Keith Slettedahl
Professor Weaver
English 1102-322
5 March 2022
Pacific Oaks College Website: Summary/Analysis/Response (SAR) Project
Summary
Made evident on the school’s website, Pacific Oaks College seeks a compassionate, inclusive, culturally diverse student body concerned with making a difference in the world. Featuring programs focused around education and human development, Pacific Oaks places an overall emphasis on the importance of community, social justice, and cultural intelligence, and it utilizes the small rhetorical strategy of Purpose and the large rhetorical strategy of Kairos to support its altruistic assertions.
Analysis
Throughout its website, Pacific Oaks College uses the small rhetorical strategy of Purpose to persuade prospective students to attend their school. The page lists the school’s four core values as respect, diversity, social justice, and inclusion, and these themes are carried over into all areas of the site to great effect.
One purpose in presenting the school’s information in this way is that it establishes that Pacific Oak’s educational goals are not necessarily geared toward the attainment of individual achievement and worldly success, but rather, they are focused on the power of community and service to others. The site makes this evident when speaking to the bachelor’s and master’s programs offered at Pacific Oaks. Though aspects of career growth are certainly addressed, the text is front-loaded with altruistic concerns, and the bulk of the emphasis is placed on how these degrees will enable one to “serve diverse communities in the fields of human development, education, and related family studies” (POC “Mission Statement”). The site also repeatedly emphasizes the idea that community is what provides the foundation of the Pacific Oaks College educational experience and aims to convey to the reader that he or she can be a part of this powerful community that can positively impact one’s education (POC “Community”). The implication is that through service one is fulfilled, through working together the students are made stronger, and that one will benefit by tapping into the school’s community and “we” first mentality.
Placing great significance on the principles of diversity and inclusion, another purpose found in the website’s rhetorical approach is to let the prospective student know that he or she, regardless of cultural background, is important, valued, and welcomed at Pacific Oaks College. As part of its “Diversity and Inclusion Statement,” the website states, “We encourage everyone to bring their full authentic selves to our community,” and goes on to promise support and advocacy for all its students “regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, or ability (POC “Mission and Values Statements”). Even when mentioning the many benefits of living in Southern California (the school is in Pasadena, CA), just as much attention is given to the area’s remarkable diversity of cultures as to its beaches and nightlife. Throughout the site, the principles of respect and acceptance of others are mentioned repeatedly, and this effectively creates a welcoming atmosphere. Pacific Oaks wants the reader to know that not only is diversity valued at their school, but it is also viewed as the essential component in preparing students to “thrive personally and professionally in a global society” (POC “Mission and Values Statements”).
The final small rhetorical purpose found on the Pacific Oaks website conveys the message that the prospective student is not only valued and important, but also capable of making a real difference in the world. The website reveals that the school’s original goal was to provide a “progressive education that can help the world heal” (POC “History and Impact”), and in its mission statement, declares that Pacific Oaks “prepares students to be culturally intelligent agents of change” (POC). Concepts of “making a difference” and “changing the world” are alluded to all throughout the site, and this strategy effectively connects the reader to a greater purpose and implies that this purpose can be realized by attending Pacific Oaks College.
In addition to the use of the small rhetorical strategy of Purpose, and coming at a time of profound world-wide political, cultural, and social division, Pacific Oaks skillfully uses the large rhetorical strategy of Kairos (the timeliness of a rhetorical act) by placing a significant emphasis on the school’s values of inclusion, cultural intelligence, and social justice. The website heavily emphasizes the school’s rich social justice heritage and involvement with social justice movements during a time when the awareness of and concern about such issues has never been higher and presents to the potential student an educational means to make a difference through numerous social work programs. Also, with the current burgeoning global awareness of the importance of cultural sensitivity, Pacific Oaks effectively accentuates their progressive approach to teaching and learning by referencing their “anti-bias curriculum and culturally-centered academic programs” (POC “Social Justice and Diversity”), and stating, “everyone in our classrooms is both student and teacher. Students relate subjects to their own personal experiences” (POC “About”). These examples illustrate to the reader that Pacific Oaks is forward thinking, in touch with the cultural concerns of today, and that ultimately, one’s own unique life experience will be valued and considered at their school. Furthermore, the website addresses what is perhaps the most important and polarizing issues of our time: sexual orientation and gender identity. Plainly, Pacific Oaks declares that “there is a light in each person that is to be honored in everyone,” and that all are welcome at their school “regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression (POC “Mission and Values Statement”). Whether or not the timeliness in the addressing of these issues was intentional or coincidental is unclear. Either way, Pacific Oaks College persuasively presents a picture of a progressive institution with its finger placed firmly on the pulse of today’s cultural and societal concerns.
Response
Would I go to this college? In a word, yes. I randomly picked Pasadena’s Pacific Oaks College from a list of Southern California schools because, having lived in or near Pasadena for most of my life, I was surprised and intrigued by the fact that I was unaware of its existence. I’m glad I did because I learned a lot about the school and found many reasons why I would consider attending. For one, as I mentioned, it is in my hometown. Georgia is fine and all, but home is home. (Sigh). But I digress. More important than location, however, is the fact that the school’s overall ethos resonates deeply with me, particularly the spiritual-leaning Quaker values of community, equality, and peace that the school was founded on. In fact, the main reason I went back to college at my advanced age was to study psychology with the primary goal being that I could maybe serve humanity in some small way, so Pacific Oak’s offering of degrees in various Psychology and Human Development programs, as well as the school’s emphasis on making a difference, is right up my alley.
From the list of values in our free writing inventory I chose “spirituality,” “compassion,” and “making a difference.” When trying to pick one to tie into this paper, I realized that the three are inseparable, and in fact, you cannot have one without a combination of all three. Going further, I thought about what the word “education” means to me and found that, I could not separate that word from the list either. Is there really a true education without spirituality, compassion, and making a difference? Transversely, is true compassion possible without some form of education? I found it quite interesting that in Cathy Davidson’s “The New Education” talk, she addressed studies done at Google that proved that the most valued skills found in their employees were not technological in nature, but rather, how nice they were and how well they were able to communicate and collaborate with others (Cathy Davidson). This rings true with me, and as is clearly seen in the school’s dedication to inclusion and community, with Pacific Oaks College as well. In my opinion, any type of education that does not address our inherent interdependence is doomed to fail. Now, more than ever, education needs to be addressed from a more holistic perspective, and Pacific Oaks seems devoted to doing just that.
Works Cited
Pacific Oaks College Website. 2022. https://www.pacificoaks.edu/locations/pasadena/
Cathy Davidson: “The New Education” 3.1.18. YouTube, uploaded by Santa Cruz Arts,
Lectures, and Entertainment, 11 May 2020, Cathy Davidson: “The New Education” 3.1.18