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Commencement ceremonies set for May 12

California Lutheran University will hold separate 2023 commencement ceremonies for 1,217 undergraduate and graduate students on Friday, May 12, in William Rolland Stadium on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Treasured memories

The Cal Lutheran community lost one of its most treasured members when the Rev. Dr. Howard Wennes died on July 12, 2022.

Students bring personal experiences to the fight against racism

Four students are sparking conversations about Black American roots, maternal health, entrepreneurship, juvenile justice and more as Community Scholars for Black Lives.

Cal Lutheran hosts its first-ever Women in Film Summit

An impressive lineup of women will be on campus for discussions of inequality in the movie and TV industry over two days.

Extraordinary Cal Lutheran community members receive Alumni Awards

Six outstanding alumni and friends of Cal Lutheran were honored for their accomplishments and impact — from career achievements and humanitarian endeadvors to social reform.

Fellowship makes new voices heard on injustice

The ASCENSO fellows went inside our local government to study issues confronting Ventura County Latinos.

MBA final course brings out student ingenuity

Local businesses come to student consultants to explore markets and solve problems.

Cal Lutheran welcomes new spiritual leader

California Lutheran University welcomes the Rev. Scott Hamilton Adams as its new university pastor, a significant campus leader who provides spiritual support, care and counseling to students, faculty, staff and administrators.

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.

Play explores all sides of Roe v. Wade

The original version of Lisa Loomer's 2016 play "Roe" ended with the words, "As of today, Roe v. Wade still stands." In June 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned a woman's right to abortion, the play's final statement was no longer true. So students at California University Lutheran, who are staging "Roe" in October, had to wait for a rewrite from Loomer.

Cal Lutheran guarantees UC price-matching

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

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.

$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 their startups.

Cal Lutheran receives grant up to $1.2M

The National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program has awarded Cal Lutheran up to $1.2 million over five years for a project to encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) majors and STEM professionals to pursue careers in K-12 teaching, especially in high-need school districts.

US News ranks Cal Lutheran 6th in West

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 15 Western states.

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.

Latinos fuel L.A. metro economy, study finds

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 researchers from California Lutheran University and UCLA.

Enrollment rebounds at Cal Lutheran

As the 2022-23 fall semester gets underway at California Lutheran University, new student enrollment numbers have nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

Cal Lutheran receives $1.3M grant

The U.S. Department of Education has approved a five-year grant worth $1,309,430 for California Lutheran University to continue the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, which supports students from underrepresented segments of society who want to attain doctoral degrees.

Director presents 'Macbeth' in new light

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 the play in a new way.

Cal Lutheran Upward Bound gets $3.6M

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 students in Oxnard, Hawthorne and Lawndale.

Festival marks 25th anniversary of debut

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 Lutheran University’s Kingsmen Park with performances of one of the Bard’s most popular comedies.

Deaf-education program founder retiring

The founding director of California Lutheran University’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program for prospective teachers is retiring with emeritus status on Tuesday.

Cultivating inclusivity

A new position is rapidly becoming an important part of the organizational landscape: chief diversity officer. Companies, nonprofits and educational institutions have become increasingly cognizant of the need to address and support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) related to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, ability, religion and socioeconomic status in a comprehensive way.

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.

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.

Respecting history

As the wind exhaled, it shook the grounds of Cal Lutheran. Midday in January at Kinsgmen Park, a few students pulled up their hoodies. But Kathy Willcuts and Steven Garcia, the latter wearing traditional handcrafted American Indian attire with a headdress fashioned as an eagle’s head, welcomed the wind as a living, breathing presence.

Love of learning

Nearly four years after joining the Cal Lutheran faculty as an assistant professor of psychology, Amanda ElBassiouny, PhD, likes to joke that she's a senior. But ElBassiouny is in no rush to leave campus at the end of the academic year.

Realizing a personal victory

When Kathie (Schaap ’89) Hale met her husband Rich 23 years ago, she was only a casual runner. “The farthest I had ever run was 3 miles,” she said. “But he was doing these 50-mile epic adventures. That was one of the things that drew me to him.”

The journey continues

Being at Oxford University in England, speaking at Oxford Union Hall, was a once-in-a-lifetime, out-of-body experience. Yet there I was, a member of the "Oxford Round Table," in 2005. Very little in my life could have allowed me to imagine that I would be in England at that time and place.

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