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CLU Magazine - December 2016

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CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

DECEMBER 2016

CLUMAGAZINE THEY SAVE FOR SCHOOL 14

TICK-TOCK ON ROCKS 6 STICKING WITH ‘STEM’ 8 MONKEY MINDER 12 REFORMERS: 500 MORE YEARS! 16 MY LIFE IN ANIME 32


Jimmy Fox (left) produces and W. Kamau Bell produces and stars in United Shades of America.

MAARTEN DE BOER

Out in Front

Scenes from a life unscripted

I

n the CNN documentary series United Shades of America, comedian W. Kamau Bell travels to his own country, goes where you’d least expect, cuts a path for himself with jokes, and shines a light on race relations. In the pilot episode about today’s Ku Klux Klan racists, filmed in Kentucky and Arkansas, he puts disarming questions to armed Klansmen and attends a crossburning, accompanied only by a camera crew and co-executive producer Jimmy Fox ’04. What, Bell asks, is a good price for a robe? ($125.) Is it hot in there? (“Horrible … a sacrifice.”) One hooded man wants Bell to know how he likes his Skittles candies. (Sorted by color.) This African-American-fish-out-ofwater documentary was the very first idea that Fox independently pitched after his seven-year apprenticeship under Ben Silverman, an entrepreneur and former NBC executive. That was in 2014, when Fox opened a Los Angeles branch for London-based production company Objective Media as executive vice president. By coincidence, Bell was in conversations with CNN at the same time. The network made a match and United Shades was born. One of six shows on the 35-year-old Fox’s slate, it was nominated for an Emmy this year and renewed for a second season. 2 CLU MAGAZINE

Back in college, Fox saw himself as a future sports broadcaster, but was becoming a producer. Before the old gym became the Black Box Theatre, he staged a “full-on wrestling show” there once a year for three years. Dubbed CLW for Cal Lutheran Wrestling, the scripted theater event had a budget from the student Programs Board and featured an authentic wrestling ring, a big-screen TV and backstage interviews. “I didn’t know it until years later, but that was producing,” says Fox. “I was putting together a staff, I was organizing them, sitting with the talent saying, Here’s a show we’re going to make, here’s each of your characters; developing characters for each of them; writing up how the script of the show would go; coordinating to get the ring in; coordinating to get the lights set up; getting the guys to rehearse, because college kids don’t want to rehearse very much; organizing how we would divide the audience between a gold section and a black section so it’s like medieval times, so they know which wrestlers to cheer for, so we don’t have to worry about any wrestler coming out and flopping.” A football player who held the Kingsmen record for career receiving yards (until Eric Rogers ’13 broke it), Fox

in 2005 made the 30-member stunt squad for the movie The Gridiron Gang starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He’d been encouraged to try out by his dad and by contestants on television’s Biggest Loser, whom he’d assisted on set as a so-called talent wrangler. He also performed stunts for a few weeks in Austin, Texas, for the pilot of the series Friday Night Lights. In search of a “real job,” Fox aimed specifically to work for Silverman – who’d brought Americans The Office on NBC, Ugly Betty on ABC and many others – and in 2007 he beat out about 50 applicants for an opening. During Fox’s first week at work, the new boss joined NBC Entertainment as co-chairman. Fox followed and followed again in 2009 as Silverman left NBC to found the production company Electus. Finally, after more than four years spent watching the company expand as its head of creative development, he was ready to take over his own office. It’s still unusual for one person to produce both scripted shows, a medium for writers, and unscripted shows, where the producer has creative control from the start. The best thing about his role, Fox says, is that he can now pitch just a few projects that he loves. Upcoming series that he’s had green-lit for Objective Media include a scripted drama, The Arrangement (E!), that involves a Hollywood contract marriage. He was excited to invite three of his childhood crushes/idols from 1990s television shows – Jodie Sweetin (Full House), Christine Lakin (Step by Step) and Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven) – to do a reality show, Hollywood Darlings (POP), about their lifelong friendship, family lives and work. United Shades is also near to his heart as an expression of his belief that different groups can always find common ground. “I think our society has influenced us to live apart from each other and live in our own tribes and live in our own neighborhoods,” Fox says. “Kamau was able to find common ground with Klansmen. When you see him put himself out there, I hope that’s what the show demonstrates. If he’s willing to do it, why can’t the rest of us?”


BRIAN STETHEM ’84 BRIAN STETHEM ’84

CLUMAGAZINE PUBLISHER

Lynda Paige Fulford, M.P.A. ’97 EDITOR

Kevin Matthews ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Peggy L. Johnson ART DIRECTOR

Bree Melitta Berri CONTRIBUTORS

Colleen Cason, Karin Grennan, Vanessa Olivera, M.S. ’16, Tracy Olson PHOTOGRAPHERS

Michael DeTerra Tracy Olson Brian Stethem ’84 EDITORIAL BOARD

Sophia Fischer Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren Angela (Moller ’96) Naginey, M.S. ’03 Michaela (Crawford ’79) Reaves, Ph.D.

16

OUT IN FRONT

5

COMMENT

Remembering Evan Carthen ’16 through his words to graduates. 6

TIMELINE ON THE CLU ROCKS

Purple paint is just the latest look up on Mount Clef Ridge. 8

HIGHLIGHTS

$6.1M for college STEM • $1.2M for Oxnard schoolkids • New plan for international MBA programs. 11 IN MEMORIAM 12 Q&A: ANITA STONE

Do lady Brazilian squirrel monkeys prefer bulked-out males?

Bruce Stevenson ’80, Ph.D. Stacy (Reuss ’91) Swanson Colleen Windham-Hughes, Ph.D.

DECEMBER 2016 2

Jean Kelso ’84 Sandlin, M.P.A. ’90, Ed.D. ’12

VOLUME 24, NUMBER 2

Copyright 2016. Published three times a year by University Relations

14 THEY SAVE FOR SCHOOL

Lifeguarding pays the bills, but ruins the beach, for a line of water polo players. 16 GREAT WORK OF OUR TIME

Some are honoring the Reformation’s 500th birthday by making the climate their top concern. 22 50TH REUNION 25 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, phone number, city and state, and note Cal Lutheran graduation years. When requesting removal from our

32 VOCATIONS

Having a child helped me find my voice (for voice acting).

distribution list, please include your name and address as they appear on the mailing label. To submit a Class Note and photos

35 LINKS ON THE COVER

Exercise science major Kristi McGee takes her rescue can toward the waves near Tower 14 on Zuma Beach in Malibu. Photograph by Brian Stethem ’84.

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).

DECEMBER 2016

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YOU’VE PLANNED WISELY, NOW CONSIDER GIVING WISELY IRA ㅊcharitable rollover provision is now permanent. If you are 70½ or older and own a traditional IRA, please consider making an IRA charitable rollover gift to California Lutheran University this year. An IRA charitable rollover gift provides an excellent opportunity to make a tax wise gift to Cal Lutheran. A gift of up to $100,000 made from your IRA will: • Satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year. • Not be included in your taxable income. • Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions. • Not be subject to the 50% limitation on charitable gifts. • Benefit the future of Cal Lutheran.

For more information about IRA rollover gifts, contact Rich Holmes, Director of Major and Planned Giving, at (805) 493-3586 or holmes@CalLutheran.edu.

clugift.org 4 CLU MAGAZINE


Comment

CLUMAGAZINE

HIS WORDS OF WELCOME

Professor Emeritus Ernst F. “Fred” Tonsing writes by email, prompted by our feature on the era of Dallas Cowboys football training camps at Cal Lutheran:

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

CALIFO

RNIA L

UTHER

AN UN

IVERSI

TY

AUGUS

T 2016

On Labor Day, a sudden illness claimed the life of last year’s student body president, Evan Carthen ’16, at only 22 years of age. The campus reeled at the news, and hundreds of community members joined twin brother Eric Carthen ’16 and sister Megan Carthen Jackson for a candlelight vigil on OLYMPIA the evening of Sept. 6, the day after. INSPIRATN’S ION 2 PARALYMP NEW MA IAN’S Evan Carthen had served the Cal Lutheran community in RK 12 FEARLESS IN SEATTL E 16 numerous roles including Black Student Union secretary, SUMMER S WITH TH E COWBOYS had graduated with a double-major in English and politiEVERYDAY 20 RELAX, TEGUCIGA LPA 34 cal science, and had just taken his dream of becoming a district attorney to Pepperdine Law School. He was inducted into Cal Lutheran’s Scholar-Athlete Society in 2013 and 2014 in recognition of his performance in basketball and the classroom. Our last CLU Magazine featured him on the cover behind a superhero mask. He was known for compassion and a drive to make the world better. Back in May, the outgoing ASCLU president welcomed his fellow graduating seniors to Commencement. The words he spoke then have other resonances now, and ought to be shared. Here they are in part, edited for length and clarity:

COACH TOM LANDRY, HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT

I

would like to thank all of the family, friends, and loved ones that have supported us all to this point in our lives, and I would also like to thank my peers for truly making this a great experience for each and every one of us. Community is something that is special about our class. We may not have created the community that we have here at Cal Lutheran, but we ensured that we kept that community spirit alive, both in the classroom and most importantly

on the weekend. I would also like to congratulate our class on being something. We really have some awesome people in this class that are going to move on and do some great things. And when I say some, I mean everyone. I want to encourage everyone to make sure that this moment that we are in right now is not the pinnacle of our lives. For our entire lives our parents and mentors have encouraged us to take advantage of these moments, and they marketed

HEROES

these stepping stools of life – high school and college graduation, for example. But today, in this moment, I want to encourage my class to not just live in different moments. When you think about it, if we look at life in the snapshots of moments, then most of us will probably only have three or four “moments” left in life. I don’t believe that we are supposed to take these moments and just live by them. I honestly believe that the moment takes us. What I am trying to say is that, as we are a part of this moment today, we should just live in it. Put your phones away and disregard all of the Snapchat filters…just be in the moment. As we move forward in life, I wish we all could just live in it. Fall in love, laugh, make new friends, overcome different hurdles, but above all else, live and be a blessing unto someone else. So with that being said, welcome to another moment in our lives, and welcome to the rest of our lives.

