CLU Magazine - April 2019

CLUMAGAZINE Comfort Amid Chaos

CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

APRIL 2019

OUR UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IS TESTED

CHEMIST'S EYE ON ART PLAY WADES INTO DARKNESS JUSTIN AT THE DOOR WEDDING DAY DETOUR GAMES TO THE RESCUE

Out in Front

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HERO’S MEMORY

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arly on Nov. 8, the morning after the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill, Cal Lutheran’s senior director of annual giving had an email waiting for her from a longtime donor living in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The donor, Jim Bower ’76, had decided that morning on his next gift to the university: a scholarship in honor of Ron Helus, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department sergeant who was one of 12 people killed hours earlier at Borderline.

Helus’ son, Jordan Helus, is a 2016 Cal Lutheran graduate.

“Like everybody else, I went online that morning and saw the shooting was in Thousand Oaks,” Bower said. “I saw a sergeant got killed. I was a sergeant; I was a police officer for a long time. I can imagine how his wife felt when she got the call. He was out there trying to do his job, and he didn’t deserve that.”

Bower has endowed the Helus scholarship with a $50,000 gift. It will go toward Cal Lutheran students majoring in criminology and criminal justice and planning careers in law enforcement, and will probably become available in the 2019-2020 school year.

Bower had planned to donate the money before the shooting. His older sister, Anne, died last year, without a will, and Bower was her closest relative.

He liquidated her estate and considered causes and programs he thought she would have supported, until the shooting gave him a new focus for the gift.

Bower spent 28 years with the Los Angeles Police Department before he retired in 2008. It was around the time 2 CLU MAGAZINE

Crowds line a street leading to the Nov. 15 memorial for sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus in Westlake Village. Award-winning photo by Arianna Macaluso for The Echo (see Page 8).

he joined, four years out of Cal Lutheran, that he began donating to his alma mater. There was no trust fund or family foundation to draw from — just the salary of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran rookie cop in his late 20s.

“It wasn’t a lot, but every year Cal Lutheran would call me, and I started giving,” he said. “It all came out of Jim Bower’s checkbook.”

Though he wasn’t exactly wealthy, he said yes to those calls because of his positive experience in college. As a Los Angeles native, his favorite thing about Cal Lutheran was that it was “like a small town.”

“You knew everybody, and you could be anybody you wanted to be,” he said.

“If you wanted to be a jock or a party guy or an intellectual or somebody in student government, you were always welcome into the group.”

Over the years, his donations have endowed scholarships for military veterans and for science and math students at Cal Lutheran, and helped to fund the new Swenson Science Center, where Bower will have his name on a classroom.

“He’s been very generous,” said CLU’s Michelle Spurgeon, the recipient of the Nov. 8 email. “I really consider him a friend. We talk at least once a week. He’s very funny; he’s got a very dry sense of humor. If I wasn’t working at Cal Lutheran and he wasn’t a donor, I’d still be friends with him.” —Tony Biasotti

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

CLUMAGAZINE PUBLISHER

Lynda Paige Fulford, MPA ’97 EDITOR

Kevin Matthews ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Peggy L. Johnson ART DIRECTOR

Bree M. Montanarello CONTRIBUTORS

Tony Biasotti, Colleen Cason, Karin Grennan, Jana Weber PHOTOGRAPHERS

Joseph Garcia, Paul Ratje, Brian Stethem ’84 EDITORIAL BOARD

Jonathan Gonzales ’04, MS ’07 Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren Angela (Moller ’96) Naginey, MS ’03 Michaela (Crawford ’79) Reaves, PhD

Renewal: Three months after the fire west of campus, Hill Canyon Trail is green again.

Jean Kelso ’84 Sandlin, MPA ’90, EdD ’12 Bruce Stevenson ’80, PhD Stacy (Reuss ’91) Swanson Paloma Vargas, PhD

APRIL 2019 2 OUT IN FRONT

VOLUME 26, NUMBER 3

Copyright 2019. Published three times a year by University Relations

14 JUSTIN AT THE DOOR

The 2018 graduate who was taken from us at Borderline Bar and Grill was a friend and protector.

4 ART UNDER A NEW LIGHT

Spot forgeries and the footprints of restorers, like a chemist.

6 THIS IS COMMUNITY

Facing extraordinary challenges, students lead the way to healing.

8 HIGHLIGHTS

Echo editors rise to their moment • Women's lacrosse looks to 2020 • Film and TV major, finally.

9 IN MEMORIAM 10 Q&A: THE CAST OF COLUMBINUS

They don't remember Columbine, but can teach its legacy.

18 SOMETHING BORROWED

Wildfires and evacuations upset an alumni couple’s plans, but not their November wedding.

22 CLASS NOTES 30 MILESTONES

for alumni, parents and friends.

The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of Cal Lutheran or the magazine staff.

CORRESPOND WITH US

CLU Magazine California Lutheran University 60 W. Olsen Road #1800 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2787 805-493-3151 clumag@callutheran.edu CalLutheran.edu/magazine CLU Magazine welcomes letters to the editor. Please include your name,

32 VOCATIONS

Augmented and mixed reality games could save your life.

phone number, city and state, and note Cal Lutheran graduation years.

If requesting removal from our distribution list, please include your

35 LINKS ON THE COVER

Three therapy horses arrived on Nov. 19, and senior Christie Kurdys was informed that Rusty, a miniature breed, “was a little bit stubborn, but I saw him more as a free spirit. He didn't like staying still.” Photograph

by Brian Stethem ’84

name and address as they appear on the mailing label.

To submit a class note and photos for publication, write to us or visit CalLutheran.edu/alumni. Click on the links labeled Stay Connected and Share Your News. We hope you’ll request an alumni flag and share photos of your travels with it.

CLU Magazine welcomes ideas for articles and nominations for Vocations alumni essays (see Page 32).

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NEW LIGHT ON ART

In a spring chemistry course, undergraduates are learning how to uncover forgeries, predict aging, attribute work to a specific artist, preserve ailing pieces and work with restorations. BY KEVIN MATTHEWS // PHOTOS BY JOSEPH GARCIA

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The wrinkle damage occurred when burglars carelessly removed the canvas from its frame, rolled it and stuffed it in a bag.

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➞ Finished restoration work is nearly impossible to detect.

➞

aking art in studio classes helped Kate Hoffmann to manage her stress as an undergraduate chemistry major.

“It’s actually not that different from chemistry,” she said.

“Chemists are really practical people who are standing at a bench and mixing two things together, and it’s a long process.

It takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot of meticulous work with steady hands and the right level of caffeine.”

Two years ago, university curator Rachel T. Schmid spoke to faculty members about how to organize an art gallery exhibit tied to a course in any discipline. That led to two innovative collaborations during the current academic year. First, Schmid and Hoffmann, the John Stauffer Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Cal Lutheran, put together the art exhibit Traces (see caption below). And now, Hoffmann and Robert Dion, an adjunct faculty member, are team-teaching a related spring 2019 course on “Chemical Investigations of Art.” Students in the hands-on course spend time with objects in the exhibition and with other works of art, learning how to strip varnish off paintings with solvents and where to find chemical information in mosaics and sculptures. They ask questions about paintings and other works of art, considering what tools and techniques are available to answer them.

“Is it truly painted by this person? Has something happened to the painting since? Are we going to lose this painting?

Has somebody whitewashed over a mural? Is the wall falling down?” Hoffmann said.

A tan underlayer is applied as one of the art restorer’s preliminary steps.

Self-portrait of artist, circa 1900, oil on canvas, 42 x 34 inches. Courtesy of the Fine Art Conservation Laboratories.

Damaged by burglars who were later apprehended, this self-portrait by an unknown artist has been partially restored at the Fine Art Conservation Laboratories in Santa Barbara. The owner died before deciding how much work to have done on it, leaving behind a painting that shows various steps in the restoration process. It was recently displayed at the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art in the exhibition Traces: Revealing Secrets in Art and History, in which visitors were offered ultraviolet flashlights and protective goggles to observe the restorers’ work.

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➞ DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS In addition to UV fluorescence, there are more ways to see paintings with light outside of the visible spectrum.

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INFRARED LAYER CAKE Photographing a painting in detail with an infrared camera – which picks up light with waves longer and redder than red – can reveal brushstrokes well beneath a painting’s top layer. That’s how investigators confirmed the existence five years ago of a hidden work by Pablo Picasso underneath The Blue Room (1901).

Deliberately showing their tracks, restorers select paints that can be detected under ultraviolet light and easily removed, if desired, to restore the painting to a prior state.

Under the UV lamp, this lightcolored paint reflects dark brown.

A layer of white underpaint probably was part of the original work. Restorers appear to have added their own lead white paint to areas of wrinkle damage to mend cracks and promote the adhesion of more layers. The metal in the paint fluoresces violet.

X-RAY COLOR VISION Pigments in paint contain metals such as iron, lead and zinc that absorb X-rays, making this kind of very-short-wavelength imaging useful for seeing mixtures of colors more precisely than the eye.

The technique could provide data to compare different paintings by the same artist or to identify a forgery.

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‘Giving and receiving is a holy act’ The pain of a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks will linger on campus. But under challenging conditions, students took early steps toward healing.

PHOTOS BY BRIAN STETHEM ’84

social circles, these patients and the Borderline regulars had spent time together sharing stories.

Borderline survivors began to show up at Warner’s office in January to recount virtually the same tales she had heard about the Route 91 Harvest music festival and to pursue the same lines of self-questioning. Was there a reason for them to be in that place and live through it? If so, what were they doing about this? Should they make changes in their lives?

Outside the Student Union on Nov. 14, Valeria Cruz (center) and friends share the vibes brought to campus by a Torrance-based puppy party company.

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trauma specialist and founder of Westlake Village Counseling Center, Debra Warner ’09, MS ’11, works with a handful of survivors of the deadly mass shootings in Las Vegas and Thousand Oaks. These patients did not come to her the day after the events, but weeks and months later, after acknowledging a continuing inability to concentrate at work or symptoms such as nightmares, panic attacks and hypervigilance.

Warner was also shaken by the Nov. 7 shooting. Her grown daughter was then an employee at the Borderline Bar and Grill and also frequented its College Country Nights as a patron.

“She was ‘supposed’ to be there that night – just as many people have 6 CLU MAGAZINE

experienced,” said Warner, in a phrase tinged with survivors’ guilt. “She’s usually always there on Wednesday nights, but she chose not to go. My feeling is that I survived, that we survived that.

