News and Features
News and Features
Cal Lutheran News
News and Features

Recent News

Photo of Lorri Santamaría with students at a Black History Month kickoff event.

Strategic plan in action

Cal Lutheran’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, developed with input from all members of the university community, outlines the university's top priorities.

April 27, 2023
Lori Varlotta

A faith-friendly focus on the future

The intersection where future-focused meets faith-friendly is unique in higher education. It is the special place where Cal Lutheran lives and thrives. I believe we can “own” this space by making it one of our true...

April 21, 2023
Lorrie Brown

Balancing the narrative in Ventura

Being an effective public servant and improving the human condition has always been an objective for Lorrie Brown ’07, MPPA ’09, whether that means working in government or helping people discover their purpose.

April 21, 2023

In Memoriam

Judith K. Larsen (1942-2022), Joyce Ann Geeting (1944-2022), Jerry L. Schmalenberger (1934-2022), James Gottlieb Wenzel (1926-2022)

April 20, 2023
The 2022 ASCENSO fellows, from left to right: Jorge Macias, Vanessa Magaña, Vanessa Olvera Buenrostro, Humberto Jimenez.

Fellowship makes new voices heard on injustice

Over the summer of 2022, four California Lutheran University students learned or relearned the same lesson. They discovered that we need their voices in civic life.

December 19, 2022
Rev. Scott Adams

Cal Lutheran welcomes new spiritual leader

Known as “Reverend Scott,” he was selected by a search committee of representatives from numerous departments at the school, including students.

October 21, 2022
California Lutheran University celebrates Latinx Heritage Month. Photo: Safi Aryan

Cal Lutheran receives nearly $3M in grants

California Lutheran University was awarded $2,967,668 in grants from the U.S. Department of Education to help students with career pathways and professional development.

October 13, 2022

Play explores all sides of Roe v. Wade

Cal Lutheran’s Theatre Arts and Dance Department will present a staged version of “Roe” (the updated version), directed by Red Patterson and Bianca Akbiyik, at 8 p.m. Oct. 19-21 in the Preus-Brandt Forum on the Thousand...

October 7, 2022
Students spend time on the Cal Lutheran campus.

Cal Lutheran guarantees UC price-matching

Cal Lutheran's Public Price Promise program is now guaranteed for new students from California high schools and colleges who meet GPA requirements

October 5, 2022
Paul Hsu, Dan Hamilton, David Hayes-Bautista and Matthew Fienup.

U.S. Latino GDP now 5th largest in world

Researchers from California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting and the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine released the 2022 U.S. Latino GDP Report.

September 29, 2022
Michael Cosenza

Cal Lutheran receives grant up to $1.2M

The National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program has awarded California Lutheran University up to $1.2 million over five years.

September 21, 2022
Incubator grants award recipients

$180,000 in Cal Lutheran incubator grants

California Lutheran University has awarded its first Dorfman Incubator Grants — a total of $180,000 that will provide hands-on educational opportunities for students while helping four alumni and a professor launch...

September 21, 2022
From left to right are Cal Lutheran students Dominic Berger, Bradley Bedgood and Zaria Opara. Photo: Kim Fox

US News ranks Cal Lutheran 6th in West

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Sept. 13, 2022) California Lutheran University has jumped two spots to its highest position ever in the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings — sixth among 130 ranked regional universities throughout...

September 13, 2022
TOLD Foundation President Rod Gilbert

TOLD Foundation donates $2.5M

California Lutheran University has received $2.5 million to provide scholarships to accomplished students from low- and middle-income families.

September 8, 2022
Matthew Fienup, PhD

Latinos fuel L.A. metro economy, study finds

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — September 6, 2022) Latinos in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region are making significant and rapidly growing contributions to the economy, according to a first-of-its-kind report by...

September 6, 2022
California Lutheran University Class of 2026. Photo: Tracie Karasik

Enrollment rebounds at Cal Lutheran

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Aug. 29, 2022) As the 2022-23 fall semester gets underway at California Lutheran University, new student enrollment numbers have nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. About 844 undergraduate...

August 29, 2022
Students presented their research to a professional audience this summer at Baylor University in Texas. Photo: Ashley Ayala

Cal Lutheran receives $1.3M grant

The U.S. Department of Education has approved a five-year grant to continue the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program.

August 18, 2022
Caroline Kinsolving plays Lady Macbeth, and Matt Orduña is Macbeth. Photo: Brian Stethem

Director presents ‘Macbeth’ in new light

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — July 6, 2022) The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival is closing its 2022 season with one of the most performed tragedies in theater history, but under the guiding hand of a veteran director seeing...

July 6, 2022
High school students participate in a summer residential program through Cal Lutheran's TRIO Traditional Upward Bound program.

Cal Lutheran Upward Bound gets $3.6M

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — June 17, 2022) The U.S. Department of Education awarded California Lutheran University more than $3.6 million to continue and expand its TRIO Traditional Upward Bound services for high school...

June 17, 2022
Benjamin White portrays Orlando and Chloe Baldwin is Rosalind in "As You Like It." Photo: Brian Stethem

Festival marks 25th anniversary of debut

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — June 16, 2022) Twenty-five years after the first Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival was held, and following a two-year pandemic-caused hiatus, the event kicks off its joyous return to California...

June 16, 2022
From left, Regent Ann Boynton '83, President Lori E. Varlotta, PhD, Bishop Deborah Hutterer, MDiv, and the Rev. Jim Bessey '66, MDiv, participate in the Feb. 27 installation ceremony.

Coming together

The academic, spiritual and ceremonial events celebrating the inauguration of President Lori E. Varlotta, PhD — delayed by the pandemic — were opportunities to restate her vision for the campus. Cal Lutheran is...

May 25, 2022
Point Mugu, California

Microfiber pollution

Bits of your pants, shirts, socks and fleece jackets are polluting local waters. Cal Lutheran biology students have discovered this disturbing fashion dilemma as part of a scientific research project. For the past four...

May 24, 2022
Festivalgoers can wander through an authentic Viking village and a Sami siidastallan, or community gathering. Photo: Tracie Karasik

Scandinavian Festival back after 3 years

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — May 23, 2022) The largest Nordic festival in Southern California will return to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on June 4 and 5 after a two-year absence caused by the...

May 23, 2022
Photo: Courtesy of Cal Lutheran Sports Information

Alumna named Cal Lutheran athletic director

Photo: Courtesy of Cal Lutheran Sports Information Alumna Holly Roepke ’14 has been named director of athletics at Cal Lutheran. A former soccer standout and member of the Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame, the...

May 23, 2022
IWL scholarship recipients Naomi Mbise and Julia Raszka have had a profound impact on the Cal Lutheran community. Photo: Obinna Anyanwu

Women of the world unite

Under normal circumstances, recipients of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America college scholarships for international women meet once a year in Chicago to network and share ideas. Everyone has a plan to help their...

May 23, 2022