Your article, “Summers Starring Dallas” (August 2016), brought back many memories of the Dallas Cowboys on campus. One recollection, however, causes me to wince every time I think of it. Many years ago I had a large benign tumor in my chest that required six hours of surgery at Los Robles Hospital. After a stay in Recovery, I was wheeled to a room that held one of the Cowboys who also had had an operation. Coach Tom Landry came into the room to visit his player and greeted me briefly before going over to the Cowboy’s bed. While he was there, I was served dinner. I had consumed about half of it when, suddenly, I became ill. Immediately, Landry ran into the bathroom, grabbed a handful of paper towels, and began wiping my face, my gown, and the bed. He went back to the toilet and grabbed more towels, came back and got down on his knees and began to wipe up the floor. I was astonished and chagrined, especially since this was the renowned coach of the Dallas Cowboys! I thanked him over and over, but could not ease my mortification. Thereafter, every time I passed him on campus, I greeted him, but averted my face a bit in my embarrassment. What a sterling human being Coach Tom Landry was, who displayed his character not only in words but in deeds! DECEMBER 2016

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School of HARD ROCKS

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1960s

1970s

1980s

1962. Volcanic rocks sprout like pure

1974. Following the energy crisis as

1986. CLC – CLU.

white sage bushes from the south side of Mount Clef, spontaneously forming the message “CLC.” Well, all right, yearbook photos show members of the Class of 1966 (see Page 22) grabbing rocks from a Jeep, passing them up the hill and preparing the ground. Some hold buckets of paint.1

well as incidents of vandalism on Mount Clef, the CLC lights come down.2 Pilots check their instruments.

1987. Seniors reconfigure rocks to

c. 1962-64 Lights are rigged to illuminate the rocks at night for the community and for pilots, as shown in a 1969 photo. 6 CLU MAGAZINE

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

T

weaks to the CLU rocks on Mount Clef Ridge, which freshmen painted purple this August instead of white, have been made by everyone from pranksters to the Vitality Committee formed earlier this year by student life director Scott Silverman, who is not in this for laughs. “I want students to be so proud and happy about being at Cal Lu that they’re just giving 110 percent,” he says, describing the role of the staff group, which also has representatives from the Facilities, Residence Life and Alumni offices. Its task is to recognize, revive and build on campus traditions. The committee debated “purple and gold or purple, gold and white,” Silverman said, “but ultimately we settled on solid purple this year.” Students usually do some Christmas candy-striping in red and white, and new looks may be coming in future years. Here’s a brief review of old looks from years past. What can you add to our timeline about the CLU rocks? Tell us at clumag@ callutheran.edu or the Cal Lutheran Alumni Facebook page. (Special thanks to Sheryl Zelaya for historical research.)

1975. Skills learned at college are put to good use in tribute to a well-loved student, Paul Huebner, who died in January. 3 In less soulful pranks than the scrawling of “PAUL” on a hillside, students used the rocks variously to signal “SEX,” “BUD” and “LITE.”4

congratulate themselves just before Commencement: “C-87.”5 Who can tell us when the CLU rocks were cemented in place?


Campanile, 1963, Pages 12223. A caption reads, “the tedium plods on…. weakened, tottering, helpless, faint, the tender shoot endures. clc is carved upon mt. clef.” 1

Mary Hekhuis, California Lutheran College: The First Quarter Century (1984), Page 30. 2

Carl Nielsen ’76, M.Div. ’80, “The Story Behind the CLU Rocks,” I Remember CLC/CLU…: Recollections by Students, Alumni and Friends of California Lutheran University (2009), ed. Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D., Page 79. “We were not accustomed to having friends die,” wrote the Rev. Nielsen, who gave the cause of Huebner’s death as an epileptic seizure. Of the hard work of spelling with stones, he remarked: “The rocks were heavy and there were a lot of them. But such hurdles do not hinder college pranks.” 3

Ernst F. Tonsing, California Lutheran University, College of Our Dreams: The First Fifty Years (2009), Page 50. 4

The writer shared responsibility for “SOB,” which he says was spelled out in the fall of 1986. The Kairos yearbook for 1996-97 notes on Page 30 that freshmen had painted the rocks white for the “second year in a row,” indicating the tradition started in fall 1995. Other accounts seem to confirm this. But reporter Christopher Noxon dates the orientation tradition to 1994 in “CLU gets classy paint job,” Los Angeles Daily News, Sept. 2, 1996. He also assigns credit for it to an anonymous student: "The job was left to maintenance workers until two years ago when a student peer adviser had the idea of turning it over to incoming freshmen." On the hill in 1996 were about 250 freshmen, 50 paint buckets and 63 pizzas. Kyle Stalder ’00, MBA ’09, was quoted: “We're starting a tradition here. All year we can look up here and say, we painted those letters. Now I’d like my pizza.” 6

Mark Fishel ’87, “Rocks,” I Remember CLC/CLU…, Page 86. 5

1990

1995

1990s 1995. The annual rock-painting ritual for first-year students commences. (We think.)

6

2000

2005 2010 2015

2000s

2010s

2009. Gold in them thar hills!

2016. Would you call that lavender or lilac?

The university turns 50 and tradition lives. Nice color, but still basically young people throwing paint. (Shh, the paint war is supposed to be a surprise.)

JUAN CARLO FOR THE VENTURA COUNTY STAR IN 1996

DECEMBER 2016

7


Highlights

$6.1 MILLION FOR STEM AND DIVERSITY Two federal grants will encourage Latinos and low-income students to stick with majors in science and technology.

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

A coordinated response to the question of how the university can not only enroll Latino students in STEM fields, but really serve them.

Senior Matthew Guerrero’s effort to grow a new cancer cell line from dog tumors was supported by a Swenson Summer Research Fellowship.

T

he U.S. Department of Education has awarded Cal Lutheran almost $6.1 million over five years to encourage Latinos and low-income students in Ventura County to stick with majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) all the way to graduation. The university became eligible earlier this year to apply for the grants as a designated Hispanic-serving institution. Two grants were awarded in September. One worth $4.63 million over five years will support STEM majors at Cal Lutheran with paid fellowships and internships, a three-week summer program for incoming freshmen and transfer students, and a new campus hub for services to STEM students. 8 CLU MAGAZINE

The university will hire five new staff members and create an endowment for research fellowships to continue beyond the term of the grant. The university will receive an additional $1.46 million over five years for collaborating with Oxnard College on its STEM program. Taken together, the initiatives serve as a kind of coordinated response to the question of how the university can not only enroll Latino students in STEM fields, but really serve them. Latinos, who make up 28 percent of the university’s STEM students, historically have graduated in those majors at a lower-than-average rate, with consequences for their lifelong earnings and opportunities. Today, scholars know a lot about why this occurs, and ideas for structuring the grants to address the issues poured

in from faculty members and administrators. It fell to a relatively new staff member, Kelly Owens, director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Projects, to integrate their different perspectives into the multiyear proposals. Owens, who holds a doctorate in urban studies, became an expert grant writer while working at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the nonprofit Inroads, which promotes diversity in the corporate world. She has also served as residence hall director at Howard University and taught at another historically black college. Her experience and research tell her that universities can do more to save underrepresented students from becoming the ones to drop out of highly competitive academic pursuits. “‘Either the student can do it or can’t do it.’ That’s been the philosophy,” she said. “But we know so much more now about how students come to college – in different places. And if we are to provide students with the kind of education that we say, in our mission, that we seek to provide them, then we’ve got to bend a little bit so that we get them to where they need to be.” Even as they target certain students, new programs like expanded peer tutoring and student-led review sessions will benefit everyone who takes science and math, including non-majors. Cal Lutheran will also work to increase the pipeline of incoming students. A transfer outreach coordinator will help Ventura County community college students who are interested in STEM fields to transition to Cal Lutheran.


endowing a scholarship for teaching credentials or doctoral degrees in education.

News briefs

Gill

Student Kayla Nelson with Sarah Heath

$1.2M TO AID OXNARD STUDENTS The U.S. Department of Education awarded Cal Lutheran a $1.2 million grant to serve 500 South Oxnard students annually over five years. The Talent Search program more than triples the number of disadvantaged pre-college students that the university reaches through federal TRIO grants, which fund its Upward Bound programs. Separately, USA Funds has made a grant of $25,000 to pay underrepresented and low-income students to work as interns at nonprofits. LARGEST INCOMING CLASS The largest-ever entering class, with 638 traditional undergraduates in their freshman year, has started at Cal Lutheran. Sixty new incoming students are enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree for Professionals program, a big leap from 33 last fall.

