocean sunrise

Junior Phoenix Eyre, an intercultural communication major, enjoyed the evening with his peers and President. "It was freezing, with arctic, bitter winds!" he says, dramatically. "But that made it all the more fun. When we discovered there was a hot tub and pool we went crazy and jumped in, and sat around talking about life. It was a great start to the weekend."

For senior Lindsey Boerma, one highlight of the night was the chance to get to know her fellow students a little bit better. She says, "It was a cool event, because there were a lot of people there from all classes and a lot I'd never met before, particularly freshmen and sophomores who I know are in my division, but I've never had a chance to speak with them before."

"It was also great to engage in dialogue with President Benton, which you don't get to do a lot," continues Boerma, a communications major. "Because of who he is, he seems almost untouchable, but here he was in his jeans and his dog was running around, and I had a good conversation with him around the campfire about scary movies. My favorite is probably Saw because it's so interesting, but Friday 13th was a great choice obviously, because the date coincided!"

Benton partnered with the Student Programming Board at the beginning of the fall semester to plan a President-student community event. It was the first sleepover event at Brock House, which the students signed up for in advance

"Getting to engage with the President is the benefit of going to a small school," adds Boerma. "And on that you probabaly couldn't get anywhere else."

For more information about future community events at Pepperdine, visit the Student Programming Board Web site.