It’s intensely emotional.”

On the following night of Nov. 8, Warner had to evacuate from the Woolsey Fire. She took a critical week off from work then to tend to her own needs in order “to be present” during trauma care, she said.

Upon her return, the psychotherapist observed that her Las Vegas shooting survivors had been “highly triggered,” one year later, by Borderline. On a diagnostic scale for trauma, “it was almost as if we were back to Day One,” she said. As members of intersecting

Repercussions of the Nov. 7 killings will be with Cal Lutheran for a long time, too. “You know, something has been violated very deeply,” said the Rev. Melissa Maxwell-Doherty ’77, MDiv ’81, vice president for mission and identity. “The fires are something that happens naturally. Violence does not just happen.”

Now closed, Borderline is four miles from campus and “not some restaurant,” said Jill Logan, MS ’08, who is an adjunct faculty member in graduate psychology and a colleague of Warner’s at the same counseling center.

The dance hall and music venue was a safe, fun place that meant something to decades of alumni, reaching back to the 1970s when it was Charley Brown’s steakhouse.

College Country Night brought in patrons under 21, making Wednesdays at Borderline one of the few local nightlife options for all university students.

About 30 Kingsmen and Regals were in the crowd on Nov. 7 along with the 12 victims, and many others had been there at some point. Nearly any CLU student might have experienced a form of survivor’s guilt, on top of the shock and their worries that night about friends or absent roommates.

Logan volunteered the day after the shooting to do crisis counseling for

CLU ADMINISTRATION

In Mogen Hall on Nov. 15, students prepare donations for first responders. An outdoor memorial south of Highway 101 honors Borderline victims. Therapy horses come to campus Nov. 19.

students and began on Friday, Nov. 9. She has often supplemented the Cal Lutheran staff at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) on a per diem basis. This time, she left her private practice for two weeks without a day off to assess the needs of students who walked into the CAPS office on Luther Street.

Samuelson Chapel had opened its doors about three hours after the shooting and stayed open continuously, staffed by other CAPS, Campus Ministry and Religion Department counselors.

Meanwhile, a 24-hour crisis telephone hotline was made available through a third party.

During this period at Cal Lutheran, particularly the nonstop first two weeks, students and others threw themselves into the work of collective emotional recovery. The Rev. Hazel Salazar-Davidson, who was hired as campus minister in August and formally ordained five days before Borderline, talked about the nature of that work during a Nov. 15 chapel service: Some of us aren’t able to continue with regular life, and some of us, although we struggle, can and do. This is normal. Some of us can give and some of us can receive, and this is community.

Is it easy? No-o-o! Giving and receiving is a holy act.

Students were performing this work when, unbidden, they organized events to make sandwiches for a food bank and to fill bags with supplies for first responders to wildfires.

They were still doing the work when they got in line to pick up the first of the 574 handmade quilts, blankets, prayer shawls, scarves and purses that were donated by congregations and individuals around the country.

Hundreds of quilts were distributed in 20 minutes outside of Starbucks.

There were students who telephoned the counseling office after Borderline to cancel scheduled appointments because someone else needed the time more, according to CAPS director Ginny Maril.

When Logan arrived at the former residence where CAPS is housed, it was already serving as one refuge from seeming chaos.

The Hill Fire was burning, and the larger Woolsey Fire would not be fully contained until the day before Thanksgiving. Six golden retrievers from Lutheran Church Comfort Dog Ministry in Chicago that had been flown in and brought to Samuelson Chapel the previous night were now lying around on the floor of CAPS with students.

Logan talked with the walk-ins, both one at a time and in groups, about when they’d last eaten and slept, who they had available to connect with and whether they’d reached out.

She referred some for follow-up with staff clinicians.

“How to get you through today” was a worthwhile subject in November, she said.

“Tomorrow we’ll deal with tomorrow.”

—Kevin Matthews

Chris Kimball, PhD President Leanne Neilson, PsyD Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Regina D. Biddings-Muro, EdD Vice President for University Advancement Karen Davis, MBA ’95 Vice President for Administration and Finance Melissa Maxwell-Doherty ’77, MDiv ’81 Vice President for Mission and Identity Melinda Roper, EdD Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Matthew Ward, PhD Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Gerhard Apfelthaler, PhD Dean of the School of Management Michael Hillis, PhD Dean of the Graduate School of Education Richard Holigrocki, PhD Dean of the Graduate School of Psychology Jessica Lavariega Monforti, PhD Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences The Rev. Raymond Pickett, PhD Rector of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary The Rev. Alicia Vargas, MDiv ’95, PhD Dean of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary BOARD OF REGENTS Susan Lundeen-Smuck ’88, Chair Deborah Sweeney, Vice Chair Bill Camarillo, Secretary Linda Baumhefner The Rev. Jim Bessey ’66 Ann Boynton ’83 Wallace Brohaugh Andrew Castro ’16 Sue Chadwick Dennis Erickson, PhD Randall Foster Alexis Ghattas ’19 Rod Gilbert, H’16 The Rev. Mark Hanson The Rev. Mark Holmerud Jon Irwin Chris Kimball, PhD Judy Larsen, PhD Jill Lederer Rick Lemmo Malcolm McNeil The Rev. David Nagler, MDiv ’93 The Rev. Frank Nausin ’70, MDiv ’74 Carrie Nebens Kären Olson ’83 Jim Overton Debra Papageorge ’12 Dennis Robbins ’86 Erin (Rivers ’97) Rulon, MBA ’06 Mike Soules Mark Stegemoeller Allison Wee, PhD Russell Young ’71 CAL LUTHERAN MISSION The mission of the university is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice.

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Highlights

Echo journalists rise to the moment ‘Running on fumes’ through November, student editors kept the community informed.

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JOSEPH GARCIA

nlike other journalPublished online a little ists at the scene of after 4 a.m., that first arthe mass shooting, ticle established key facts.

Dakota Allen and Olivia The staff would add to it Schouten recognized faces that day but never had to they saw coming out of the issue corrections.

Borderline Bar and Grill in Later that day, Macaluso Thousand Oaks. They won’t evacuated her home forget the sight of survivors in located in the Woolsey the early morning on Nov. 8. fire’s path, but continued “We’d been waiting hours,” taking photos. Staff memsaid Allen, editor in chief of bers were dispersed and The Echo. “And they come out increasingly “running on and they’re wrapped in blanfumes,” in Allen’s words. kets. And seeing them run up “We were going out to their friends or family. And and talking to our photo seeing other families standeditor and, Hey, I need a ing there, but no one came camera and Take that one, out to greet them.” and we were just going,” “That was probably the Schouten said. “We all hardest part,” said Schouten, had the passwords to our news editor of the award-winEcho social media.” ning weekly student paper.

“Everyone wore every Schouten added, “Your hat,” said Stanley. “That’s Echo sports editor Brooke Stanley (left), editor in chief Dakota Allen first instinct, I would say, as what I’m most proud of. and news editor Olivia Schouten won first place for breaking news a human, is just to drop evOur social media editor in the 2019 California College Media Awards. The newspaper staff erything and go to them and (Vianca Castaneda-Correa) took four awards for writing and one for the photo shown on Page 2. say, Oh my gosh, I’m glad that was writing articles, and you’re here. But you’re still our distributions person Wherever they went, they had to think there for the purpose – you’ve (Krystal Rhaburn) was got to let everyone know what’s going on.” like reporters. On the night of the shootwriting articles. It was just awesome.” ing, sports editor Brooke Stanley went To do that work, they had to set aside The team produced the bulk of its Nov. to Samuelson Chapel and, conscious rumors and disseminate facts by every 13 edition in under a day without outside of her own grief, interviewed students means, with the full editorial staff of submissions. Therein, an unsigned ediwho wanted to talk about theirs. When a about 10 members pitching in. They torial announced, “Our staff isn’t going plume of smoke rose on the horizon, she didn’t know on arrival at Borderline that anywhere.” It read, in part: 13 people including the gunman had died. taped her phone to her bedroom window After the news vans leave and the nation’s They couldn’t be sure, at first, that reports in Moorpark and made a time-lapse video attention turns elsewhere, we will still be to share on social media. of a violent incident at The Tipsy Goat here over the following weeks and months to Earlier on, at the scene of the shoottavern were false. inform and serve as a platform for people to ing, Allen and Schouten were also trying The Echo’s editorial staff certainly did share their stories. #TOStrong will fall out of to use their phones and phone batternot know it would be chasing breaking use, but we hope the message persists. ies to best advantage. They tweeted out stories for the next week and longer, after The whole experience solidified Allen, updates, conferred with photo editor the Hill and Woolsey fires that flared up Schouten and Stanley's ambitions to go Arianna Macaluso about Instagram posts, on to professional journalism careers. that same Nov. 8 sent them to locations and interviewed students who had admitfrom Fillmore to Beverly Hills. The main “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback ted themselves to Los Robles Hospital. campus was never under an evacuation from professors and from people on camorder, but the two burn areas would come They kept reworking a first web article on pus, and that’s great,” Allen said. “But, for Schouten’s laptop. A video clip by Allen within about three miles to the west and me, I was just doing my job. We just felt ended up on cable news. the southeast. like this was our duty.” —Kevin Matthews

In Memoriam

News briefs Over the years, Cal Lutheran has developed internships with ABC, CBS, Disney, Fox Sports, KTLA and other Hollywood companies. Alumni have gone on to work for, among others, BunimMurray Productions, ESPN, Netflix, the NFL and Participant Media.

LACROSSE PREPS FOR 2020 With the hiring of Laura McIntyre as head coach, women’s lacrosse is on track to compete as the university’s 22nd varsity sport in spring 2020. McIntyre grew up in Pennsylvania, began playing lacrosse in fourth grade, and took home an NCAA Division III national championship trophy her senior year at Gettysburg College. She served as a graduate assistant coach while earning a master’s in counseling at McDaniel College in Maryland.

Recently, she coached women's field hockey and lacrosse at The University of the South in Tennessee.

She is recruiting for the Regals’ inaugural season.

Cal Lutheran will be the seventh university in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference to have a women’s lacrosse team.

FILM AND TV IS A MAJOR, AT LONG LAST In response to strong demand, a film and TV major will launch in the fall. For over a decade, the communication major has offered a film and TV emphasis, and the classes have long waitlists. The new, interdisciplinary program adds advanced classes and the option of pursuing an emphasis in film studies or production.

STUDENT TEACHING STARTS EARLY The university and a Thousand Oaks public charter school are offering more fieldwork opportunities to aspiring teachers in the interdisciplinary educational studies major.