SARAH W. HEATH CENTER ENDOWED Longtime supporter Sarah Heath ’70 has made a planned gift to endow a university center that brings people together to work for social change. Signage for the Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice was presented when she visited campus in October. Above, Heath is pictured with a current doctoral student in psychology who is also on the receiving end of her generosity. Kayla Nelson was awarded the Dan T. May Fellowship, part of Heath's 25-year legacy of support for students preparing to work in substance abuse counseling. Jordan

PARALYMPIC FEATS Every time swimmer Cortney Jordan ’13 goes to the Paralympics (in Beijing, London and, this summer, Rio de Janeiro), she returns with

four new medals. One gold, eight silvers and three bronzes add up to one great career haul. ALUMS LAUDED AT FOUNDERS DAY Founders Day Convocation 2016 celebrated Cal Lutheran’s heritage as usual, and highlighted alumni. The keynote speech was delivered by the Rev. Jeff Johnson ’84, M.Div. ’88. The Outstanding Young Alumna was Rebecca Costa Smith ’08, and the Christus Award went to Paul Evenson, MBA ’85. Now senior pastor at University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, Johnson founded Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries in 1990 to challenge ELCA policies regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people. Smith co-founded Destined for Grace Children’s Relief in Haiti in 2008. Her nonprofit employs 15 people at thrift stores in Santa Barbara and 25 in Haiti (see December 2012, Page 42). A former pastor and vice president at PLTS and, until May, a planned giving officer at Cal Lutheran, Evenson and his wife, Louise, have been generous donors,

17TH-CENTURY POET TRANSLATED Associate professor of religion Rahuldeep Gill has published a major new translation and commentary on the Sikh tradition’s most important interpretive writer: Drinking From Love’s Cup: Surrender and Sacrifice in the Vars of Bhai Gurdas Bhalla (Oxford UP). The book shakes up traditional assumptions about when Gurdas wrote this series of Punjabilanguage poems known as vars, and reads the works partly as an effort to console the community after the execution of the fifth of the Sikh founders, Guru Arjan, in 1606. The poems make an inviting introduction to Sikh beliefs.

CAL LUTHERAN ADMINISTRATION Chris Kimball, Ph.D. President Leanne Neilson, Psy.D. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Karen Davis, MBA ’95 Vice President for Administration and Finance Melissa Maxwell-Doherty ’77, M.Div. ’81 Vice President for Mission and Identity Melinda Roper, Ed.D. Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Matthew Ward, Ph.D. Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing R. Stephen Wheatly ’77, J.D. Vice President for University Advancement Gerhard Apfelthaler, Ph.D. Dean of the School of Management Joan L. Griffin, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Michael Hillis, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School of Education Richard Holigrocki, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School of Psychology Brian Stein-Webber ’77, M.Div. ’84 Interim Chief Administrative Officer of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary The Rev. Alicia Vargas, M.Div. ’95, Ph.D. Dean of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary BOARD OF REGENTS Susan Lundeen-Smuck ’88, Chair Jim Overton, Vice Chair Bill Camarillo, Secretary Linda Baumhefner Glen Becerra The Rev. James Bessey ’66 Ann Boynton ’83 Wallace Brohaugh Sue Chadwick Dennis Erickson, Ph.D. Veronica Guerrero, Ed.D. The Rev. Mark Hanson The Rev. Mark Holmerud Jon Irwin Chris Kimball, Ph.D. William Krantz Daniel Lacey ’17 Judith Larsen, Ph.D. Jill Lederer Rick Lemmo Cristy McNay ’03, M.A. ’13, ’17 Malcolm McNeil The Rev. Frank Nausin ’70, M.Div. ’74 Carrie Nebens Kären Olson ’83 Debra Papageorge ’12 Dennis Robbins ’86 Erin (Rivers ’97) Rulon, MBA ’06 Mike Soules Mark Stegemoeller Deborah Sweeney Jim Swenson The Rev. Steve Talmage George Ullman Jr. ’76 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.

DECEMBER 2016

9


Highlights

MBA PROGRAM SHARED WITH THAI UNIVERSITY A joint educational effort that will draw students from Bangkok is part of a new wave of international partnerships. BY SOPHIA FISCHER

In Bangkok, from left, are Cal Lutheran’s Dane Rowley, Harry Domicone, Gerhard Apfelthaler and Chris Kimball, Assumption University’s president, the Rev. Brother Bancha Saenghiran, university registrar Soonthorn Pibulcharoensit, study abroad director Vanvisut Viravan, study abroad manager Nunapas Somboonsakdikul and dean Kitti Phothikitti of the Graduate School of Business.

W

hen Cal Lutheran President Chris Kimball shook hands in September with Assumption University of Thailand President Bancha Saenghiran in the latter’s grand and formal office, there was more at stake than protocol and an introduction. Staff members from both universities had spent two years establishing a relationship between the leaders. Kimball’s visit to Bangkok was viewed by his Thai counterpart as a demonstration of Cal Lutheran’s commitment to partnering with Assumption on a new MBA program. The agreement with Assumption, a private Catholic school of 19,000 students, is the first in what Cal Lutheran leaders hope will be a series of so-called articulation partnerships with universities abroad. The Thai students will split their education, studying first at Assumption, then transferring to Cal Lutheran to complete their MBA requirements during three terms, or nine months. Upon graduating, they will earn MBA degrees from both institutions. 10 CLU MAGAZINE

Roughly 20 students per year are expected to enter throughout the academic year, starting with the current winter term. They apply through Assumption, meeting GPA and English-language requirements, among others. In more traditional approaches to international recruitment, the university has sent and received students through exchange programs, and also sent representatives overseas to attract students to complete their entire education at Cal

Lutheran. The Thai partnership is different because it not only creates a track for incoming international students to follow but also helps the foreign institution attract residents who might otherwise go to the U.S. for their full degree program. “The value of an American business education is high in other countries,” said Gerhard Apfelthaler, dean of Cal Lutheran’s School of Management, who traveled with Kimball to Asia. “Studying abroad in the country that invented big business is important to international students and their families. Students find better jobs in their home countries because they have an American degree.” The delegation that visited Thailand in September also traveled to Chengdu, in southwest China, where partnership discussions were held with three universities. Institutions in this region are home to as many as 100,000 students.


In Memoriam

When we started, other universities were not that active. Now it’s like an arms race. In addition to Thailand and China, Cal Lutheran leaders are targeting Taiwan, Japan, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Iceland and Saudi Arabia. In Malaysia, where two-year colleges are common, arrangements are being considered to allow students to come to Cal Lutheran to complete bachelor’s degrees. The relationship with Assumption in Thailand could ultimately result in shared degrees for undergraduate students, as well as exchanges of faculty members. “If we are going to prepare students for global realities, we have to be engaged and involved with stakeholders wherever they are in order to diversify our student body and help students prepare for international competition,” said Harry Domicone, director of the Full-time MBA Program for International Students based in Thousand Oaks. U.S. institutions compete for international undergraduate and graduate students across the board, but especially in business schools, where enrollment has dipped in recent years. Currently, Cal Lutheran has 393 active MBA students, and more than half are international. “There is a huge demand in the business world for people with MBA and IT degrees. Students see that a master’s degree in the U.S. will help them with opportunities, so it’s more of an economic decision for graduate students. Undergraduates want to come and have an American experience, so it’s more of an emotional as well as economic decision,” said Dane Rowley ’04, M.S. ’08, director of international admission. Despite the competition for international students, Cal Lutheran recruiters are not salespeople. “The market has become much more aggressive, and there are those who admit any applicant at any price. We hold to our high admission standards and that brings us a lot of credibility,” Domicone said. The process of recruiting international students has been a complex one involving university staff members who

travel year-round visiting high schools, universities and partner institutions, college fairs, word-of-mouth, the Internet and educational consultants. In countries where relationships and personal recommendations are crucial for students, there is usually a middleman, an educational counselor who promotes certain universities. One such intermediary is Dan Plaut, a U.S. citizen who has lived and worked with students in western China for a total of 20 years, and earned the trust of Chinese families. He represents Cal Lutheran, promoting its programs, location and safety – all important factors for parents of prospective students. While Cal Lutheran has always recruited internationally, the idea for creating bilateral partnerships began in 1998 when Apfelthaler and Domicone met during a coffee break at an educational conference in Italy. Apfelthaler at that time worked for a university in western Austria, and was seeking partnerships to develop a study abroad program. Domicone was recruiting students for Cal Lutheran. The men kept in touch, visiting one another and establishing a student exchange agreement between their universities, Cal Lutheran’s first. “When we started, other universities were there, too, but were not that active,” Apfelthaler said. “Now it’s like an arms race.” The benefits of international education at Cal Lutheran extend to American students, even if they never leave California, according to Domicone. “Welcoming students from different faiths and perspectives is one of the most powerful tools of soft diplomacy not only for CLU but for the U.S. as well. International education does more to build lasting peace than bullets and missiles,” he said. “When you have a prime minister in some country who was educated here, he or she has a different understanding of American values, and you can find common ground versus someone who has never been to the U.S.”

