Waves of Gratitude: Ripples of Inspiration
Recognition and appreciation are central to who we are at Pepperdine, reflecting our motto from Matthew 10:8, “Freely ye received, freely give.” From April 6 through June 12, 2026, faculty and staff are invited to reflect on the incredible work happening across the University, and to submit stories of colleagues whose everyday contributions and major achievements strengthen our shared life together and enhance the experience for our students. As a token of our gratitude for building this culture of appreciation, every story shared enters both the recognizer and recognized into a weekly celebration raffle.
While it takes the effort of every faculty and staff member to bring our mission to life, and much of our work happens quietly behind the scenes, Waves of Gratitude seeks to gather and highlight stories to remind each other of the amazing things happening across our campuses, reinforce our shared standards of excellence, and celebrate those who make a difference each day.
How It Works
- Submit a story using the link below to share your gratitude for a colleague, and both
you and the colleague you recognize will be entered to win a weekly raffle!*
- Each Monday, Human Resources will announce two winners of $50 gift cards from the previous week, one from the group of recognizers and one from the group of those recognized.**
- Stories will be featured in the Waves of Gratitude feed below, and may also be highlighted in other University communications, including Living Pepperdine Daily Line-ups and the Human Resources newsletter.
Recognition Categories
- PURPOSE: for those who remind us why we do what we do and who bring Pepperdine’s mission to life through encouragement, faith, and commitment to students.
- SERVICE: for those who embody Christian hospitality, going above and beyond to make others feel seen, supported, and welcomed.
- LEADERSHIP: for those who improve how we work, take initiative to find and fix what’s broken, collaborate effectively across different areas, and find efficiencies through innovation.
Submission Guidelines
- Focus on gratitude of all sizes. This initiative is not just to recognize big awards, large grants, or impressive anniversaries, but the everyday hard work that makes Pepperdine special.
- Get specific. Rather than sharing general qualities (“Stephanie is always so organized”), tell a story about a specific action or moment that shows those qualities in action (“The way Stephanie had everything prepared led to the most impactful retreat possible.”).
- Describe the impact. Rather than describing what colleagues did (“Steve helped me quickly fix the printer”), describe the impact they had, how they made your day/work better, and how what they did impacts our community (“Steve quickly fixed the printer and allowed me to have all the materials available for the donor who went on to provide new funding”).
Recognition Feed
| Recognizing | Recognition | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Seth Hoskins | I want to recognize Seth for his leadership during the planning and execution of our recent campus event. From coordinating logistics with Facilities to communicating clearly with campus partners, your organization ensured a smooth experience for everyone involved. | Todd Creekmore |
| Claire Foster | Shout-out to Claire for collaborating across departments to move a time-sensitive project forward. Your proactive outreach, clear documentation, and flexibility helped us meet deadlines while maintaining strong working relationships. | Greyson Orellana |
*Please note, all submissions are reviewed before they are posted to the Recognition Feed to ensure they are positive, appropriate, and uphold our shared values.
**We want to celebrate as many of our colleagues as possible! Each week you submit a story, you’ll be entered into our weekly drawing. While you can recognize as many people as you’d like (and each of them will get an entry!), your own chances stay at one entry per week to keep things fair for everyone. To ensure we spread the prizes across our whole community, winners are limited to one prize for the duration of the program.