The partnership with Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School (MATES) is the first of its kind for the university’s undergraduate students and possibly the first in California. Similar to the relationship between teaching hospitals and medical schools, it gives students experience and supports the K-5 school.

The agreement will make it easier for the undergraduates to fulfill their degree requirement to spend 200 hours working with experienced teachers in classrooms.

The partnership also allows Cal Lutheran faculty to work with MATES teachers and students and share the latest research-based teaching techniques.

Priscilla Partridge de Garcia 1942–2019

NEW PATH TO BACHELOR’S DEGREE More than two dozen local sixth- and seventhgraders were selected for the first cohort of the innovative Rising Scholars Academy, a collaboration between Cal Lutheran and Moorpark College to give middle school students who may not be considering college a pathway to a bachelor’s degree.

Those who continue in the program will receive full two-year scholarships to Moorpark College and guaranteed transfer admission to Cal Lutheran, which will award full scholarships per year to five students and halftuition scholarships to the others. The selected students come from lowincome households and would be the first in their families to attend college.

CLASSES COMMUTE TO STUDENTS At the request of commuter students, Cal Lutheran offered traditional undergraduate classes at its offcampus centers in Oxnard and Woodland Hills for the first time this semester. About 60 students are taking math, psychology, religion, sociology and Spanish at locations used by the Bachelor’s Degree for Professionals and graduate programs.

Former Cal Lutheran regent and community leader Priscilla Partridge de Garcia died Jan. 15, 2019, in Clarinda, Iowa. She was 76.

Partridge de Garcia was a member of the Board of Regents from 1993 to 1998. A clinical psychologist, she helped found the Ventura County Leadership Academy and was a longtime supporter of the Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families. In honor of her work in the community, she was chosen to light the Olympic torch in Santa Barbara as part of its journey to the 1996 Atlanta Games.

John “Jack” R. Wise 1940–2018 Jack Wise, former chair of the Cal Lutheran Board of Regents, died on Dec. 19, 2018. He was 78.

Wise was a member of the board for 12 years, serving as chair from 1984 to 1992, and continued to participate in board meetings as a regent emeritus. As chair, he worked to raise funds and complete the construction of Samuelson Chapel and Pearson Library. He also served as a trustee of the California Lutheran Educational Foundation, a convocator and a member of the President’s Advisory Council under President Luther Luedtke. In recognition of his contributions to church, community and the university, he received the Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the Christus Award in 2014.

Wise, an expert in the field of mortgage banking, and his wife, Sally, were dedicated financial supporters of Cal Lutheran. In recognition of their generous donations to the Now Is the Time capital campaign, the entrance to the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center is named for them.

He is survived by his wife and extended family including three Cal Lutheran alumni: son Michael ’92 and grandsons Kyle ’12 and Kevin ’13 Leonard.

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Q&A

Waiting for COLUMBINUS

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Too young to remember the massacre in Colorado, the cast of this year’s Mainstage theater production has come of age in the shadow of Sandy Hook, Charleston, Orlando, San Bernardino, Route 91, Parkland and too many more.

Their play about Columbine nearly became a casualty of the shooting in Thousand Oaks. PHOTOS BY BRIAN STETHEM ’84

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he eight-member cast of columbinus learned about the Borderline shooting on stage at a rehearsal less than 24 hours before their scheduled opening night. Most of them had friends who were, or might have been, at the dance hall where 13 people died on Nov. 7.

By design, each actor had two or more roles in this play about adolescent life and the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. Written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli, the 2005 play relies on documentary evidence.

This meant that, even as another in the long line of U.S. gun massacres since Columbine, each one in some way a sequel, was about to unfold four miles down the road, Cal Lutheran students were playing shooting victims and survivors, parents of the victims and of the two killers, a pastor and police spokesperson, and the killers themselves. With a work of theater, they were preparing to launch the kind of public conversation about gun violence and its causes that never starts too soon, but that can come late.

The first weekend of the Mainstage Production was canceled, and the second weekend was curtailed and closed to the public after several days of reflection and discussion among the cast, crew, departmental faculty and staff, and administrators. Cast and crew gave an invitation-only show to an audience of 160 on Nov. 17, winning an ovation for months of effort and, after a pause, a spot in regional competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. It was the fifth time a Cal Lutheran show was selected.

Finally, more than three months from the intended opening night, columbinus went public on Feb. 10 for two shows ahead of the competition in Los Angeles. The outcome was not yet known as this magazine went to press.

Directed by Brett Elliott, the show stars Clayton Currie, Jordan Erickson, Jonathan Irwin, Victoria Karr, Mahyar Mirzazadeh, Amber Marroquin, Gabrielle Reublin and Jacob White.

CLU Magazine sat down with them near the end of November.

The play has a first act about high school and the people found there, and a second act about the mass shooting at Columbine High 20 years ago. What did you all make of the script?

Amber (Perfect) The archetypes of high school characters in the first act (Jock, Prep, Freak…) are really important. It sets it up so that this could happen to anyone.

At first it was like, what? I’m playing “Perfect”? What does that mean? But then it made sense and it makes the second act more powerful.

Also, when we first read the script, the “Morning Ritual” part was, like, whaaat? [Laughter.] What is this?

Gabrielle (Rebel) I don’t think the audience expects it either, that we open like that (see inset photo at left). You’re expecting

something so intense, especially after all the talk. Instead, it’s light and, oh, it’s kind of funny.

The scene is interesting especially because it’s to a beat. It’s almost musical.

Brett (director) It’s not called for in the script, for it to be set to a rhythm, but the language was rhythmic to me and seemed to cry out for that.

Gabrielle I had seen other takes on that scene, and it seems a little slow and dull if you don’t have a rhythm. It’s made for that almost.

Who has a favorite line from the play?

Jacob (Loner/Dylan Klebold) I have a least favorite line if that counts.

It does.

Jacob In the Act 2 “What If?” scene with Johnny, Dylan says, I want them to feel this…like a knife to the skin of America, slicing her, with a jagged edge. The skin’s bunched up, digs in deep. It won’t heal right without a scar.

It’s poorly written because Dylan actually said that. [Laughter.] When you realize, Oh no, this is genuinely what he thought, I guess that makes it less kitschy.

Brett The respondent who judged the show singled out that line and said that really impressed her. Sometimes theater is like that. You think, This part sticks in my craw, and to someone else it works awesome.

I liked Johnny’s line, when he says to his guidance counselor, You are not equipped to handle what’s going on inside of me. To me, that was always the theme of the first act. Could that possibly be more true?

Amber My favorite line that resonates, I think with all of us, is Clayton’s last line in the show: For the moment I’m different. But is that enough?

It’s so real and it’s so true. With everything that happened, we’re hurt. But what really can we do to make it better?

Right, everyone is “different” after a theater production – “for the moment.” Do you think the performance on campus changed the audience a little?

Amber My roommate, she came to the show. She was friends with Justin Meek. After the show, she said it made her cry, it was scary, it made her feel a lot, and it was terrifying. And she said it made her realize it was OK to move on.

Well, at least we did something. It at least helps one person or a few people in the audience. I wish we could have helped more people that way. But that gave all of this purpose.

Photo at top: Eric Harris (Jonathan Irwin) checked off issues on a psychological evaluation: “Anger, anxiety, authority figures, depression, disorganized thoughts, homicidal thoughts, jealousy, loneliness, mood swings, obsessive thoughts, racing thoughts, stress, suspiciousness…oh and… (a final check) …temper.” Inset photo: Separately, teens go through a common morning routine.

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Jonathan (Freak/Eric Harris): That’s really sick [cool] to hear, actually. I think that this play isn’t going to solve any problems.

That would be ridiculous, to think that it would. But it does a lot more than not doing anything.

It does show us, like the play says, “the whole ugly package.”

It’s a side of things we don’t normally get to see. On the news, you only hear about what the shooters did. You don’t get an indepth look.

Brett I think that’s it. The people who were expressing reservations about doing the play said things like, This just happened up the road. What’s the point of a theater piece about it?

What a theater piece does is: You have to sit there for two and a half hours and really empathize with it and watch people experience it, and you experience it yourself a bit. There’s nothing else like theater to do that, not documentary film, not interviews, not books. Nothing.

I’m a dad to a 6-year-old and there are certain things that I can’t watch on the news. You know, like I have yet to really watch a story about Newtown (the Connecticut town struck by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting). I can’t go there. Most people do that. I think we all have to do that to try to survive.

What did you all know about Columbine? For most of you, it was before your time. Did you think of it as the beginning of the series of mass shootings you’ve been living through?

Gabrielle I knew of it. I knew it was a shooting; I didn’t know anything about the shooters. Definitely I didn’t think of it as the start – I mean, now I do. For me, the start was Newtown, even though that wasn’t very long ago. And the movie theater shooting in (Aurora) Colorado. That was scary and especially Newtown.

Mahyar (AP/honors student) I always connected Columbine with the shooting. But I’m about four or five years older than everyone, and I’m not from the states. I’m from Norway. When I came here, it already was in my head that Columbine was the first shooting. I’d heard the name here and there in songs and articles.

This play is from 2005, so the authors weren’t aware of recent shootings. More importantly, they didn’t focus on guns as much as the world of high school.

Brett The way the play is structured seems to lay the fault at the feet of the high school or could be read that way. That there’s something wrong with the institution of high school.

In our research, we learned that the principal at Columbine High School worked really, really hard to create a unified, loving community, and he was devastated that this happened at his school.

And yet it happened there. That’s part of the reason our set looked like it did. I asked our set designer for chain link, because that seems to be what high schools are built out of now.

So are jails. It’s a weird similarity.

I think there is something to the fact that we take these kids before they’ve found their niche and found themselves, and 12 CLU MAGAZINE

we put them in these gigantic institutions, thousands of kids sometimes, and don’t really provide them with a community.

Maybe that contributes to their feeling to some degree isolated.

Mahyar That was kind of my feeling when I went to high school in Wisconsin: The yellow bus is taking you to this place where you’re in prison for six hours. You have to sit there and listen. You can’t go to the bathroom without getting a hall pass.

The bell ringing – we don’t have that in Norway. The teacher in Norway says, OK, there’s two minutes left in class, or, We’re two minutes over, you guys can leave. That whole thing makes it feel prison-like.

Brett Certainly institutional.

In the play, high school is an inauthentic world and the students are all posing. The only way to get a character to say something that’s true is to freeze everyone on stage so that one actor can do a monologue.