Theodore R. Jensen

July 29, 1940 – Oct. 12, 2016 Ted Jensen, a dedicated member of California Lutheran University’s Board of Regents, died at his home in Port Hueneme at age 76, having lived 12 years with prostate cancer. Jensen joined the board in 2008 and was serving as secretary of the executive committee at the time of his death. His tenure included membership on multiple committees including investment, construction, honorary degree, enrollment and trusteeship. He played an integral role in the construction of many campus facilities including the Swenson Center, Ullman Commons, the KCLU Broadcast Center, Trinity Hall, Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, the Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology, and the William Rolland Stadium and Gallery of Fine Art. He also was a big fan and supporter of KCLU and Kingsmen baseball. An active church member and community leader, Jensen served several terms as president of the church council at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Oxnard and represented the Channel Islands conference as a member of the Southwest California Synod Council. He served on the Scholarship Advisory Board of the Ventura County Community Foundation and, for the past 15 years, was a member of the Board of Directors of the Oxnard Community Concert Association. He held board positions with Footworks Youth Ballet and Habitat for Humanity, and was named Philanthropist of the Year in 2008 by a local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. A native of Oregon, Jensen graduated from the University of Oregon with a major in math. He pursued a career in engineering and retired in 1995 as a flight test engineer manager with Hughes Aircraft in Culver City. He served in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1967. He is survived by his wife, Julie, sons Pete and Tim, and six grandchildren. DECEMBER 2016

11


Q&A

NEAR THE EQUATOR,

REAL MONKEYS WEAR SHOULDER PADS A Brazilian who first came to the U.S. for college, assistant professor of biology Anita Stone has returned frequently since 2000 to her own northern region of Brazil to watch squirrel monkeys in the forest. The females there pick their mates, and appear to have a weakness for bulked-out upper bodies. They were curious, at first. The juveniles would just look at me. But after maybe two months, they became what you would call habituated. To them, I was just part of their landscape.

Why do you do what you do? In college, I knew that I wanted to do something with ecology. I grew up on the coast in Brazil, so I was thinking I might be a marine biologist. But on a summer program in Costa Rica, I fell in love with tropical forests. And monkeys. I said, “This is it.” I picked squirrel monkeys during my first year in graduate school, and now I study just one of the seven species. Beyond that, I love nature and just think it’s important to know how it works. 12 CLU MAGAZINE

How do you follow monkeys around if they live in trees? Squirrel monkeys like being lower in the tree canopy. Which is good. Sometimes they come to the ground to forage. If there’s a really tall fruit tree, they’ll go higher and you just have to wait. Can you get close to them? They did not run from me. That was one reason I wanted to stay at this field site. Nobody had bothered them, so they weren’t afraid of humans.

Among monkeys, are there memorable characters? Not many, no. Squirrel monkeys are really a pain to study. They’re only two pounds, max. Max. That’s like a big one. And they’re extremely agile. It’s difficult to recognize individuals because a) they’re small, so there’s not a lot of distinguishing features, b) they’re fast and c) there’s 50 of them in a social group. I only recognized the ones that had a broken tail or some natural markings. There was this male that had a wart here (points to cheek) and I knew him. Males are easy to distinguish from females because of body size. He was also a bully. The interesting thing is that the females are dominant to the males at least in this species. Not only that, but the juveniles also bully the males in the mating season. I don’t know that we see that in many other primates. What else makes them special? One strange thing is they don’t groom. They live in groups that are very large, of 40-50 animals, but they hardly show your classic primate social behavior. So, for example, you see baboons and macaques sit there and groom, groom, groom. Squirrel monkeys don’t do that, but they are extremely vocal. They make a


lot of calls we don’t know how to distinguish yet. Probably that’s how they maintain their bonds, by communicating vocally. What does it mean that the males are subordinate? The males tend to stay on the periphery of the group. They don’t even come near the mothers with the babies. When the mating season comes, which is just two months of the year, the males come in, but once it is over, they go back to the outer corners of the group. Because they’re dominant, the females are not coerced by the males. If a female is not interested in mating, she will just walk away. You observed “fattened” males that are favored by females. What is that about? I can’t say for sure if a particular male is being favored by a female because we don’t have them all marked. We do know on average that the “fatter” males spend more time with the females during mating season. Presumably they’re getting more mating opportunities. By the way, it’s not that they’re eating more. The “fattening” is only in the upper body, and most of it is water, and some fat cells. It’s like the padding that football players wear. Did you just say you “mark” them? In 2012, I decided that we should trap some of the monkeys to mark them – to put on individual collars, microchips, get some blood. We had to develop a new method to trap them, because nothing that was standard for any other primate worked. They’re very smart. They’re like, “Why should I go into this weird structure?” But they will in November, the driest month of the year, because they’re hungry. The first individual we trapped bit me. I remember her. I mean, it’s not ideal to be bitten by a wild animal, but she just barely broke the skin. A friend of mine who was a vet from the States was with me, and we decided I didn’t need a $700 rabies shot since there was no evidence that these monkeys had rabies.

Squirrel monkey males that show upper-body fattening can intimidate rivals. But they don’t select their mates; the females do.

Is your real interest in the subordinate males? The males are fascinating to me because of the whole “fattening” thing. No other primate does this in quite the same way. We still don’t know why they do it. We know a lot from the lab about how it happens – the physiology, the hormones that are involved. But as an evolutionary biologist, I wanted to know why. Is there a function to this? Does being “fatter” give them some sort of advantage? And it definitely seems to help with male-male competition. There’s a lot of fighting in the mating season. The males will wrestle; sometimes they’ll fall to the ground and have cuts and gashes. So is fatter tougher? Fatter is definitely intimidating for another male. And as you’ve asked: Is fatter sexier? I think there’s a really good chance that it is sexier for the females. But since the females don’t solicit copulation – they don’t walk up to a male and present their hind quarters – it’s difficult to say. That is, I didn’t observe them encouraging these males to mate with them. But they did allow these males proximity. The males that were skinnier: the females just ignored them.

Apart from the scientific findings, what has all this taught you? The one full year that I spent in the field, at 25, was the best experience of my life. I quickly got lonely and realized there was a community in the village that didn’t know who I was or why I was there. Even adults had misconceptions about the forest, like that snakes were everywhere waiting to bite. In the later months, I went into schools in the village and did conservation education. One 8-year-old girl would come to my backyard every day and ask to help me watch the monkeys. I couldn’t take her every day, obviously. And an incredible thing happened. My field assistant, who was about 38, and his wife and five kids had been living in a tiny house made basically of mud, and their dream was to build a house with regular walls. I was a poor grad student, but with the money I paid him every month, they built their house! The family always says, we have our house because of Anita and the monkeys. Stone plans to return to Brazil with one or two Cal Lutheran undergraduates for the squirrel monkey mating season next June and July. (See Page 8 for more on student opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.) DECEMBER 2016

13


Water polo coach Craig Rond (left), a Los Angeles County lifeguard for more than 30 years, has helped open the opportunity to student-athletes like Kristi McGee.

14 CLU MAGAZINE


THEY SAVE FOR SCHOOL For more than a decade, men’s and women’s water polo players at Cal Lutheran have turned to lifeguarding to offset the costs of study. Some of them go on after college to seasonal side careers. They never look at a beach the same way again. BY COLLEEN CASON//PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN STETHEM ’84

O

n the best summer days, the ocean blesses the Cal Lutheran campus with cooling breezes. And the university reciprocates by sending back to the Pacific some of its best water men and women to protect millions of beachgoers each year from the dangers that lurk in the surf. For the past 13 years, Kingsmen and Regals water polo and swim teams have supplied aquatic talent to the prestigious ocean lifeguard program of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. This arrangement keeps flowing in part because of the ambassadorship of water polo coach Craig Rond, an L.A. County lifeguard for more than 30 years. “Craig is a good rep to get people into the program,” said Cody Shirk ’09, a lifeguard and private-equity entrepreneur. Not only does he encourage Cal Lutheran students to try out, said Shirk, but teens who aspire to become lifeguards are drawn to the university because of the number of its students who qualify for this selective program. Despite his passion for the work, Rond quickly dispels the glamorous image of the job as portrayed in the ’90s TV show Baywatch. “It’s not a job for the faint of heart,” he said. “It runs the gamut from riptide rescues, jellyfish stings, seizures, lacerations, heat stroke and neck injuries.” A drowning victim once spewed pink vomit on Rond as he administered CPR. A young woman high on drugs and sinking fast resisted his efforts to take her to shore because she insisted she was a flying fish and the ocean was her home. Only when they reached the sand did he realize she was naked. “You can see stuff that can’t be unseen,” said Shirk, a former Santa Monica City firefighter and senior partner with Syft Ventures of Malibu. To the man and woman, though, each lifeguard will tell you that the Darwinian tryout, the rigors of the boot-camp-style academy and the no-excuses accountability were worth it. Few alumni view lifeguarding as their year-round career. Most join the ranks of the seasonal crew, for financially and personally rewarding work that can span decades after graduation.

The seasonal lifeguard ranks include people in all walks of life. Said Rond, “It’s doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, hotdog vendors, you name it.” For student-athletes who want to stay above water in their classwork, lifeguarding proves an ideal summer job, Rond said. With a starting pay of $25 an hour, undergrads can earn enough in a summer to cover books and living expenses. “The biggest benefit is the pay,” said Brian Condron ’08, an accounting graduate who works as a CPA with Ernst & Young in Westlake Village. “If you save, it will cover you for the rest of the year so you can focus on school.” Along with boosting the bank account, it builds character. On the annual tryout day, several hundred expert swimmers, some of them Olympians, line up on the sand of Dockweiler State Beach in L.A. to outswim each other on a 1,000-meter course — all at the same time. Depending on the year, only the first 50 or 75 to finish will advance to the next stage. Women are cut no breaks. They compete with the guys on the same course. “I was literally eye to elbow with men’s varsity swimmers,” said Kristi McGee, an exercise science major and water polo standout who qualified for lifeguard duty in 2013. Her prowess in the surf served her well during the Fourth of July weekend 2014, when the exercise science major hit the water 25 times to rescue 15 swimmers in one day. Meredith (Butte ’11) Shirk likens her audition to a wrestling smackdown at sea. “You are getting kicked and punched in the head as you literally fight for the job. It’s definitely not a leisurely swim on the French Riviera,” said Shirk, a fitness entrepreneur and realestate investor along with her husband, Cody. Competitors who reach the shore in the first wave, like McGee and Shirk, must then quickly change into business attire for a demanding job interview. Only a fraction pass the interview and the background checks to gain admittance to the academy — four weekends of grueling training. The curriculum is designed to make lifeguarding anything

During her rescue, one woman insisted she was a flying fish and the ocean was her home.

