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Alumni Q

Pepperdine Magazine is the feature magazine for Pepperdine University and its growing community of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends.

From holiday parties to service days to socials, Pepperdine Alumni Affairs puts on over 130 annual events nationwide with the help of more than 100 volunteers. In appreciation of the chapter leaders who continually demonstrate lives of purpose, service, and leadership, we would like to highlight those who truly embody the Pepperdine spirit.



ERICA FLORES (MBA ’09)

Hispanic Alumni Council president and L.A. Waves athletic chair

Q: What encouraged you to get involved with your chapter?

A: Pepperdine is such a great school, but the Latino community doesn’t know too much about it. There’s a lot of opportunity to expand awareness into our community. I want to pay it forward and give others the opportunity that I had in graduate school.

Q: What has been your most rewarding experience as a chapter leader?

A: Seeing the impact that you can make with an event is such a rewarding experience. At last year’s LinkedIn event, it was so great to see people engage and ask questions. It’s always a great feeling when people let you know how much they got out of a program.

Q: What has been one of your favorite events in your chapter?

A: The “El Boxeo” Charity Screening event was a lot of fun and helped our group grow. This event brought in alumni from each school, not just Graziadio alumni. Now our group is more of a Pepperdine community.

ALY PINDER (’02)

New England Waves board member

Q: What encouraged you to get involved with your chapter?

A: I moved to Boston from Southern California for graduate school and had no network in Boston. I was happy to find a piece of home here on the East Coast. Our chapter is relatively small, which actually makes us bond well in and out of chapter events.

Q: What has been your most rewarding experience as a chapter leader?

A: Recently, we had a service project where we worked with an organization that partners with high school students—many of whom come from disadvantaged communities. Throughout the day, the kids’ eyes would light up when we told them we went to school “all the way out in California!” They were inspired to broaden their worldview just a tiny bit.

Q: What chapter event are you most looking forward to this year?

A: Hoping for a Waves watch party during March Madness!!!

DAVID PITTS

Parent of two Seaver College students and Atlanta Waves chapter president

Q: What made you want to get involved with your chapter?

A: Having two daughters Elizabeth and Caroline currently attending I tried to attend as many local Pepperdine events as possible here in Atlanta. One particular event that I attended two years ago was a “meet and greet” which was actually a campaign to replace an empty president position for the Atlanta chapter! I thought to myself, what better way to return to Pepperdine all that the school has done for my daughters than to help provide some of that Malibu spirit here in Atlanta.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being involved with your chapter?

A: I have enjoyed building quality relationships with some very special and interesting people who love Pepperdine and assist me in planning and executing our chapter events. Every event has a different turnout, which makes it fun to meet new people. And because I help organize the events, I enjoy getting to do things I wouldn’t ordinarily do.

Q: What has been your most rewarding experience as a chapter leader?

A: Seeing alumni coming to an event for the first time and leaving with a sense of the community similar to what they experienced during their years at Pepperdine.

MARGARET MOODIAN (MA ’08, EdD ’11)

Orange County Waves chapter president

Q: What has been your most rewarding experience as a chapter leader?

A: I put on a volunteer event at the Blind Children’s Learning Center, and the look in the children’s eyes when our alumni were working with them was priceless.

Q: What has been one of your favorite events in your chapter?

A: I enjoyed volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank for Step Forward Day the last two years. It’s a wonderful organization, and bagging food is a great way to bond with fellow alumni. It puts you in a good mood when you give back. That is one thing I truly enjoy about Pepperdine: we are encouraged to live lives of purpose and service, which is so important.

Q: What chapter event are you most looking forward to this year?

A: We are planning on holding our holiday party at the Balboa Bay Club again. That is such a wonderful venue, and the boat parade makes it extra fun.