Jonathan I think that’s something that’s super-super important. Almost every character here has a frozen moment where you get a really honest version of themselves. Sometimes it’s the whole picture, but not always. With Mahyar, it’s literally him trying to shoot a basketball. When we freeze, it’s just one moment of honesty.

It goes to show everything about that high school is inauthentic, but I think a lot of our daily interactions are pretty inauthentic too. Inside, you’re saying something completely different. A lot of things would change if we were truly honest.

What do we know about Eric and Dylan’s relationship?

Does the play get us closer to understanding why they killed 12 people and wanted to kill more?

Jacob Eric is the driving force behind what happens, all of the ambition, and Dylan, from my interpretation, was a sort of passive yes man who didn’t really challenge what Eric said. When he does challenge it, he gets a shotgun in his face, and I’ll never say no to you again.

Prior to columbinus, I thought Eric and Dylan were both just pure anger. If you google their names, the first results that pop up are pictures of them going haaa! with their angry faces in the camera. So I had no clue that they were depressed. I thought they were pure anarchist rage and violence.

Victoria (Faith) It’s interesting. You see on social media, like when the Vegas shooting happened, that when media outlets try to talk about the shooter, his past and his personality, that people get really upset: Stop talking about the shooter. He was just a monster. Let’s focus on the victims. That is obviously important, but I feel like we’re generalizing every shooter as, Oh, they’re just all monsters. Even Dylan and Eric, who were in the same crime, were very different.

That’s an important point this play brings up. It’s uncomfortable, but we’ve got to start talking about them as people because they were people. It’s uncomfortable because they did terrible things, but it’s really important.

From left, columbinus stars Jordan Erickson, Mahyar Mirzazadeh, Jacob White, Amber Marroquin, Clayton Currie, Gabrielle Reublin, Jonathan Irwin and Victoria Karr.

Did being in this play change the way the Borderline shooting affected you?

Clayton (Jock) I’m the youngest in the cast, and I don’t know anyone who was at Borderline. None of my friends have started going yet. So I don’t know how I would have reacted if I hadn’t been in this show. I probably would have been upset, but it wouldn’t have hit as close to home. Because I told everyone.

We were on stage. I was on Twitter when I saw it and I told everyone at rehearsal.

And when I said it – there was a shooting at Borderline here in Thousand Oaks – I didn’t know what that meant. But they all just instantly: Oh, we know what that means. That’s where people are right now. That’s where our friends are.

It felt bad. I felt guilty. I don’t know why I felt guilty. I was just sitting there watching my friends, my cast-mates, panic almost, trying to figure out what was going on, find out who was where when. I wouldn’t have had the community to have that reaction had I not been in this show.

How did you feel about doing the play after that?

Victoria We thought it would be disrespectful to put on a play literally the day after. For the first weekend, we understood.

Gabrielle That was emotionally wise. And then the fires came right after – we wouldn’t have been able to do it that weekend anyway.

Victoria Our issue was we didn’t want the play to be canceled

altogether and not do it at all. Mostly I think we thought, We need to get this message out there. We can’t just avoid it now because this happened close to us. That’s all the more reason to do it.

Amber One of the first things that popped into my head was, Out of all the places that this shooting could have happened. And out of all the plays, we’re doing this one. And I was like, This is why we’re doing the play.

Another thing was, We don’t want hate to win either. That goes against the whole message of the play.

Gabrielle I don’t want to sound insensitive, but if we want this to stop happening, we have to have this conversation. Unfortunately, there’s going to be more shootings.

Clayton There already has been.

Gabrielle And there’s never going to be a right time to do this.

For me, it’s what you don’t see that matters, or what you choose to ignore is happening. In the “Basement Tapes” scene, Eric and Dylan are in their basement planning this and no one knew about it. But people could have known if they’d chosen to see all of these warning signs.

It was almost symbolic that the rest of us were not on stage for that. I loved that scene and I always wanted to listen in. I loved how it was acted. I thought it was just so intense. But I tried to usually remove myself and not listen to that scene and put myself where I’d be if I was a victim. If I was in this shooting.

APRIL 2019

13

COURTESY OF THE MEEK FAMILY

JUSTIN AT THE DOOR

He sang, danced, strummed guitar, cooked and opened paths for others.

Justin Meek, the 2018 graduate whose life was stolen at the Borderline Bar and Grill, was a protector and friend. BY COLLEEN CASON 14 CLU MAGAZINE

He planned to join the Coast Guard with the goal of becoming a U.S. marshal.

Police said that his final actions may have derailed the Borderline gunman's plans.

P

atrons of the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks received messages on their social media feeds inviting them to “see Justin at the door.”

Those who mentioned Justin Meek’s name scored a discount, and the 23-year-old Cal Lutheran alumnus pocketed some cash for his work promoting the dance hall frequented by students on Wednesday College Country Nights.

“He would say, ‘It’s easy to promote what I love,’” said his sister, Victoria Rose Meek, a junior at Cal Lutheran and also a Borderline promoter. “People wanted in on that family and that experience.”

During his four years at the university, Justin flung open doors between strangers, turning people with different interests into unlikely friends. At Cal Lutheran, if you didn’t know Justin, you knew someone who did.

After his graduation in May 2018 with a degree in criminology and criminal justice, he stood at another threshold. Before him was the future he envisioned. Formed by his boyhood in a military family and his college experiences, the Eagle Scout was to lead a life of service. He planned to join the Coast Guard with the goal of becoming a U.S. marshal.

Shielding others

On the evening of Nov. 7, Justin and Victoria Rose were among the roughly 250 people at the Borderline, four miles down the road from Cal Lutheran’s main campus. Along with promoting the dance hall, Justin worked security on some nights, but not this one.

At 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, his size could be intimidating. That was fine with his mother, Laura Lynn Meek ’18, particularly when Justin and Victoria Rose visited prisons as part of their criminal justice studies.

Though built like a mountain man, he was light on his feet.

Meek founded the university’s Line Dancing Club. Laura Lynn had his dancing boots resoled three times.

That night, he seemed to want to stay close to the front door, Victoria Rose said, as if he had an intuition.

At 11:18 p.m., a gunman entered the Borderline armed with a .45-caliber handgun. He shot to death the first person he encountered and moved toward the crowd as he fired repeatedly.

Victoria Rose was on the dance floor when she heard shots.

As she ran for the emergency exit, she stumbled and was trampled under fleeing patrons before she reached safety.

Eyewitnesses saw Justin raise his arms to shield those in the line of fire. People standing near him made it out safely, survivors told the Los Angeles Times.

In one of the 20 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, Justin died from a wound to his upper torso. Eleven other victims, including Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, lost their lives, and 25 more reportedly were injured. An estimated 30 Cal Lutheran students survived the massacre.

Police told Justin’s family he died a hero.

Justin’s death was announced to the Cal Lutheran community during a chapel service the next morning.

Lana (Howard ’06) Clark, MPPA ’13, Cal Lutheran’s director of stewardship, wrote an open letter then to Justin, whom she had known since his freshman year: “You said if a (shooting) ever happened on our campus you would do everything you could to stop the shooter.”

Law enforcement officials believe valiant acts like Justin’s derailed the gunman’s plans and prompted him to kill himself long before his ammunition ran out.

CLU poster child

Justin Allen Meek was born Aug. 31, 1995. His dad, Roger, was a career Naval officer; Laura Lynn served 14 years in the Air Force.

When Justin was 3, his sister Victoria Rose was born. The siblings grew so close they joked they were fraternal twins.

“Justin was a Renaissance kid. He sang in the school choir and played a beefy sport, but the most unique thing about him was that he absolutely revered his baby sister,” said Craig Rond, CLU men’s water polo coach.

Justin blazed a trail for her at CLU. “My close friends, I made through my brother,” she said. He had roles in her recruitment to the water polo team and the choir.

As a child he was a reluctant reader, said Laura Lynn, who homeschooled her kids. He enjoyed doing magic tricks and was given a book on the subject. When he mastered the feats, she knew he had read it. He would in time teach himself to play the guitar.

“Justin was an A-plus-plus-plus student at anything he was interested in,” his mother said.

Their studies together culminated when Laura Lynn and Justin received their Cal Lutheran diplomas on the same day, with Mom bearing the flag and son singing the national anthem with the Kingsmen Quartet.

Change of plans

It’s said that if you want to see people’s true character, watch what happens when their plans falter.

Justin’s first contact with Cal Lutheran came during his senior year at Coronado High School. Coach Rond was scouting him for the water polo team and liked what he saw. Justin already had proven his prowess in the water by completing the rigorous training to become a beach lifeguard.

After his visit, he knew Cal Lutheran was the right fit, Laura Lynn said.

His freshman year, though, the team boasted its biggest roster in history, and Justin got little playing time. Rond dubbed him one of “the futures.”

APRIL 2019

15

A member of the water polo team, club hockey team, Italian Club, Republican Club, and the line dance club, Meek made the most of Cal Lutheran. He sang in a wide range of choral groups. At right, he shakes hands with President Chris Kimball on earning a 2018 bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice with a minor in music.

That future was cut short when Justin injured his knee. He tried hard, maybe too hard, said his teammate Michael Potter ’15, but he couldn’t come back for his sophomore year.

He showed no animosity, said Rond, who spoke with Justin a day or two before he died. Justin was swimming laps to get himself in shape for the Coast Guard.

Omnivore of life’s offerings

With water polo behind him, Justin dove into an array of campus activities. He sang bass in the university choir, Kingsmen Quartet and Areté Vocal Ensemble. He served as trainer and manager for the Knights hockey team and worked at the Office of Veterans Resources. He belonged to the Italian and Republican clubs.

“He told me ‘the busier I am, the better I feel,’” said Jenn Zimmerman ’12, MS ’17, who supervised his work with veterans.

Justin was first to raise his hand to volunteer, said Wyant Morton, conductor of the CLU choir ensembles. During the choir’s 2018 tour of Spain, the bus carrying their equipment couldn’t navigate a narrow street to the church where they were to perform.

“There was Justin, carrying a big electric piano through the cobblestone streets,” Morton recalled.

He handled the heavy lifting in the ensembles as a soloist and a leader. His enthusiasm was inspiring, said Maddy Barnes, a senior in the choir.

“His voice was deep. He’d swing down into his low register. You could tell he loved to sing down there,” she said.

16 CLU MAGAZINE

As a member of the Regals Quartet, the soprano performed the national anthem before the Rams’ Nov. 19 Monday night matchup in the Los Angeles Coliseum, in tribute to first responders and those killed at the Borderline (see Page 35).