Continued on Page 35 DECEMBER 2016

15


ECOLOGICAL RENEWAL

IS THE GREAT WORK OF OUR TIME

As the Reformation turns 500, some see the climate crisis as cause for a new one. BY KEVIN MATTHEWS // PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN STETHEM ’84

T

forests in ways that cause carbon This is not primarily shrinking dioxide to accumulate in the atmosphere, members of the human species a matter of lacking ashavewealthier increasingly done since the Industrial scientific knowledge, Revolution. In August, at its churchwide assembly in New Orleans, the ELCA joined those or even technological pointing in a different direction. The headline of the day was the church body’s ability. resolution “not to invest in fossil fuels,”

his article about the global climate crisis isn’t meant to scare anyone. However, since that’s hard to avoid, let’s compromise by pushing frightening information and dark thoughts down into footnotes (on Page 18).1 Skip those if you’re inclined, but read on here, will you? This story is about the role of theology and religious belief in solving a global crisis, and about why some people, including graduates of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS)2 and faculty members at Cal Lutheran, are calling the crisis a spiritual one. “We’re not alone in saying that what’s at stake today is not primarily a matter of lacking scientific knowledge, or even technological ability,” said associate professor of religion Lisa E. Dahill, co-editor of the new collection of essays EcoReformation: Grace and Hope for a Planet in Peril.3 “It is a spiritual crisis to the extent that people refuse to face reality.” The reality: we can’t keep making energy and food and 16 CLU MAGAZINE

4

5

6

7

wording that matched a 2015 statement by the Lutheran World Federation.8 To be clear, the ELCA did not vote to remove all of its assets from the fossil fuel industry. Instead, it called for a sustained, multipart strategy to mitigate climate impacts over time.9 Only one piece of that strategy focuses on moving money around. “Not to invest in fossil fuels” means pulling some investments, influencing the behavior of public companies as a shareholder, and making positive new investments in industries like renewable power. More on investments below.


FEVER Like many people, Aana Marie Vigen, M.A. ’96, Ph.D., an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago, thought there would be more time to draw up plans for the climate fight. Were there not others, even in her field of Christian social ethics, who could speak to environmental issues while she focused on equally critical matters like public health and equal access to health care? But that calculus kept changing as she followed the news.11 By 2012, she could see that climate change was already magnifying public health challenges and that the burden of this would fall on her young son’s generation rather than more distant beings. She started to look at the problem as a planetwide illness: “a symptom…of the reigning psychological, spiritual, and moral disconnect between human beings and the rest of creation.”12 Vigen’s teaching of undergraduate and graduate students has been transformed as a result. Even her medical ethics course on death and dying draws connections between ecological

fragility and mortality, using climate change for context. She’s convinced that no specialist can ignore the problem and that every kind of worker from entrepreneur to entertainer is needed to address it. “I want to be on a side of history that I can feel good about when I die, as with the abolition of slavery or civil rights or rallying against apartheid in South Africa,” Vigen said. “I mean, this is our moment where it matters how we show up, and Christian theologians and ethicists have the contribution of putting things in terms that help people not just feel depressed, but see a way forward.” STOP DIGGING The church's call to action has three parts, as understood by the Rev. Jeff Thiemann, M.Div. ’05, president and CEO at Portico Benefit Services, the Minneapolis-based ELCA ministry that manages retirement plans. First, educate people on the issues and advocate for effective policies at all levels of government. Thiemann notes that tax incentives need fixing. Secondly, work with other institutional investors to signal financial markets about the direction we should be heading. (This is Portico’s role.) And finally, set measurable goals to curb consumption and carbon emissions, with follow-through.13 The climate issue  14 is not the first moral cause that’s prompted the ECLA to change how it invests and to offer new retirement fund choices to people working in its ministries. Portico, which manages roughly $8 billion for almost 27,000 individuals, offers eight social impact funds out of 20 choices. More than 30 percent of members put an average of about two-thirds of their retirement money into these funds to take a stand on social ills such as smoking, alcohol abuse, private prisons and the proliferation of guns. The burning of fossil fuels has also figured into Portico investment offerings for years. Its social impact funds stay away from the “most egregious” publicly traded polluters, according to Thiemann. Portico analysts are now working on recommendations to meet the ELCA’s latest instruction to Robyn Hartwig joined a nationwide Earthjustice campaign in 2013 as a Clean Air Ambassador.

MATT ROTH FOR EARTHJUSTICE

12 STEPS To understand what else the church body is promoting, let’s check in on the work of the Rev. Robyn Hartwig, M.Div. ’97, associate pastor at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, Oregon. In 2009, Hartwig founded EcoFaith Recovery, an interdenominational effort that develops leaders aligned with goals like achieving environmental justice for marginalized groups and making Oregon “an entirely renewable energy economy.” Well over 200 volunteers representing dozens of organizations, mostly churches near Portland, have taught workshops or led their own community projects as a result. About 25 youth interns on small stipends have gotten involved, not only in Oregon but also in Wisconsin, Minnesota and British Columbia. Roughly half of all participants are Quakers, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Jews, Buddhists and others including non-religious activists looking to relieve their sense of isolation, according to Hartwig. The word recovery in the group’s name alludes to recovery from addiction. Hartwig saw herself as addicted to a way of life that was not sustainable for human beings or the web of life on Earth; and one of EcoFaith Recovery’s insights is that the change now required of us is change within us. At the same time, the volunteer-led group views the challenge as too big to be faced solely through the exercise of private, individual virtue. “We could put solar panels on every member roof and every church roof, and that would make a difference,” Hartwig said, “but that is not going to alter the level of increased carbon emissions that we are looking at and the devastating impact that that’s going to have going forward.”10 That’s why leadership development involves picking up the skills and screwing up courage to act publicly. Volunteers from an initiative called Beyond Fossil Fuels “go and organize their congregations to get active, whether it’s showing up at a city council meeting or a hearing for a proposed fossil fuel terminal, sometimes a march or a protest or writing letters,” Hartwig said. The organization is now calling on volunteers and their churches to dedicate a project in 2017 to Eco-Reformation.


What do you see in the aftermath of a wildfire? Loss, or a promise of renewal?* *The 2013 Springs Fire in Camarillo destroyed 15 homes and 24,000 acres before firefighters and rain knocked it down. In the western United States, the season for wildfires has grown by 78 days since the 1970s. Over the last three decades, human-caused warming has nearly doubled the area burned.

remove some investments from the “largest” fossil fuel companies, while continuing to engage in shareholder activism with others and to buy stock in companies taking positive steps toward sustainability.15 “If you sell your shares, you don’t get to show up at the table and vote. You lose that influence,” Thiemann said. Thiemann grew up as a “missionary kid” in the Philippines and Ethiopia and was active in church, but his calling to PLTS and the ministry came much later. Trained in computer science and management, he had a 23-year career in high tech and finally rode out the dot-com bubble as an entrepreneur. Because he did not come away a millionaire, he says, he committed himself fully to the life of a pastor, enjoying “a front-row seat to witness what God was doing in people’s lives.” When first elected as a trustee of Portico, he knew little about benefits but had a good background for “the integration of ministry and business excellence, which is what we do.” Whether it’s the experience with innovation or with the ministry that he left a little more than five years ago in Walnut Creek, California, something tells Thiemann the climate crisis can and will be solved. “In part it’s because of the students that you have and will have and the graduates from CLU and other institutions that I think are going to be instrumental in addressing this problem from a systemic viewpoint,” he said. “It’s good for CLU to work on this not only as a consumer (of energy), but also as a place for people to learn, and have some very promising careers.... There are just tons of opportunities.”

Along with some other stuff. The theological seminary in Berkeley has been part of Cal Lutheran for almost three years. 3 The volume is expected from Cascade Books this November, in time for 500th-anniversary commemorations of the Protestant Reformation. 4 Not the most potent, but the most important of greenhouse gases in driving long-term temperature increases. 5 When Martin Luther was preaching, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide stood at 280 parts per million. Now it exceeds 400 ppm and is unlikely to fall below that number in the lifetime of anyone reading this. 6 The assembly concluded while this year’s disastrous floods were coming to southern Louisiana. Climate models predict more intense storms in the future with greater precipitation. 7 Cal Lutheran is one of 26 colleges and universities affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and its seminary, PLTS, is one of eight that belong to the church body. 8 Both statements call on congregations and others “not to invest in fossil fuels and to support energy efficiency and renewable energy companies, and to encourage their institutions and individual members to do likewise.” The LWF Council also resolved, “As a Lutheran Communion, we understand climate change as an issue of justice, peace, care for creation and protection for all peoples everywhere. We raise a special concern for the most vulnerable, in particular the poor, the indigenous people, and the voiceless…. [W]e re-commit ourselves and encourage others to commit to a profound change in our lifestyles and in the broader system of production and consumption.” 9 The ELCA had already endorsed the outcome of the Paris climate deal reached in December 2015 by international parties. Officially, that deal seeks to hold the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 10 What’s wrong with more carbon dioxide? When gases trap heat in the atmosphere, the warming drives problems including sea level rise and longer periods of heat and drought. In another major concern, absorption of carbon dioxide is changing the chemistry of the oceans, endangering coral reefs and food chains. 11 In 2009 alone, 1) experts warned that the Earth was warming at a more dangerous pace than previously thought, 2) the Copenhagen climate conference collapsed in failure, and 3) the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet identified climate change as “the biggest global health threat in the 21st century.” 12 The quote is from Vigen’s essay in the new Eco-Reformation volume, titled “Living Advent and Lent: A Call to Embody Reformation for the Sake of Human and Planetary Health.” It observes that climate change disrupts public health with “thirst, hunger and bugs”: contamination of drinking water, degradation of land and soil, and new habitats for disease-bearing insects, among other threats. 13 Cal Lutheran is in the process of developing its own carbon reduction goals after signing the Second Nature climate commitment in May. 14 Or in broader, theological terms, “caring for creation.” 15 Portico pursues this strategy together with peer institutions from other denominations and also in large partnerships like the Investor Network on Climate Risk, which includes “more than 120 institutional investors representing more than $14 trillion in assets committed to addressing climate change and other key sustainability risks, while building low-carbon investment opportunities.” 1

