Women of their Word
Pepperdine Magazine is the feature magazine for Pepperdine University and its growing community of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends.
Among the thousands of faculty, staff, and students across Pepperdine’s five schools, women leaders—including several of the University’s key decision-makers, renowned scholars in a vast array of disciplines, and aspiring trailblazers—serve as mentors who demonstrate the University’s mission in their daily lives.
Among the thousands of faculty, staff, and students across Pepperdine’s five schools, women leaders—including several of the University’s key decision-makers, renowned scholars in a vast array of disciplines, and aspiring trailblazers—serve as mentors who demonstrate the University’s mission in their daily lives.
“The secret to my leadership success is being able to inspire others. At the end of
the day, it’s not about me.”
Janet Kerr (’75, JD ’78)
Vice Chancellor and Professor Emerita
“My professional and spiritual mentors have had the biggest impact on my leadership
over the years. They have inspired me to grow and to lead, and they have sustained
me through prayer and encouraging words. Because of their examples, I press on so
that I can be a similar role model for the next generation of women leaders.”
Stella Erbes (’91)
Divisional Dean, Humanities and Teacher Education Division, Associate Professor of
Teacher Education, Seaver College
“As I work with the rest of the SGA executive board, the secrets to my leadership
success are time management, cooperation, communication, patience, and understanding.
Working as a team is always the best way to achieve things, especially with multiple
people working toward a common goal. My leadership success is attributed to remembering
that I have a team behind me that supports me and shares a common goal with me.”
Meredith McCune
President, Student Government Association, Seaver College
“Because we live in a male-dominated society, and because men are more likely to be
given leadership roles, there is so much untapped potential being passed over. As more women and people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds—like first- generation
college students and people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, different religious,
racial and ethnic backgrounds, and rural areas of the nation—start to become leaders,
we will see more economic and thought growth within our organizations and businesses.”
Ashley Jones
President, Black Law Students Association, School of Law
“We can be our own worst critics: stepping back and letting others take the lead, unnecessarily apologizing to move
an agenda along, and not speaking up when we see injustice for fear of being labeled
difficult or bossy. We must remind ourselves that we not only have a right to sit
at the table, but we also have a right to sit at the head of the table.”
Sheryl Covey
Assistant Dean for Administration, School of Public Policy
“Beyond the critical importance of diverse perspectives in the holistic decision-making
process, the most important reason to place women—or any underrepresented population—
in leadership positions is to model the way for those who come after us. Seeing is
believing, and representation matters.”
Karina Herold
Deputy Director of Athletics, Pepperdine Athletics
“I walked into my first board meeting with a company president at 19 years old. I
was the youngest in the room by probably 20 years and perhaps the only woman in the
building, let alone the room. The board members looked at me dismissively. I probably
didn’t know much in those first days, but I knew I hated that feeling. I remember
thinking, ‘No matter how hard I have to work, I am going to make sure you just wildly
underestimated the contribution I can make to this organization.’ To this day, I would
rather do almost anything than walk into a presentation unprepared. My path forward
has been laid by the generous hands of many, supported by even more, and shaped with
a good bit of luck. But at every turn, hard work and preparation have carried the
day.”
Nicolle Taylor (’98, JD ’02)
Vice President and Chief Business Officer