麻豆社

From Friday, March 28, to Sunday, March 30, 2025, 麻豆社, in collaboration with the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), cohosted the Statesmanship and Religious Freedom Seminar. Open to university students from around the world and available throughout the year at world-class locations, this program offers interactive discussions with religious freedom scholars and meetings with public officials and civil society leaders dedicated to promoting religious freedom in the United States and globally. Held at the University鈥檚 Malibu campus, the seminar included a visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and engagement with local nonprofits.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

"You are here to take on an adventure鈥攖o take another step into what you're being called to do,鈥� explained Pepperdine president Jim Gash (JD 鈥�93) as he welcomed students into the seminar. 鈥淲hether that leads you across the street to help those in need, across the country, or places farther than you could have even imagined, what you learn over these next three days is going to equip you to take that next step wherever God needs you."

President Jim Gash

Designed to inspire students toward faith-driven action, the seminars serve as a catalyst for those interested in service-oriented careers. Current Caruso School of Law student Max Stone attended the conference seeking a deeper understanding of the significance of religious freedom and its relevance to both individual lives and society. Stone emphasized that, as students, it is crucial to understand its importance so they can help protect it for those who need it most. 鈥淩eligious freedom is a fundamental right and principle that shapes nearly every essential aspect of our society,鈥� he said.

The three-day event brought together students from universities across California and featured a series of engaging sessions led by experts in law and religious freedom. Jim Bennett, director of the National Center for Religious Freedom Education at the RFI, opened the seminar with a discussion on the critical role of religious freedom in preserving human dignity and fostering societal flourishing, followed by an exploration of its historical foundations from antiquity to the present. 

Pete Peterson (MPP '07), Braun Family Dean at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, examined religious freedom鈥檚 significance in the American founding, particularly its establishment in the First Amendment. Daniel Dreisbach, professor of justice, law, and criminology at the American University in Washington, DC, discussed Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 "wall of separation" reference in his letter to the Danbury Baptists and its lasting influence on church-state law and policy. Michael Helfand, codirector of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, led a session on the legal evolution of religious freedom in the US, focusing on establishment and free exercise through key judicial decisions. Daniel Chen, counsel at the Becket Fund and a Caruso School of Law professor, provided additional insights into the concept of free exercise in US jurisprudence. 

David Trimble

RFI president David Trimble closed the seminar with a session focused on contemporary challenges to religious freedom and the leadership required to navigate today's complex legal and cultural landscape.

鈥淲e get to come together and help each other understand what it looks like to grow as men and women of faith and to exercise our religious freedom,鈥� shared Trimble. 鈥淩eligious freedom means that every person鈥攎an, woman, and child鈥攈as the fundamental right to seek meaning and truth in a transcendent reality and to live in accordance with those beliefs.鈥�

The Statesmanship and Religious Freedom Seminars will host additional events in the coming months. For more information on these events and how to attend, visit the .