2

18 CLU MAGAZINE


ANNUAL REPORT CalLutheran.edu/annualreport

Student Union with Ahmanson NOV 2015 New Veteran Resource Center opens

Cal Lutheran welcomed its largest incoming new student class and graduated its largest senior class in history during 2015-2016. The campus community enjoyed celebrating the historic NCAA Division III National Championship win by the women’s volleyball team. In further good news, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the university its Hispanic-Serving Institution designation providing eligibility for grants to benefit Cal Lutheran’s growing Latino population and overall student body. These milestones and many other student, faculty and staff achievements are highlighted in the 2015-1016 Annual Report, available online. I encourage you to review it and join us in celebrating our progress as we live out the Cal Lutheran mission to educate leaders for a global society.

volleyball earns NCAA D-III National Championship DEC 2015 Women’s

FEB 2016

CLU designated Hispanic-Serving Institution

Chris Kimball President

class graduates MAY 2016 Largest

For more details on our year as well as the Honor Roll of Donors, please visit CalLutheran.edu/ annualreport.


Loop da Lu - 5K Run

Student Research Symposium

8 a.m. | Saturday Kingsmen Park

11 a.m. | Saturday Ahmanson Science Center

HOMECOM

Highl

You came, you saw, you shared and created celebrate the past, present and future of th

President’s Pancake Breakfast

Homecoming Festival

9:30 a.m. | Saturday Kingsmen Park

3:30 p.m. | Saturday Pepper Grove


50th Reunion

Worship

6 p.m. | Saturday Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center

10 a.m. | Sunday Samuelson Chapel

SAVE

THE DATE

2017 Homecoming Oct. 13-15

MING 2016

lights

d memories. Thank you for coming home to he university we all love. See you next year!

Carnival

Homecoming Concert

7 p.m. | Saturday Memorial Field/Kingsmen Park

2 p.m. | Sunday Samuelson Chapel


50 REUNION TH

Chicken coops, chapel, choir, Cowboys and coach in crystalline air

The classes of 1966 and 1967 joined forces for a combined 50-year reunion at this year’s Homecoming weekend. Ahead of the occasion, they shared memories of the early years at California Lutheran College. We can’t vouch for every fact. —the editors

Class of 1966 Lareen “Skogi” (Skogen ’66) Baker Simi Valley, California My first memory of CLC in 1962 was getting out of my parents’ car near Alpha and Beta Halls and being hit by the overwhelming scent of orange blossoms. During Frosh Week the class of ’66 had the dubious task of forming the rocks on Mount Clef into the letters CLC and then white-washing them! Great to be part of that history! Worked in the library every week (under the tutelage of Aina Abrahamson, who later became a lifelong friend). Connie (Salzgeber ’66) Batchelder Clayton, California I feel blessed I attended in those early years of chicken coops, the art barn, chapel in the tent and creating the CLC on Mount Clef. We girls remember the ceremony of “passing the candle,” wondering who would announce their engagement by blowing it out. Finally, recalling the huge presence of Dr. Strunk, looking into my microscope proclaiming in awe, “That is LIFE,” and remembering the strong yet affectionate voice of Dr. Kallas lecturing us and calling us his “little chickadees.” Christian professors demonstrating their faith and friendships formed that have remained throughout the years. 22 CLU MAGAZINE

Karen (Satrum ’66) Bloomquist Sammamish, Washington I loved CLC – my roommates, classmates, and professors, our very own mountain, the orange groves, the crystalline air, student government and choir, the plays, the community concerts and, of course, the classes! Dr. Strunk inspired me with his dynamic, completely integrated Christian faith and scientific mind. Lowell Brandt ’66 Minnetonka, Minnesota Later, as a student government officer, I realized we were jealous of campuses that were enjoying homecoming festivities. We had no alumni to come home! So, we created Big Game Weekend. It was basically a homecoming without the alumni. With no traditions to draw on, no structures to guide us and an uncertain budget, it was a daunting task for a young, immature student to create. At the end of the weekend, I was so exhausted my legs felt like dead tree trunks. But, it was a success. Other wonderful memories included singing in the Concert Choir and working on campus during the Dallas Cowboys training camp. In the morning, I cleaned the football players’ dormitory. In the evening, I made them milkshakes in the coffee shop.

Kenton Burns ’66 Denver Aside from the entering-college experience, here was this President Dahl under a giant circus tent telling us we were pioneers, daily lectures in classrooms, and cafeteria in remodeled chicken coops, and how many other things tentative and in-process. But from the first day, with cigars passed out and male bonding underway among my new dormies, off we were on to our studies, adventures, and oh yes, daily chapel talks to keep us rooted. It proved a good place for a grounding in liberal arts and, for me, a major in science, was capstoned by the horizon-expanding lectures about life in all its forms by one professor William Strunk. Joan (Severtson ’66) Christensen Minneapolis My greatest CLC influences included the music faculty as they taught me piano (Amy Arney and Carl Swanson), viola (Betty Bowen), theory (Arthur Moorefield), orchestra (Elmer Ramsey), and concert choir (Robert Zimmerman). My job as a vocal accompanist was such a great opportunity for ensemble playing, and the “Clefairs” women’s vocal trio educated me in “pop” music as we traveled and spread the CLC message.


Arlene Kaiser ’66 Milpitas, California Many memories of CLC include: using the electricity from the lighted CLC sign at the top of Mt Clef to pop corn and shorting out all the lights, horseback riding around the movie western sets, acting in plays and musicals, living with five roommates and adjusting (“only child” here), thriving with the relationships, many which I maintain today, Lucia Bride, Yam Yad, Dallas Cowboys, and Ronald Reagan visiting our campus. The spiritual connections: Chapel, Concert Choir tour, Christian community and teachers: Barbara Powers, Richard Adams, Elmer Ramsey, Pastor Saez, Dr. Zimmerman, and so many others! Douglas Millar ’66 Long Beach, California I keep remembering the chicken coop classrooms and the original dorms, the latter with still-wet plaster. Memories of going to Du-Par’s and playing folk music also come back to me. Alan Rogers ’66 Calistoga, California Some of my memories of CLC are the mud football game, intramural sports, qualitative analysis lab, cafeteria food, Saturday football games, coed dorms at McAfee and engagement ceremonies/rituals. Lee Rozen ’66 Whittier, California One humorous memory was following the contentious LBJ/Goldwater Presidential Election. Some Mt. Clef Dorm classmates and I late on election night, went up to Mount Clef and moved the white painted

rocks saying CLC to LBJ!! We never told anyone about this mischievous night adventure. (Some days later, along with other students, we changed LBJ back to CLC again!) Eric Schafer ’66 Prescott, Arizona In September 1963, I became one of 600 at CLC, one of my best life decisions. Concert Choir, the Echo, student government, intramural sports; opportunities for involvement and growth perfectly suited to me. Occasionally, classes and studies. India (Whitmore ’66) Tornell Creswell, Oregon I believe what impacted me the most was the affirmation shown by the staff and faculty. The interest and affection they extended to those of us in their care are with me to this day. Bob Trevathan ’66 Thousand Oaks In 1962, CLC was, for me, a “perfect storm.” Coach Shoup had me become a Lutheran and come with him to help start Kingsmen football. My first impression of the campus was Karsten in a raccoon coat, in the middle of summer, driving around in an old Checker cab. I knew I was in the right place. I didn’t care that there was no football stadium or that we practiced in an orange grove (complete with trees) or that we went to class in chicken coops or that the Campanile never appeared. Besides

Coach, I was quickly in awe of some great mentors. Coach Kallas and Coach Garrison, Dr. Haig and Dr. Schwick, Jack Siemens and George Carter all left impressions on me that will last forever. Skip Mooney, Lynn Thompson and Mike Cox were my roommates all four years. In spite of CLC’s brief history and, sometimes, ourselves, we were so well prepared that we all “sailed” through our MBAs at major universities. We ultimately became the best NAIA football offense in the nation, had a blast playing baseball, traveling all over California in the “White Tornado” and beating teams we were not supposed to beat. Danton Tuve ’66 West Hartford, Connecticut I especially remember Dr. Robert Zimmerman as a member of the Concert Choir for all four years. I got to see life outside of campus, here in the U.S. but also in Canada. Carole (Jensen ’66) Veach Centennial, Colorado My choice of college was confirmed positive when I discovered fellow classmates watching TV in the lounge of my dorm. They were intently watching and enjoying Soupy Sales.