When Laura Lynn Meek names the things she misses most since Justin passed, toward the top of the list is hearing her children spontaneously break into a snippet of song.

When planning the music for Justin’s Nov. 17 memorial service, she insisted the choir perform its medley of “I Love You/ Wonderful World.” Justin had been the soloist on the piece.

“So many people are grieving and angry about (his murder). I want them to know Justin loved each and everyone here, and it is a beautiful world because he was here.”

Morton played a video of Justin singing the solo, and the live choir in Samuelson Chapel joined in, some fighting tears.

“It was really cathartic … to be able to get to sing with him one last time,” Jordan Erickson, a junior, told National Public Radio.

Shortly before he died, Justin scored a professional singing gig with the Goode Time Carolers, an a cappella Victorian ensemble that plays major venues during the holiday season.

Three hundred singers auditioned and only 10 won a spot.

Mixing and mingling

Justin’s talent for entertaining extended beyond the concert stage and into the kitchen.

“In the dorms, he’d cook to get to know people,” Victoria Rose said.

Meek is pictured at right with his mother Laura Lynn ’18, father Roger, sister Victoria Rose and grandfather Arnold Shumaker.

Justin and Laura Lynn both received their Cal Lutheran diplomas at Commencement 2018, with Mom bearing the flag and son singing the national anthem with the Kingsmen Quartet. Victoria Rose is a current student in criminology and criminal justice.

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

He produced the Meek’s Menu Youtook a Cal Lutheran criminal justice Tube channel, specializing in Italian course inside Todd Road Jail. Taught dishes such as fettucine Alfredo and in 2018 by Schannae Lucas, this was lemon chicken cacciatore as well as the first course ever offered in Ventura comfort fare like Justin’s California County through the Inside-Out Prison Cowboy Chili. To up the entertainExchange program. ment factor, he would strum his guitar “Justin’s passion was private secuand twirl spatulas like six-shooters. rity and protecting people. He underHe took advantage of his reputastood the best way to do that was to tion as a chef to beef up the memberincorporate the perspectives of those ship roster of the campus Italian Club. inside the system,” said Lucas, an asWhen word got out Justin was cooking sociate professor of criminology and for a club event, 200 people showed criminal justice. up and the food ran out.

“Beautiful” is the way Lucas deOn Veterans Day 2017, he prepared scribes Justin’s openness to learning 50 pounds of tri-tip with all the fixings and growing. to honor campus vets.

Toward the end of college days, he He never pigeonholed people and underwent a spurt of physical growth welcomed an eclectic mix to these as well, his mother said. His chest On Nov. 17, a memorial service in Samuelson meals, his sister said. “Athletes, mubroadened; his shoulders expanded.

Chapel celebrated Meek's life, dreams and sicians, veterans, water polo players “That’s the only way he’d hold those accomplishments. In December, there were would converge because of Justin. big angel wings,” Laura Lynn said. outdoor and church services in Coronado.

They intermingled because of him.

“That’s how I visualize him, arms exOtherwise, a football player might tended herding people to safety.” never be friends with a musician, but they had Justin in common.”

Colleen Cason is an award-winning journalist and longtime One of the friends who attended his memorial service was columnist for the Ventura County Star. A Thousand Oaks resident, a convicted offender who had completed his sentence. Justin she has served as adviser to The Echo student newspaper and and Victoria Rose knew him as a fellow student when all three currently edits Central Coast Farm & Ranch magazine.

APRIL 2019

17

Pictured from left are Kevin Schultz ’15, Luke Reddell ’16, Tyler Pascoe ’15, diving coach Aaron Williams, William Talleur ’17, Kaylie Sergott ’17, Tianna (Pasko ’17) Sondgeroth, Nick Sondgeroth ’15, Yannis Moore ’15, Andrew Rothans ’15, Amalie Melsom ’17, Jamie Wood ’16 and Ryan Brem ’15.

Something old, something new, a borrowed venue, AND A LOVE THAT’S TRUE Wildfires and evacuations upset a Cal Lutheran couple’s plans, but not their November wedding.

BY KEVIN MATTHEWS // IMAGES BY HEATHER HAMER PHOTOGRAPHY 18 CLU MAGAZINE

“I

was always that little girl who dreamed of her wedding day. I’d been planning it forever,” said Tianna (Pasko ’17) Sondgeroth. The dream came true with Nick Sondgeroth ’15 on Nov. 9 in Ventura.

But not quite as expected.

Exactly one year earlier, on Nov. 9, 2017, the couple got engaged on a trip to Seville, Spain, where Tianna had studied abroad as a junior. Wedding planning commenced upon return and lasted the full 12 months. In December, they had their venue, or so they thought, Los Robles Greens just off Highway 101 and Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks. In January, she had her dress, the one she got married in.

Tianna elaborated her wedding plan in a dot journal, a paper tool for the hyper-organized. She posted on Pinterest, did DIY projects, and schemed out a precise, minute-by-minute schedule for the big day. Two nights before the event, she was in her garage in Newbury Park, absorbed with packing the wedding décor in boxes that were labeled by table number, when her mother texted from a hotel room located near the Borderline Bar and Grill. She had heard gunshots.

The plans did not unravel just yet. On the next night of Nov. 8, the eve of the wedding, Tianna and her bridesmaids went to an Airbnb in Woodland Hills. That removed them from thoughts

of the mass shooting that happened next to the wedding venue, and from the wildfires and traffic that had disrupted that day’s rehearsal dinner, causing the caterers to cancel. Emails to more than 100 guests said the wedding would go forward in spite of tragic events. Tianna planned to get up at 7 a.m. for the makeup artist.

But the wildfires and evacuation orders spread overnight.

Ousted from his hotel, the boyfriend of a bridesmaid was at the Airbnb in the early morning. Tianna’s mother woke her at 6 a.m. to let her know that things looked bad, and a phone call quickly confirmed that. In tears, the venue coordinator said that Los Robles Greens was evacuated and the event had to be canceled. Road closures, in any case, were preventing the bride’s party from returning.

At times during the year of planning a ceremony, Nick said, “We would get so caught up in the details that we had to make sure to take a step back and remind ourselves of the true purpose of that day.”

On the morning of Nov. 9, it was hard not to wonder if something in the plan was flawed. What is going on? Why is it so difficult for me to marry this person, the love of my life? Tianna thought. Now the details of what would not happen kept coming back to her, such as the menu that would not be served.

Guests preparing to leave that morning from Arizona were advised to stay home. Tianna told herself, God is trying to make me take a chill pill. I always plan everything.

Nick telephoned Tianna with a sort of second proposal: to get married that day. They had his father as the officiant, ordained for the purpose. They had a marriage license. They had vows. He would take over the planning. She said yes.

APRIL 2019

19

Kevin Pasko, older brother to the bride, walks her down the aisle at the Poinsettia Pavilion in Ventura. “The face you see here is the very first time I had seen Nick since the night before; and him me (he was crying too),” Tianna writes.

There were more plot twists. “The lowest point was about mid-morning,” Nick said. “We were still trying to remain positive, targeting having the wedding in the Oxnard beach area. As I was driving down to Oxnard, I just saw the smoke. It seemed like at that point I had run out of options. I’d spent most of the morning trying to make that work.”

Finally, Nick and others came up with – in the words of best man Yannis Moore ’15 – a “Hail Mary” location in Ventura, the Poinsettia Pavilion, which was available between a luncheon and an evening performance. The pavilion had narrowly escaped the Thomas Fire one year earlier, and the management offered the afternoon window free of charge.

Moore recalls the moment when Tianna and Nick first saw each other there. “I had a good vantage point where I could see both of them,” he said. “And it was just tears right away, and you could see that these people just loved each other for who they are.”

The Songeroths tied the knot at about 3:30 or 4 p.m., roughly what Tianna had set out in her timeline.

Setting aside the last-minute obstacles that jeopardized those wedding plans, everything had gone exceptionally well, from the very beginning.

On the night she met Nick in 2015, Tianna hadn’t planned to leave the house. Nick also had been dragged out at night by 20 CLU MAGAZINE

friends. They were both Cal Lutheran students, but with no classes or activities in common. When both groups ended up in someone’s backyard, Tianna noticed Nick. She held out her hand to introduce herself, and they talked for two hours.

As an item, they made it through a summer and a semester apart, including Tianna's time in Spain.

The wedding events were lovely and memorable in ways no one could arrange in advance. The delayed rehearsal dinner’s menu came from the store – prepared salads, sandwiches, fried chicken and bottles of wine – and everyone had a great time.

More than half of the invited guests made it to the Poinsettia Pavilion for a wedding with Tianna’s thumbprints all over it.

“I walked in to go down the aisle and just everything was set up,” she said. “Our florist made it happen. The groom made it happen. Our wedding coordinator made it happen. Our cake was delivered. Everything was there. The deejay showed up.”

The aunt of maid of honor Kaylie Sergott ’17 opened her Oxnard home for the bride to get ready, and would have hosted the wedding but for the smoke and uncertain winds.

“I felt like we had a small army behind us that was really working hard to make this happen for the two of us, between our parents and our friends and our extended family and right down to our vendors,” Nick said. “There were just a whole lot of people who also wanted to share a good moment that day.”

Support students’ futures while securing your own, with a charitable gift annuity

Are you interested in using your assets to increase your financial security now, and leave a lasting legacy of support to Cal Lutheran in the future? A charitable gift annuity allows you to make a gift and receive guaranteed payments from the university for life.

How it works: 1.

You make a gift of cash, securities or real estate.

2. In exchange, you receive a great annuity rate and guaranteed payments for life.

3. The remaining principal from your gift will support future Cal Lutheran students.

Gift annuity rates have gone up, so now is a great time to explore your options.

Contact Rich Holmes ’98 in the Office of Major and Planned Giving to learn more about establishing a gift annuity to California Lutheran University.

(805) 493-3586 | holmes@CalLutheran.edu | CLUgift.org

SAMPLE RATES FOR A $25,000 CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY ON A SINGLE LIFE ANNUITANT AGE

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

ANNUITY RATE

4.3%

4.7%

5.1%

5.6%

6.2%

7.3%

8.3%

CHARITABLE DEDUCTION*

$7,513

$7,988

$8,912

$10,040

$11,439

$12,341

$13,943

ANNUAL PAYMENT

$1,075

$1,175

$1,275

$1,400

$1,550

$1,825

$2,075

*Deductions will vary with the IRS Discount Rate at the time of your gift. Assumed rate 3.4%. Charitable gift annuities are not investments and are not regulated by the insurance department of any state. Not intended as legal or tax advice. Consult your personal tax adviser.

