Exploring Exciting Initiatives for CLU

Dear Staff and Faculty,

With summer coming to a close, students will be back on campus in a few short weeks. As we prepare to welcome them back for a great academic year, I would like to update you on some of the key projects my team and I have worked on this summer. 

Over the last two months, I invited more than a hundred of our most loyal friends and donors to a series of “leadership briefings." During these structured sessions, I gathered substantial feedback on a number of proposed projects and programs that emerged as priorities for the university during last year's integrated strategic and master planning processes. We are now comparing comments and observations from our leadership briefings to what we gathered from faculty, staff, and students in the 2022-23 academic year. My goal is to find the intersection between campus, community, and philanthropic interest, and begin fundraising for those projects.  

I am currently writing my column for the October issue of the CLU Magazine where I will flesh out a few details about the proposals around which friends and donors have been asked to comment. Before alumni hear anything, though, I wanted all of you to have a sneak peek. 

Academic Facilities (Main Campus):

• Renovating the Ahmanson Science Center
• Creating a new School of Management facility
• Providing contemporary music and theatre facilities

Athletic Facilities (Main Campus):

• Constructing a practice and competition facility for track and field
• Enhancing the Samuelson Aquatics Center
• Building a new softball stadium
• Expanding our tennis courts

Outdoor and Grounds Improvements (Main Campus):

• Transforming Memorial Drive into a pedestrian boulevard
• Implementing an integrated signage and way-finding system

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary:

• Growing the Seminary Fund
• Strengthening the Center for Climate Justice and Faith
• Supporting the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) certificate program for non-residential students
• Contributing to an Alaskan Natives and Indigenous leaders' program

Student Support:

• Bolstering teaching and learning technologies
• Establishing expendable and endowed scholarships
• Funding paid student internships and on-campus employment
• Revitalizing the Bachelor’s Degree for Professionals program with online learning options

Each of these initiatives centers on our students and aims to build the future of Cal Lutheran. If your club, organization, academic department, or committee wishes to learn more or contribute to these ambitious efforts, please drop a note to Jessi Soporito at OfficeofthePresident@CalLutheran.edu, and we will be happy to schedule a presentation, facilitate a discussion, or work collaboratively with you in ways you see fit.

I look forward to embarking on these transformative endeavors together. 

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

Lori E. Varlotta, Ph.D.
President