Class of 1967

Craig Brandt ’67 Chapin, South Carolina Dr. Baranski assigned the class a report on the book Becoming by the very popular Harvard Professor Gordon Allport. Being my first course in psychology, I tore his book up from the first page to the last figuring that would cement my grade.

DECEMBER 2016

23


50th Reunion Incredibly, I received an A. I respected Dr. Baranski’s devotion to his studies, and his students.

dances, concerts and the Lettermen’s Club talent shows. Dorm life was fun and even the cafeteria food was good.

MyraJo (Myhre ’67) Chandler Newbury Park, California I have many memories of my years at Cal Lutheran, but the most vivid of all is graduation. After endless hours of studying, tests and term papers, it was finally time to graduate. Being the first member of my family to complete a four-year college, there was much excitement. Many relatives traveled to witness the event. The day arrived and, wouldn’t you know, it was cold, cloudy and damp. So cold that most of us couldn’t wear summer dresses under our robes. My parents were so cold that they watched from the car.

Bob Fowler ’67 San Jose, California A funniest memory was my final exam in horseback riding class. After our horses were assigned, our instructor had us direct our horses randomly to walk, trot and canter around the ring, but instead of riding smoothly through the canter, I was bouncing in the saddle out of sync. I thought, I’m going to fail this class I know how to canter what’s happening? The instructor began laughing as he stopped my horse and said my horse Blackie was a circus horse, and only knew how to canter in double time!

Lois (Hendrix ’67) Cheraz Desert Hot Springs, California I remember arriving on campus and learning that I would have roommates, including Laurene, Sandy, Jill, and Kay. I remember being frightened upon hearing of the assassination of JFK and excited when Ronald Reagan came to campus to speak about his candidacy for higher office. I remember working the switchboard with Penny Burhoe and seeing the Dallas Cowboys up close and personal during summer training camp. I remember butting heads with Dr. Asper, being in awe of Dr. Kallas, and playing string bass in the CLC orchestra. Tom Fisher ’67 Goleta, California While at CLC I enjoyed playing NAIA basketball, both the competition and the training. I loved the banquets, parties,

24 CLU MAGAZINE 24 CLU MAGAZINE

Darlean Kallas ’67 Thousand Oaks I came to Cal Lu in 1961 not as a student but as a faculty wife. Jim and I were the very first faculty family to set foot on the about-to-be-born brand new school! Jonelle (Falde ’67) Miller Studio City, California The knowledge I gained (Shakespeare with Dr. Nelson, Old and New Testament with Dr. Kallas, zoology with Dr. Strunk), the experiences I had (performing in plays, cheering at sporting events, studying in the back corner of the library), and the lifelong friendships I made (Linda, Joanne, Mary) have influenced and enriched my life. Charlene (Buhr ’67) Ohlrich Camarillo, California Moorpark Road was a dirt road. It was really hot. I attended class in chicken coops. Fast forward

to CLC academics, great roommates, songleading and lots of fun. Patty (Hurd ’67) Perry Yorktown, Virginia My memories of Alpha and later McAfee include several roommates, the ring ceremonies, and watching Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare in the lounge. We wore skirts, had small classes and started Yam Yad. … Immediately after leaving Cal Lu, I was part of a small group who accompanied Dr. Kallas on his first trip to the Holy Lands just after Israel’s Six-Day War. Catherine (Chelson ’67) Reimer El Dorado Hills, California One of my favorite memories is when faculty members would eat with the students in the college cafeteria. Those impromptu, informal, small group discussions were very enjoyable. I particularly remember and treasure talks with Dr. James Kallas. The low student-to-faculty ratio was quite unique to CLC and certainly had a positive effect on our education. Four professors were highly influential in my life, Dr. William Strunk, Dr. Barbara Collins, Dr. Kallas and Dr. Wallace Asper. They demonstrated strong Christian values in the classroom and in the community as well as being highly qualified in their fields. Kay (Smith ’67) Willer San Marcos, California I have such fond memories of CLC – my special “roomies,” watching the sheep being herded down Olsen Road, partying at the Gunsmoke “city,” having such knowledgeable and caring professors, and of course meeting Steve, my future husband!


CLASS NOTES NOTICES RECEIVED AS OF SEPT. 8

Pictured from left at the Ties Remembered: Loving Art, Loving Us artists’ reception in June are David Paul DeMars ’73, Lancaster, California, John Kasten ’74, Napa, California, Lea Lamp ’74, Phoenix, John Luebtow ’67, Chatsworth, California, and Rick Haier ’75, Berkeley, California. About 300 people came out for the reception on Father’s Day. (See “Painted Tributes,” CLU Magazine, August 2016, Page 9.)

UNDERGRADUATE 1960s

athe=Eratem que eos et doluptia quibusa pernam ipsapis earcipsant et fugit re, omnihitius ernaturia nonsed maiorrum est rem sequae voluptat. Et re, sam id ut es dem que mi, ommossin nus ma dis aut

1970s

Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem

poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiam quia doluptatur, quo in nisima nemporehent volor molorec eperupt atibeaquo modipsum fugias ilit aut volorem doluptatiam vellor apid mod ullupta turendis endictotat. Uciatiis soloria doloreperes doluptatet milita nonet volori quuntia sequossimi, santius parchit volo etur? Tae perorem sedi ab inienda as distio beribus, as unt delisit, et ea dolupta tiatibus, unt ad utem quos deliquia volesci endandi te molorit venimaio te nus doluptas dis idenimet que rectam quo molorum quat. Icid molendaere, audam vel ma que simus sitaquate laccus, cum fugiae voluptae di beari consed quis pedignamus ex eaquiae pelendis molecea ruptatiassit exeri voloreped quunt unt dolor asinvendae quam venihilla qui aspis eaquo volenisquo qui dolenimus debitas eum fuga. Et eos debit

DECEMBER 2016

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Class Notes

1980s

TAKE CAL LUTHERAN WITH YOU Order up! Alumni Steve Brazil ’12 (left) and Ty Fleming ’11, MBA ’14, sport their Cal Lutheran spirit at their restaurant, the Sandwich Spot in Simi Valley, California. The shop opened two years ago to rave reviews about their excellent customer service and delicious Dutch Crunch bread! Follow the Flag in Three Easy Steps 1. Request your free flag from alumni@CalLutheran.edu 2. Pose with your flag 3. Share your picture online via Facebook or CalLutheran.edu/alumni

#clualumni

que vollor seque voluptas et elibusae sincid minciis qui comnis pelest essus conet ma consequatur arum aliquae. Nam siti con rent ad magnima sapis millore cepraepudit quiatur, omnissi cus est qui nist unt aut hit, qui as eaqui odipsunt lautet lanis essitiis perrum ipicia volore nus ad molorum expliquiatet que officiae nullorpor restis et delicim que et, quibus. Offic totasint, qui asitatur serit quo ipsusda nihit, quiantemodi des dolendendus. Am comnimod ea nos santios exceat.

Et re, sam id ut es dem que mi, ommossin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori

1990s

Illuptat. Hicto quam erum cus, volorum volum ea quaspic iatiisimos utatem et, odiandis ped eum quas mi, earchictur alisciene et, et periaep repudi officii squibus volenitionse nos id mo quae nos eius nonsed maximus rererum etum quat. Temodis cimaxim olorrumquis sequas rerum fuga. Itas ad quae eos sa dolectur am aborrum, iducipsam, eturi optatium veliqui totate prae simin cus dererere athe=Eratem que eos et doluptia quibusa pernam ipsapis earcipsant et fugit re, omnihitius ernaturia nonsed maiorrum est rem sequae voluptat.

26 CLU MAGAZINE

Uciatiis soloria doloreperes doluptatet milita nonet volori quuntia sequossimi, santius parchit volo etur? Tae perorem sedi ab inienda as distio beribus, as unt delisit, et ea dolupta tiatibus, unt ad utem quos deliquia volesci endandi te molorit venimaio te nus doluptas dis idenimet que rectam quo molorum quat. Icid molendaere, audam vel ma que simus sitaquate laccus, cum fugiae voluptae di beari consed quis pedignamus ex eaquiae pelendis molecea ruptatiassit exeri voloreped quunt unt dolor asinvendae quam venihilla qui aspis eaquo volenisquo qui dolenimus debitas eum fuga. Et eos debit que vollor seque voluptas et elibusae sincid minciis qui comnis pelest essus conet ma consequatur arum aliquae. Nam siti con rent ad magnima sapis millore cepraepudit quiatur, omnissi cus est qui nist unt aut hit, qui as eaqui odipsunt lautet lanis essitiis perrum ipicia volore nus ad molorum expliquiatet que officiae nullorpor restis et delicim que et, quibus. Offic totasint, qui asitatur serit quo ipsusda nihit, quiantemodi des dolendendus. Am comnimod ea nos santios exceat. Illuptat. Hicto quam erum cus, volorum volum ea quaspic iatiisimos utatem et, odiandis ped eum quas mi, earchictur alisciene et, et periaep repudi officii squibus volenitionse nos id mo quae nos eius nonsed maximus rererum etum quat. Temodis cimaxim olorrumquis sequas rerum fuga. Itas ad quae eos sa dolectur am aborrum, iducipsam, eturi optatium veliqui totate prae simin cus dererere

taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni remperoviti iminimpor simagni que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti

Et re, sam id ut es dem que mi, ommossin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem


2000s

sam id ut es dem que mi, ommossin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que Alumni Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Erin (Rivers ’97) Rulon, MBA ’06 President and Regent Representative Kami Niebank, MBA ’15 Vice President, Alumni Involvement and Recognition; Faculty Representative Amy (Downing ’06) Duarte Vice President, University Relations Jeff Ruby ’84 Vice President, Development VOTING MEMBERS

