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Malibu surfside news | September 12, 2019 | 3
Pepperdine plants flags display for 12th consecutive year
Anastassia Kostin
Freelance Reporter
On Saturday, Sept. 7,
more than 200 volunteers
gathered to install hundreds
of flags at the corner
of Pacific Coast Highway
and Malibu Canyon Road
on Pepperdine’s campus.
This is the 12th year the
university has featured the
Waves of Flags installation,
with 2,977 full-size
flags commemorating the
lives lost in the 9/11 terror
attacks. The display
includes 2,887 American
flags and 90 international
flags representing the
home countries of victims
from abroad. The project
was started in 2008 by the
Pepperdine College Republicans.
“It’s been a long time
since Sept. 11, 2001, and
you start to realize our
students weren’t born or
were very young,” said
Doug Hurley, associate
dean of students. “But it’s
a chance for generations to
talk about what this meant
on that day for them and
pass on that legacy, and for
them to see the magnitude
of tragedy, walk through it
and just do their own reflection.”
For more than a decade,
Waves of Flags has been
a significant service project
for the Pepperdine and
Malibu communities as
part of Step Forward Day.
The annual day of service
gives students, alumni and
friends the opportunity to
embody Pepperdine’s mission
in their communities
through over 20 projects.
While it was initially
difficult to get the installation
approved, it now
receives national attention
every year.
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Editor’s Note:
The White Heart
Foundation’s annual
Ride to the Flags was
canceled this year. “As
we continue to devote
more and more time
to the ride’s original
mission of helping
our nation’s severely
injured veterans, we’re
faced with a harsh
reality: the lack of
man-power to manage
both the event and the
charity has pushed us
to our limits,” wrote
White Heart Foundation
Executive Director Ryan
Sawtelle in a statement.
“Every year we get
emails saying, ‘Hey, thank
you, my cousin, my brother,
my mom, my aunt died
on that day; thank you for
remembering,’” Hurley
said.
Three new Pepperdine
students who served in
the Air Force and Marine
Corps were given the opportunity
to place the first
flags.
“A lot of incoming students
weren’t even alive
for 9/11,” said Daniel
Ghattas, who served in
the Marine Corps for five
years. “I think it’s just important
that we drive home
the idea that it’s something
we don’t forget and
recognize the incredible
sacrifices that have come
from it.”
For Colby Parry, who
Pepperdine senior Alex Johnson (left) and Doug Hurley, associate dean of students, place flags on Pepperdine
University’s lawn on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 7. Dave Teel/Surfside News
served in the Marine Corps
for four years, the flags
serve as a reminder of what
makes America so strong.
“At the end of the day,
America is a country and
it’s the citizens and the
people in it that make it
great,” Parry said. “And by
doing this event with the
flags, I think it’s a constant
reminder that whatever
your religious background,
your sex, your race, we’re
all American. We can all
come together and work
together toward a common
goal.”
The fact that Pepperdine
does this kind of display
and has other installations
to honor those who live heroic
lives, such as the Heroes
Garden on the graduate
campus, was a selling
point for Ghattas in choosing
a school.
“Especially in today’s
climate, there are going to
be people that see you in
the military and immediately
have negative opinions
about that, which is
intimidating when you’re
going back to school,”
Ghattas said. “And Pepperdine
has always made
me feel incredibly welcome
with all the events
they do.”
Jennifer Bahn, who
served in the Air Force for
two years, added, “It helps
us feel like we’re also students
and part of the group
as a whole. As veterans,
we come from such different
backgrounds and it’s
hard for us to adjust, but
doing events like this bring
the whole community together.”
The Waves of Flag installation
aims to bring
the community together
and unite them around
what the flags represent,
but it also speaks to the
importance of tradition at
Pepperdine.
“We look at this as a celebration
of life, a celebration
of community, but it’s
also a sad and profoundly
powerful reminder of some
dark things,” said Matt Ebeling,
executive director of
alumni relations. “Being
able to come together as a
family and process through
all that together, I think is
just a neat opportunity.”
The Waves of Flags installation
is open for viewing
and visitation until
Sept. 25.