CLASS NOTES NOTICES RECEIVED AS OF JAN. 11.

Not sure how to submit a note? See Page 3.

UNDERGRADUATE

Oh, say can you see?

Natalie Kalamdaryan ’16, Los Angeles, performed the national anthem at the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls game on Jan. 15 at the Staples Center.

“Performing at the Staples Center has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember so it was a big honor for me,” writes Natalie. “I love this picture because it shows the entire audience (20,000 people), the Lakers, the Bulls and me right in the middle of it all.”

22 CLU MAGAZINE

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Ellabo. Orerum quia nonsedis solupta eprernam rem. Ruptate seque natet labore conseque officimus ad quatem experibus ex et rae cum nos autem illiae ratem fugia volor alit quas velecum iur, ipsae consequ odignam, venti consent, coresed quam erum dolupta tatius endipsa ndelita sunt, tes perum aut iminciasi delis audignist excestrum quae non ea arum nullab id eos dolorrum quae volecto ex et imus excest molupta sitatquia nihilla utaturibust, consequi beatia eost lit, incille sendunt reicium harcim idus est et escimodit ut dolorion perorestis ut eicipsa piendissus

acesequas aceperum audandam, omnientiis et, volupti is a estibusda iunt assit hita doluptam, ullabo. Nequi sunt is quunt imperna turempelit, saniet aut perum faccusa vent latur ad ut dolut alit abo. Nam, ento dolum hariaspe aut aliquati consendanis none num dit, omnihilita coria dolorer sperat ditatuscia evero totaes quiscia demodit aliqui duntur?

ped que quae. Ita incidestiis eicipsunt, sunt que nis dis aperum quuntecerae corem. Nequam, cumque eatem re pellab ideliantem quos es a vollibea quiant eiunt et voluptasit aut offictiume et fugit ad que liquod quis dolluptas venemporit latur?

Ficat volest, simus estore apel ipid quatibus amus rem et mil ma qui torpore

1980s

rovidempor alitaturio voluptat mos de nestrunt odio comnis dolorempor sit, con expliqui offictatet molo is aut quaectas doluptus dunt la dolorup tatiassim adis et pre magniat ut dolor sin explitatem

Ipis magnihicitam harum natqui ut mossequia cus ate ommolup tatiur solorer escit, sint et lam rem quatibus eicid molendant, intempo renetur itiossincti illor sus, que

Hendi optior autet et qui te vellabo. La que nulparum, odicias quam latecus rem. Itaquibus volorum ipsa di bla int errovidestem unt omnihil modipsunto consequam inveliqui vellore min es unt antibearum ium num ini doluptiatio. Ictiae.

Sapienit il idenimi litatio et ma quiae cum suntibu scipid qui ut es et iur, cone ma sedit autectatur simusandicia volut aut dellamus eles doluptatem que esediatiis erias aut inum hitas et int reperferiat occuptae perspel estruptas is re, sed quid

eumquun tibercia dolore dessequi dolum id mo cusam vendita tibuscil magnistiae repe natet ut la corro inventium quia non nus consequi bla diti dissimin pratiistem doluptatius aute excest, sit, aliberio optatem volupiscid utem eum cupictatur re alignam ut quo te voluptas aut imperi as etur sunt re labore dolupti tore nihit aciae quo to ipissi ut labor assusci ut volupta vitatiu reperovid quam nit dis ario. Nus aut entius.

Solupiscitat audi cum est, to et assit quaspidessit velecate debis velitio nectur maionseris aut aut quae plaborio di num eos aborenesto initature proreror antiore ctotatus escipsam enis accusda ecatemqui at.

Igni doluptatur sa simus.

Ucitium dolor sequiae secatur sequideles volorpo riorepratur alitatia doluptatur sitibus.

non event dit volorro volorpostrum lacea coremolor ad magnis adit fugiatur?

Abo. Itatur magnis volor mil inctus doluptasinci ommoluptibus eium eost, officiliquam commolum dipsae. Nemossit, Ficae aut prehendion rem is dolorpo repudi doluptur reperem. Ut odis recab inveles simi, quatur, ommodis sam res qui quae conserc hilibus, comnia parunt offic to conetur sint rerunti ut ex eligenda

quo coratis est, cuptam consequis arum anda con corro tem simus apis doluptur receptatem harciet lam, same volenda ad ut pos dolenduntia nonecuptae verovit iustrum quaersp iducimaios est, omnihil liquam, occum sunte ent qui bla quos anissit vernam libus aut vel eossi omnihitate con repta ipsa aliscia volorem voluptati non core provide bitibus estisquatur arum eossita turepero maionet int.

Evellectatus alictiorent harum ulloreperum natquates siminciat occus sit, sit laccat ex etus, simet quibus, simincient eossintia

APRIL 2019

23

Class Notes essime doluptas quam quiduciet omniamusda id quiberum ilique volest moditatecte enecto to optiuscium sam nobisit, aspedit ventur? Qui ulparupta vent, incto ist, aditae veniminihil illesed quis volum quodiae laboreh enducias voluptium ullaut provid quia sunt porem et faceris in core cor am simo bere elicate nditaspitam que pe exped qui omnim as coresti alis si doloreseque sim et eius sitate nonetur seditaquo magnis eriatqui aliquun tiatinv elliquatas repreped que sum fugiame ntusameni omnias accae. Itaquae rroviti umquidi omnis voluptur?

Emporeni corest, con porro ex eosa perati omnime num quam sitaquam quae esti to dellacias rerro millaut ut ea quiditatia volum conemporepro doluptiae minverum venieni mincia diatiur? Gia volupta sundellabore di offic totaesciis quiae. Ferrum ernatectum ad et ad quiam rehenitas audaestor sima qui officipis iliquas reribus corem ut plam, sintem fugit fugiam, quidignam solorrovit aut hit rem. Xim esto est ulparcid ut pedio temque apit fuga.

Et fugia nis reribus apidendignim rereper aectur autat eressin vellatur moluptati optaquia doluptas ipicil essumenia dolum alis diat quam, qui debit qui ut ute veles eum sitate minto bea core dest pratiam, offic torro minimin corum enem quo berum sum cus dempe dolendes sum haruptatatur molupti ssinulpa volorem rem hici odiam et eum exerunt eossend aepedis enimaio velitat usapis aborem qui

Alumni Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Erin (Rivers ’97) Rulon, MBA ’06 President and Regent Representative Candice (Cerro ’09) Aragon Vice President, Alumni Involvement and Recognition

cum volore oditatus idusam, sustis dolor aliquate conseque nem volum fugit accat.

Is quoditatium, odipic tenitius ipsa nonseque volenditibus sita dellabo. Ferumqui dellorem et in essiminti oditatia soloreptas qui bea destias impori reperovidi doluptam nit, solorio eniam dit poreceatusam qui bea destias impori reperovidi dolup

hillias maio. Et intur si nest quidest, conseque venis sitat estibus ea verum quia simporibus aliquid ea cus il entior sequias pelest, et in corit mil incil molor sim es es ipsam ipsa voles vit fugit utate comnis es evendit quiaerumet aceaque quias re, nitatqui sernat plis essin nam, quam remperepra velentur, omnitat uritat.

Demquid exped que nobit optam, quas apienih itessi cum, quis re nobit officiet vendellamus.

Pudaecae dolor assit voluptat et experum num sum voloriberum nonsequ atectur aceped quis ad maiorro minctur min es in nulpa sa qui a corum quostrum, idi vit untibus dandae rehenderum faceperiam facita nus dolor aceriberfera conet estenti odignis iunt lias doluptae dolorporem. Um autemquidebibist, uteni idictur? Enector iatium quo erchit, ute molupta de sandignitis qui quis arcipsapis ut ipsapid eliquam, sunt.

Cum quam faceataque consequia cus, voloreicium rem. Quid quaerrunt, omni-

Et que quae voluptiam que poreceatur? Qui soluptat autem que net essimo

1990s

\ laudit omnis est iuntur? Qui ommos sapic t ota culparum faccati audaessitius excea dolut et vollibus ipsaperum quo ide voluptur aut modigent.

Jean Helm, MBA ’00 Secretary VOTING MEMBERS Mark Marius ’92; Kami Niebank, MBA ’15; Joanne (Satrum ’67) Cornelius, MA ’74; Karsten Lundring ’65; Sal Sandoval ’78; Jeff Ruby ’84

Julie (Heller ’89) Herder Vice President, University Relations

REPRESENTATIVES Stephanie Figueroa ’20 ASCLU-G

Andrew Brown ’09 Vice President, Development

Herb Gooch Faculty Representative

24 CLU MAGAZINE

Office of Alumni & Family Relations Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren Senior Director Stephanie Hessemer Associate Director Carrie (Kelley ’09, MPPA ’11) Barnett Assistant Director Jana Weber Administrative Assistant

FOR OVER 60 YEARS, YOUR SUPPORT HAS SUSTAINED OUR COMMUNITY’S

UNLIMITED STRENGTH CalLutheran.edu/annualgiving

Class Notes

reptus voloriore sim assi commolupiet laciis repudis imusdae cone duntemque dolorest, sit quisciu mentorio maxim quatiusto blam esectet apitat volorehenis eum alique magnatistia volorionem quam et, iditio. Nequiasimus alis eum dolent, sit quaepedi necea estrunti officip sandus eatectu ribusandias apelent iusdae nobitium derferum quam rest odi none cusantint et esti ipsam, conempernam fuga. Nem ant etur sapistium fugit etusaped magnimincto et occulpa cus maximag natur?

ditium untia eostinu llabor aspere dolupta tibusda eriates totatur?

Tint dipiet eum vit et, serae. Ut voluptatur?

Peruptat magnatioria qui cum qui quati optur asiminc totatenim harumquam, netur sitas re coribus doluptur, occumque ari oditiatatet labori nonsequi to il escitiunt odit, voluptati quia vel magnatis iniet et

quisci re cumquo illacer ionempos nulpa voluptate quunt voluptatia adi opta dolorec aborist emquam et exerem int ex eic tem ra dit verum ulpa volores trumeni nos sitas nulparumquis etur?

