California Lutheran University President Resigns

The controversial president of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks has resigned.

Then-president Lori Varlotta  was on the wrong side of a faculty “no confidence” vote only a few months ago – prior to that she had been seen as the cause of the intense disagreement between the school and former local Congressman Elton Gallegly.

Tuesday, the Board of Regents accepted Varlotta’s resignation and thanked her for her service and for leaving CLU “well positioned to as we seek new leadership.”

In other words, we know now what kind of person NOT to pick as a permanent president and don’t let it hit you on the way out.

How the process took this long remains a mystery.

Essentially simultaneously – oh, that’s why – the board picked Rev. Dr. john Nunes to serve as interim president for the next two years (note – an unusually long period of time for an interim leader.)

Nunes was president of Concordia College in New York until its closure in 2021 and then served more recently as pastor of Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Santa Monica.

“God is up to great things at California Lutheran University,” said Nunes in a press release from the university. “In a world of digitized anonymity, Cal Lutheran represents a personalized community of learning on a beautiful campus where every person matters. I see this opportunity as vocationally aligned with my gifts and I am honored to serve Cal Lutheran by helping to galvanize a uniquely talented team of regents, faculty and staff in educating students for a global society.”

Dr. Nunes’ appointment, continues the press release, comes with the support of the Region 1 bishops and Region 2 bishops (both western synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Varlotta’s three-and-a-half tenure was marked by alumni irritation, faculty upset, and enrollment drops.  Some of those issues could be blamed on the pandemic response – everyone else did, so why not?” – but specific problems could be lain directly at Varlotta’s feet,  like the dispute with the locally very popular congressman. 

Gallegly was asked by the university if he would consider donating his papers to the school and creating the “Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement” on campus.

Varlotta, alleged Center financial donors, for personal political reasons let the Center atrophy to the point that a civil suit by the very same donors was filed against the school.

In January of this year, the faculty passed a “no confidence” vote in Varlotta by a margin of 122 to 3.

The faculty resolution stated:

WHEREAS the faculty have no confidence in President Varlotta’s ability to be an effective

steward of the University budget and her ability to maintain the financial health of the institution;

WHEREAS it is the opinion of the faculty that President Varlotta’s interpersonal style and

decisions have caused reputational harm to the institution by needlessly escalating conflict and

distracting from the many positive activities happening at the University;

WHEREAS the faculty have no confidence in President Varlotta’s ability to maintain and

cultivate important community and business partnerships;

WHEREAS it is the opinion of the faculty that President Varlotta has not only failed to build

relationships with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other institutional stakeholders but has

eroded and divided an historically close community;

Despite that clear ultimatum, the school’s Board of Regents remained stalwartly behind Varlotts, stating in January that:

The Board of Regents has worked closely with President Varlotta and fully partnered with her on the actions she has taken to navigate the university through truly unprecedented challenges. She continues to thoughtfully address the many challenges facing the university, she demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the success of our students now and in the future, and she has our full support. We know that the steps we must take together to reach financial sustainability can be challenging but we are confident that the institution will succeed under her leadership.

Clearly – with an enrollment drop of more than 25% since pre-pandemic levels – not so much anymore.