The collection consists of materials related to commencement ceremonies held at Pepperdine University, including video recordings, photographs, printed material, and programs. Materials in the collection span from 1938 to 2013, and document commencement ceremonies held at all five schools of Pepperdine: George Pepperdine College/Seaver College, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the School of Law, and the School of Public Policy.

Commencements at Pepperdine began at George Pepperdine College in 1938, which became Pepperdine University in 1971. In 1972, the Malibu campus of Pepperdine opened, and commencement ceremonies were then held at both the Malibu and Los Angeles campuses. The College of Arts and Sciences at the Los Angeles Campus was renamed the School of General (later Professional) Studies in 1975, but was disbanded in 1981 when Pepperdine sold their Los Angeles location. In 1975, the liberal arts college on the Malibu Campus was dedicated as the Frank R. Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Science, and is most commonly known as Seaver College today. Along with these two main campuses, Pepperdine also maintained extension programs at off-site locations which included sites like Hawaii along with international locations. These programs' flexible scheduling were designed to allow military personnel to complete academic degrees, but were discontinued in the 1970s due to their administrative costs.

28.02 linear feet (24 boxes)

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.