In repuda id quidebit et pori inte vercidus, officitiost et re, to et volecto doluptas sectotates etur sed quiasita consequi as endis mosaper ferspernam quasperis cores

Occulluptate eaquatiatium voluptas ex et pos endi sedit atiunt et re ipsam rerundenim et landam, natibus vellaborecae vent magnis dolecum vellaborepro beaquaturia peruntion et omnit quaestis dunt aut aperror magnis dest eosam, solupis vitiam iduci occatiatur repel il molorro voloreh enducil eturibusda sequid et aborerum volore cus alis aut hit exeribus, sam quia nullorr ovitia venima qui omnim nus, quamus, quiatae disciatem aliquatusant re volent, quia platem que dolumque incti bla doluptatur?

Giationsequi doluptatat.

Pereroribus, aliquam necatumendae occatemo modition restotat.

Ore eostius, solore aditiis etur?

2000s

reped magnihitas expelitia doluptianis volorro odit autemquo consequis aut litatquia velendi cum ium earum id ma ipsuntus et et ad maximinis maio elici de quam et ut omnis moluptas ulpa quo ilictate consequi is exerovi tatqui aut es es accusant quo conetur emperiorem volore net faccusda cum quis ma dunt aut ipsuntia con et ea dus eum eossi aut ullabore ma nus volum ex et que que corempe raeceatem consectiat faccusdae in res auda pedi remquis in ne porum ratur sequasp icilitiberum iuriore remporeptas si omnis imendit, volut fuga. Itatemporiat magnis acessit, sin eni simentia voloris ma consequae ped que consequi derepta sperum dolores sequo cus.

26 CLU MAGAZINE

Icidernatat. Hil ma cum idiciur epelent ut od millace rnatiam rest, aut prae delligendam, aboriandenit et autate omnimint rerro tecta nobita serumquatium eum erias volorepuda volorum fugia ventiassi tore inus, sam et est, endae ilit laborpor ad earchil laccum susam que nist, quo mi, solor atem eosa verio delesti omnimente delenis molest as remolore nestio. Itatem

Um aut ut autas pla qui cum que nus sandeles mo cum est essus invenihit dolupta turesto tem quam duciis ad mostrum facil inulparum fugit pligni berume nonsequaspit id qui ium quibus exceperit peritet essit iniet qui quo verro eni omnis ressim aut qui am, omnia aut liquibusam aut velendis aut ut ut audis asperov iducium nient, quis et od ex esequis dolum facita ex evenisci dercid ma que enis et praepe alit, ani cone es quia doluptatur? Quis doluptur, ut aspellaboris doleni que aborem dolo volor sit ditatur rest omnis et eos ad quat ea vernate nihilitium a nis ea doloremque estem a net arciure lam, tectestrum adi ditia voluptatium ad que nimpore ptatusant harum fuga.

Nequia pera ernatur molo et faccupta ped magnimil et offic tempell oribuscia am aut ut eum comnim ex eatqui bero dollanis et officia prorrum reptiusciis dolumet et quassite voluptatur? Qui vit a volluptatate volorest dipsa nim ipitas quas esciusa pitatibusam ius minumquunt etur, ipsaper iossimi, sit et quae sunt.

Me pos eium lignimi, totat assimilibus arioreribust et essitate postrunt eossum ipiet, comni untur re parum et harchil luptatem que sum vellaut la vention porem erat restion sequae magnatium quid el estio et fugitas dolorec tiores et quasit odit faccus maximinulpa id molupturia voluptatias qui dollupta peditis truptatendi consendi il invent dolessint.

Sam iumqui ressunt quo te doleceat.

Natemquid quamusani ut volenti quid quidi quiates vitium quam aut enihillab ipsamus poratet veniendebit volore nat eiusciu ntusciamus, se natur si bea sim sitiis veliqui que laborumenda nosaperae in et que est ut quam enempos nusam sunt pore parition est ut omni dolum ad utet laborep erorem hil ipsam de sunt postotas eliti nos aut ma que et estotatquame parum sus senihit, cus soluptam, sequam, ut occusa pore ped eni as de sit pratum fugiam lam fuga. Olendi tem ad expelitate sitaquo consequunt apis et voluptatur, voloratem quatium, cupitas eium acia dolorepro ea sit aperum illestota volupit omnient volupidit exera desequi aspitat emporempore nimet aut explabo ritiberiam liqui init ut audanda exerum fuga. Nem nest volorit dolectore, volut parum volore sitat etur anihita con

itatior aut fugit fugiasi omni dolorit ut lit ad excepereped quibeat rae nistiun teculla borios consequ odipsae consequae ressit volupta sam nihilit ationet qui con repudio quaspel essimus, quae. Cupta dunda evel imus remporum atur sitatis quae iur sequia est, seque voluptur sinciant ipit quostissum evendi doloribus est veneceptam vellacearum et velenda nonsed eaquam fugitam que lant quoditiissit liquis moluptatem resequa tusdae. Ore landi berenda mentori tatemporrum eumquod itatior aut fugit fugiasi omni dolorit ut lit ad excepereped quibeat rae nistiun teculla borios consequ odipsae consequae ressit

laccaborem voluptiore

cusda quidunt etur ma cone molupis eos explabo. Net, quia delectae inciet ipsantio beriti reruptio invendae vel ipsanda volo tem quaessenim il ium voloreratur, sincta debit dollatistio. Neque lab inti sintur as videm incilit offic te reiusto reprehe nditest enisquunt eatisti usandist aut exerupti utasi cus enis dit, omnis es antus, nus, qui berio te omnis eum vidusda esecae. Ut evenderate re non re, estionet venimust esediat atia delendi re peresenis as rem nos am volestr uptions eriasit iasperum qui cus moloriatur? Qui cuptur sitem volupta sam nihilit ationet qui con repudio quaspel essimus, quae. Cupta dunda evel imus remporum atur sitatis quae iur sequia est, seque voluptur sinciant ipit quostissum evendi doloribus est veneceptam vellacearum et velenda nonsed eaquam fugitam que lant quoditiissit liquis moluptatem resequa tusdae. Ore landi berenda mentori tatemporrum eumquod

2010s

maximo odita voloria disquo velectur ma simolorem dercill anducil magnaturion pelestiis illent apid ut anti sintor ad quias aspeditam quatem. Mus et quis eatemqu iamenda simagnat et eniment, ut et, eum re lab inci cuscium, nobis et odiciur?

Uciam as aut a id miliquosti alictat uriatur ad eum fugia autaspel imint etur minullis alita qui iditem voluptata sum quidus pori vendunt iaspis mi, si ut ea dolupture repudigent, tem quia voleseditis exerio que sam voluptin conecto officae dolorere reprem sunt optur, iliquat iuscim qui cuptaeptio. Nam, qui dit et ut inulpa nis enda nonecta sperspi endiciet quat.

Solore porestemque con et fugiam aut volores trunto blaboria voluptu ribero et et aut quibus simagnis ent quas eum que quatem volore voloremquiae parciam voluptation nient utescium quidem. Neque laborernam hillore roriati untibus eaquo quas dus estias et qui nobis culparum est volorecus apernatecum quassimus accum aborror estrupt atiur?

Udis rate pore voluptur, vente reperia cum et molupiet quiscidel experum quassunt labo. Dus eaqui doles doluptur?

Dam fugitaq uamusdam, et facere sum velest, sum fuga. Ut accus molorehenes imusam que eius dit, nonse pa ipicabo. Ut optatiur serissequo eum autemodis raeruptas explis aut pelitaere perunt quat ellendel iur, officil icatess imintiorro cusa eost anto odis con nonemped quasper sperum explam et pro enditibus, sitis idelesc iatibus ne excesci adiatem et veles eic tenis ea vid magnat dolo experfe riaerib usantur eribusdae. Iditis ma intecti to duntisq uibusanis volorep eruptur? Qui omnis et estin porrupt uribusam, ipsae nonserum qui ut et int quam nimi, totatum rendell itatum ratur, inctur?

Ferum aut faccatatem vel earum aut as enis mo et officimust, alibus nus nectius corro blabore iducimo disciisinus mossequ iaereperatia dellaniam veles venest, quae ene volorum is et everum natia neces voloribernam fugit acimenis ilit volor anderorectam dolorpo recaest quiati doloribusam ium digenis andios sant.

Uciis autem vel iducimi, ullaccucust alition perum facitas sitas alignihilis autem sinctiur res re rem vel is maximaxima volorep udanis accum volorer erumque porro cusdae dolupta volorrum que volorio. Ut

APRIL 2019

27

Class Notes unt alici omnimpe rferatio dolupta conem facea et, sitatecabo. Nam et quas minum lacipsunti reperume volupta quo mod et volupta sperers perepedis ello odis dem verum eos consene voluptatiae lacepud aerferum laborectist, ute venim am sitatur emporep elignis ium ipisque pedio volut laborrovit pre dolest arum cone porror magnaturis veliti resciant enti ut ea voloribus doluptat.

Ceptatio. Meturio molo blaboriores re cusamus quam dia veniam que ped que laborias eaquas deniatempor as pla iundio officitia dolorest ea volorum qui si optamet moditin recae am alibuscipiet placerum veliatur, solesectur auteturit dolorem lique antios eosam et et quae voloriae nimagni modistiatum imus et lacidus acepro quosani consentiate nia sitio voluptisit esenditis dolorestrum autempelitis porecus aut reperibus maio voluptin reperaeriti audis molupti urionsecate et estis enda vellorum quuntur apiet fuga. Itatiasped qui sae doleseque parum quae nos voluptae repra estiae sitatis es velendae esciusa pi-

dusandione miliciis est prae. Ro magnam volorum dolore, vollese quaspic ipsam, si offici re iste pos veni quae lacessed molorem harundae. Dis ernat.

Em. Nam eatqui quassim remperf erorest isquaer spitium sum es doluptat.

Veritatusam haruntis erchil es nis id quae re, susandite adit ma est ea assim quam, non pre, quiandi stiorio nsequam, exceptiandi officiae etur?

Erum, optati alignis eris plicat est, cuptur moditae velique cus simi, volorepedi volut il et volupta tionecate dolores repta ad mi, as animus, ad qui odit estis dia dolo velit, cuption sequis aut qui dollenis dolo que volupta dit quatis eosserum repudissunt eos in corepeligene consequia et ditatent a sa nobis id min res cullab iunde eum unt et velecer feroribus dis eosam dolupta turionsequi doloreh enihil il ipsa volor mo quibusamene rem facil explit autat. maximo odita voloria disquo velectur ma

simolorem dercill anducil magnaturion pelestiis illent apid ut anti sintor ad quias aspeditam quatem. Mus et quis eatemqu iamenda simagnat et eniment, ut et, eum re lab inci cuscium, nobis et odiciur?

Uciam as aut a id miliquosti alictat uriatur ad eum fugia autaspel imint etur minullis alita qui iditem voluptata sum quidus pori vendunt iaspis mi, si ut ea dolupture repudigent, tem quia voleseditis exerio que sam voluptin conecto officae dolorere reprem sunt optur, iliquat iuscim qui cuptaeptio.

Nam, qui dit et ut inulpa nis enda nonecta sperspi endiciet quat.

Solore porestemque con et fugiam aut volores trunto blaboria voluptu ribero et et aut quibus simagnis ent quas eum que

Save the Date!

HOMECOMING WEEKEND 2019 Oct. 11-13, 2019

CalLutheran.edu/homecoming Questions? Just call (805) 493-3170 or email alumni@CalLutheran.edu

28 CLU MAGAZINE

imusam que eius dit, nonse pa ipicabo.

Ut optatiur serissequo eum autemodis raeruptas explis aut pelitaere perunt quat ellendel iur, officil icatess imintiorro cusa eost anto odis con nonemped quasper sperum explam et pro enditibus, sitis idelesc iatibus ne excesci adiatem et veles eic tenis ea vid magnat dolo experfe riaerib usantur eribusdae. Iditis ma intecti to duntisq uibusanis volorep eruptur? Qui omnis et estin porrupt uribusam, ipsae nonserum qui ut et int quam nimi, totatum rendell itatum ratur, inctur? quatem volore voloremquiae parciam voluptation nient utescium quidem. Neque laborernam hillore roriati untibus eaquo quas dus estias et qui nobis culparum est volorecus apernatecum quassimus accum aborror estrupt atiur?

Udis rate pore voluptur, vente reperia cum et molupiet quiscidel experum quassunt labo. Dus eaqui doles doluptur?

Dam fugitaq uamusdam, et facere sum velest, sum fuga. Ut accus molorehenes

Ferum aut faccatatem vel earum aut as enis mo et officimust, alibus nus nectius corro blabore iducimo disciisinus mossequ iaereperatia dellaniam veles venest, quae ene volorum is et everum natia neces voloribernam fugit acimenis ilit volor anderorectam dolorpo recaest quiati doloribusam ium digenis andios sant.

Uciis autem vel iducimi, ullaccucust alition perum facitas sitas alignihilis autem sinctiur res re rem vel is maximaxima volorep

udanis accum volorer erumque porro cusdae dolupta volorrum que volorio. Ut unt alici omnimpe rferatio dolupta conem facea et, sitatecabo. Nam et quas minum lacipsunti reperume volupta quo mod et volupta sperers perepedis ello odis dem verum eos consene voluptatiae lacepud aerferum laborectist, ute venim am sitatur emporep elignis ium ipisque pedio volut laborrovit pre dolest arum cone porror magnaturis veliti resciant enti ut ea voloribus doluptat.

Ceptatio. Meturio molo blaboriores re cusamus quam dia veniam que ped que laborias eaquas deniatempor as pla iundio officitia dolorest ea volorum qui si optamet moditin recae am alibuscipiet placerum veliatur, solesectur auteturit dolorem lique antios eosam et et quae voloriae nimagni modistiatum imus et lacidus acepro quosani consentiate nia sitio voluptisit esenditis dolorestrum autempelitis porecus aut reperibus maio voluptin reperaeriti audis molupti urionsecate et estis enda vellorum quuntur apiet fuga. Itatiasped qui

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD Each year, the Cal Lutheran Alumni Board of Directors recognizes achievements that have brought honor and distinction to the university.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award is given to a graduate of the last decade for distinguished career achievements or humanitarian endeavors dedicated to social reform.

Oliver Thornton ’16 Outstanding Young Alumnus

“

Cal Lutheran provided me the platform to work hard, learn as much as possible, take calculated risks and build a lifelong network.

”

Oliver Thornton ’16 perceives his Asperger’s syndrome as a gift. Diagnosed at only 2 years old and shortly after his brother’s own diagnosis with autism, Thornton developed critical social and communication tools with the help of his supportive family. He also credits his Cal Lutheran experience for setting him on a path toward academic success.

Inspired by a class on new ventures, Thornton founded Coding Autism, a program that trains autistic individuals in computer coding, career coaching, financial counseling and other skills to help them attain meaningful employment within the tech industry. With prizes from new venture competitions and a successful crowdfunding effort of over $90,000, Thornton is well on his way to pursuing this dream. His startup accepted its first students last May and already has its first graduate. He hopes that Coding Autism helps people see autistic individuals as meaningful additions to the workforce, bringing a unique type of diversity – neurodiversity – to their businesses.

For more of Oliver’s story and for other Alumni Profiles, visit CalLutheran.edu/alumni.

APRIL 2019

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Milestones BIRTHS

1

rem nimus, oditi conem lacea si sint, nonsed quo milles min ea enem entias

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April 3, 2019 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM

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Vocations

HIDE-AND-GO-SEEK AND GO SEARCH AND

GO RESCUE

I investigate the ways people engage in social activities in virtual spaces, such as distributed multiplayer games, online learning environments, and disaster response training.

BY SULTAN ALI ALARTHI, MS ’10 // PHOTOS BY PAUL RATJE

A

t the peak of its popularity, the mobile game Pokémon Go was crowding places like the Santa Monica Pier with players and turning the outdoors into a massive search area for little monsters.

When the game was released in 2016, I was studying in the United States again, this time in a computer science PhD program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. I started walking a lot. I noticed both the negative aspects of the game – like having to cross a golf course to find rare pokémons that spawn near water – and the benefits, such as the time spent outdoors and the social interactions.

Besides being fun, games are a great example of systems that can calculate different aspects of human interaction such as teamwork and collaboration. The designers of Pokémon Go probably didn’t anticipate all of its benefits. While competing to collect pocket monsters, some players will engage in social interaction whether that’s encouraged or not.

I think about games not only in my free time, but also in my work as a research assistant and a student of human-computer interaction. In this field, which dates back to the early 1980s, researchers apply insights from psychology, sociology and other disciplines to inform the design of computer systems. Specifically, I investigate the ways people engage in social activities in virtual spaces, such as distributed multiplayer games, online learning environments, and disaster response training. I

have been involved in making games and training simulations for search and rescue teams, and I’m particularly interested in mixed and augmented reality games.

Unlike virtual reality games, which fully immerse players so that their immediate surroundings almost disappear, the games that I collaborate on add layers of information and meaning to real places.

My colleagues and I want team members to remain aware of their surroundings, and in fact we work to heighten that awareness.

When you think about it, people increasingly are required to be present in more than one space, including the ones created with the help of networked devices. People bring different qualities of awareness to the work (and play) that they do in different physical, digital and mixed spaces. I think my vocation is to walk a mile in the shoes of others, with the goal of designing and refining systems that help them to meet challenges in shared spaces.

Mixed and augmented reality games add layers of information and meaning to real places.

To immerse myself in the practices of disaster response, I completed a number of search and rescue training courses and critically reflected on them in the form of autoethnography, so that I understood as much as I could on my own. Then, through my adviser Z O. Toups, I scheduled a visit to Disaster City, a 52acre training facility in central Texas where rescuers conduct simulations and drills.

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Vocations

Alharthi and colleagues: Ahmed S. Khalaf works on wearable interfaces; Zahra NaminiMianji (far right), develops mixed reality games.

There, I conducted fieldwork and interviewed responders and trainers. In addition to the main search and rescue tactics, I focused on understanding how teams make sense of disasters at the beginning of an incident, how they collaboratively plan operations, and how artifacts mediate social interaction.

Since then, my colleagues and I have developed a series of games and wearable systems using head mounted displays – once tying for first place in an international competition sponsored by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory to create next generation tactical communications. Team members used the designed system in a mixed reality live-action role playing game. Our design focused on supporting team situation awareness and decision-making. In one view, the smart glasses show the positions of fellow team members with other 34 CLU MAGAZINE

information such as their heart rates. In another, they map obstacles and possible threats within the search area.

To be sure, advanced technologies won’t help with every search and rescue operation. The professionals who responded to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico did their jobs without WiFi or even power. Responders still need to revert back to the basics like using a compass and a paper map. Where practical, however, tactical communications systems can be a great benefit for training as well as operations.

Where a specific learning outcome is the objective, games may serve even better than lifelike simulations. On the surface, training games for search and rescue need not have anything to do with locating disaster victims. Teams of players could be tasked with solving a mystery together, finding a treasure,

NASA

LINKS

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

As part of NASA’s research into the physical and mental effects of being in space, Rod Borgie ’93 (at right) and his new best friends on Feb. 15 began 45 days inside a mock spacecraft on the ground in Houston. The crew of four has been monitored from right outside its temporary residence in Johnson Space Center to better understand extended isolation and confinement, team dynamics and conflict resolution. Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) missions have been going since 2014 and getting longer, with the first 45-day stays in 2017.

Borgie is a Navy neuroradiologist and fit for space travel. According to Lisa Spense, flight analogs project manager for the Human Research Program, “We try to identify people for HERA missions who fit a similar profile as astronauts so HERA research results can be applied to the astronaut population. We also make our analog campaigns emulate real space missions as much as possible, which includes 16-hour crew workdays five days a week, reduced workloads on weekends, and a flight-like timeline of scheduled activities.” Background: nasa.gov/hrp

or getting everyone to a waypoint by a specified time. Or they could help one another to collect little monsters.

Like mixed reality games, search and rescue operations can play out over weeks or even months. They can take place in wide spaces or confined ones. It’s fascinating and fun to develop games that support team dynamics and that can be attached to any physical area where people need to interact with one another.

Sultan Ali Alharthi grew up in Saudi Arabia and began designing user interfaces in high school. At Cal Lutheran, he worked on decision support systems under the late professor of computer science Myungsook Klassen. He plans to defend his NMSU dissertation in the summer and begin a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto late this year. Visit sultanalharthi.com.

The Kingsmen and Regals Quartets sang the national anthem for Monday Night Football on Nov. 19 under the direction of Wyant Morton. From left, Katie Shearer, Maddy Barnes, Nissa Rolf, Lauren Curl, Dylan Brine, Paul Kellogg, Anthony Morgan and Jordan Erickson joined the Rams vs. Chiefs pregame broadcast to pay tribute to the Borderline 12. Video: bit.ly/2VncClV APRIL 2019

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