Candace (Cerro ’09) Aragon, Andrew Brown ’09, Mike Calkins ’08, Katy (Svennungsen ’06) Carr, Julie (Heller ’89) Herder, Mark Marius ’92, John Moore ’74

Jason Fowle ’00, Santa Barbara, California, was promoted to head football coach at San Marcos High School after serving as junior varsity football coach for the past two years and varsity defensive coordinator last year . Jason was a coach at Santa Barbara City College from 2003 to 2012. officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiam

AT LARGE MEMBERS

Joanne (Satrum ’67) Cornelius, M.A. ’74 Brian McCoy ’95, Brodie Munro ’91 Sally Wennes ’88, M.A. ’01 COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Michael Bonilla ’13, Jim Day ’69 Andrew Schranze ’12, MPPA ’15 Jaymes White ’09 REPRESENTATIVES

Daniel Lacey ’17, ASCLUG President Joani Pappas ’17, GASC Chair

Office of Alumni & Family Relations Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren Senior Director Stephanie Hessemer, Associate Director Carrie (Kelley ’09, MPPA ’11) Barnett Assistant Director Vanessa Olivera, M.S. ’16 Administrative Assistant

2010s

Et re, sam id ut es dem que mi, ommossin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que

officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates Cristina Markiewicz ’10, MBA ’12, Santa Rosa Valley, California, earned her D.D.S. from the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco in June and joined Westlake Dental Arts in Agoura Hills Aug. 1.

DECEMBER 2016

27


Class Notes es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam

experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus Cathy Howell ’14, Washington, D.C., joined the Brookings Institution as a digital communications specialist in July.

28 CLU MAGAZINE

Anita Furtaw, M.A. ’87, Thousand Oaks, California, retired in July after overseeing Patagonia’s Great Pacific Child Development Center for 31 years. Anita earned a bachelor’s degree in child development from CSU Northridge and her master’s in early childhood education from Cal Lutheran. She spent 10 years working in child development programs before joining Patagonia in spring 1985.

doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum

quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui


experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiam

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY

conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos am et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem

GRADUATE

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION onsedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent.Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam

quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos

PACIFIC LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY m et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. m et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. m et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui

veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea nonsent. m et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea m et aut modis etur, commole strupid que volorehendem rerum, sum explabo remperoviti iminimpor simagni maximus eum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur aut eaquident, idunt, qui odi rectet aut vel mint lant qui ipsapient qui to tem esequid ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam, consedita quo berumquiates es dolupis del magnihit est estio earuptas mos ea

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT Ed quid quia erum quae velit aboremo luptatiiscit reperendit ut eos exces expliquo inus solupta vollia dio millat que officiti dolecto ipsam cum elic tet maximus doluptate et re pores pa inciis enecerum id estrum nonsequ aerit, od qui volorem poribus et platio iur mo dolut et libus voluptatisim nimos ipsam rerchit assima vel et quis de por ma dit labo. Iquam fugiamus volo odi int et magnamusdam experchiliae nobit fugiae laborporum quo evel inihilit invenis as aut faceari qui conem facculla de porit, sanis dempori taquos aeum et quiamsin nus ma dis aut autestiur ebitasp erovite lant etur, omnieni taernam, et qui veruptur, solupta temqui nam DECEMBER 2016

29


Milestones 1

2

4

5

6

7

30 CLU MAGAZINE

3

8


BIRTHS

MARRIAGES

1

William Kroeze ’04 (right), and Steven Tompkins, Hauppauge, New York, were married on May 14, 2016, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City by Bishop Robert Rimbo of the Metropolitan New York Synod. Will is pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Hauppauge.

2

Nicole Biergiel ’04 and Aaron Laferriere, Santa Barbara, California, were married June 3, 2016, at the Santa Barbara Mission Rose Garden.

3

Sandra Hensley ’06, M.S. ’13, and Neil Stuart, Valdosta, Georgia, were married on June 25, 2016.

4

Dana Randolph ’08 and Daniel Esters ’08, Simi Valley, California, were married on June 25, 2016.

5

Breanne Gibson ’13, MPPA ’15, and Graeme Bill ’10, Moorpark, California, were married on Aug. 17, 2016, at Moorpark Country Club. Pictured from left, front row: Graeme, Breanne, Brittany Mowry ’09, Kim Hamon ’11, Sarah (Prator ’11) and Colin ’11 Gray; middle row: Tyler Lee ’11, Bobby (Sanders ’11) Lee, Sierra Ronning ’12, Casey Kloehn ’10, M.Div. ’14, and Erin Exline ’11; back row: Matt Lee ’10, Ryan Trauger, Cassidy ’11 and Leslie (Smith ’13) Hallagin.

6

Emma Kanagi ’12 and Jordan Dwyer of Cleveland were married in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on Aug. 26, 2016.

7

Michelle Ritenour ’14 and Andrew Pankow ’14, Pasadena, California, were married on June 24, 2016.

8

Magnolia Phyllis Horan was born on June 1, 2016, to Kristina (Klug ’09, M.Ed. ’12) and Andy ’09, MBA ’11, Horan.

DEATHS A. Allan Aronson ’65 on Aug. 11, 2016. Evan Carthen ’16 on Sept. 5, 2016. Gerald Ellis Carrauthers, M.A. ’75, on Aug. 24, 2016. Todd Leavens ’89 on Oct. 12, 2016. Janet Carol Michels ’84 on July 9, 2016. Edwin Hendricks ’90 on May 13, 2016. David DePaolo, MBA ’97, on July 17, 2016.

Say hello to the new Cal Lutheran Alumni Spirit Box! It’s all you need to host a great alumni happy hour, picnic, sports party or any other event that highlights your Cal Lu spirit. From planning tips and invitations to Cal Lutheran Alumni merchandise, you’ll have everything you need to enjoy reconnecting with fellow alumni and friends.

Request Your Spirit Box Today

Contact alumni@CalLutheran.edu or visit CalLutheran.edu/spiritbox

DECEMBER 2016

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Vocations

ALL MY CHILDREN

Having a son truly has helped me find empathy for people, including my little girl and boy characters from Japanese cartoons. BY ALISON (RETZLOFF ’03) VIKTORIN

A lot of people in life speak in one tone, and you simply cannot do that as a voice actor. You have to try higher pitch, lower, sideways, all different ways of talking. I do commercials and on-camera work in my own voice, but I am best known for the kids’ voices that I make up for characters in Japanese anime translated into English. I’ve concentrated most of my work in the voice arena because it’s just so fun. The story behind finding my kid voices is that I graduated from college and thought, “I miss my family. I’m going to talk to my agent and see if I can get any work in Texas.” So I auditioned at the Funimation studios based in Flower Mound, one of the biggest distributors of anime in the United States. They dub Japanese cartoons into English, and at the time, they needed a little boy voice. I thought, a boy voice? I don’t have any kids in my life. I have no idea what to do. Then all of a sudden a boy voice came out. I don’t know where it came from. I had never practiced voices before, ever, in my entire life. Now that I have a 7-year-old son, it’s so much easier doing the child voices because I have all the nuances of his speech patterns that I’m able to draw upon. I recently finished working on a TV series called Barakamon where I voiced one of the two main characters, a little girl 32 CLU MAGAZINE

named Naru Kotoishi. She is adorable. I saw how messy she was with her little pigtail situation and her haphazard outfit, and I noticed that her parents didn’t try to rein her in; they let her run free. So that gave me more freedom with my voice to be as wild as she was. Naru is a version of my son, Cyrus. He, too, is extremely curious and excited about everything. Cy pops out everywhere all the time, just jumps out and scares me. The other day, I said, “Cyrus, where are you?” And he said, “I’m here.” I opened the pantry and he jumped out grinning and laughing. Having a child truly has helped me have empathy for people. So when I have a character that’s very sad, for example, it’s a lot easier for me now to reach all of those emotions than it was before. When I was in an anime movie called Wolf Children, I voiced a little boy named Ame, and he was very sad and nervous. About that same time, my son was scared to go to kindergarten, and I was able to draw on all of those feelings for this little character. This summer I was in the Bahamas on a tiny island. We chartered a boat and the captain flipped out when I told him what I did. He knew all of my shows. Then almost the whole town came to my house to get autographs and pictures with


IMGAES COURTESY OF FUNIMATION PRODUCTIONS

me. There are all kinds of anime fans, all the way from 10-yearolds to people in their 50s – normal, everyday people. When I was maybe in the fourth grade, I was in love with The Simpsons. I had no idea that Bart Simpson was voiced by a woman. I was so creeped out when I learned. I was like, noooooooo. I don’t know why it freaked me out, but it did. Now here I am, doing the same job. People want to hear a messier speech pattern for kids than for adults, and they want to differentiate between boys and girls. Boy voices are a little more guttural, and they’re a little bit saltier. They’re deeper and they’re rougher. Girl voices are higher and clearer. Although the directors on shows are very helpful, when it comes to the voices, I’ve mostly just had to wing it. I have been coached on noises. So if I’m drowning, they give me tips on making better drowning noises. If I’m in a bubble, I learn how to speak from the bubble with my hands in front of my mouth. These scenarios actually have happened to me, in the booth, believe it or not! Anime is way more technical than regular acting. I have to match my voice to the mouth-flaps of the character and get the timing right. I may go super-huge on one line, but if it doesn’t match those flaps and if it doesn’t time out right, then I go back to zero. I’m able to do what I do because of my professors at Cal Lu. They gave me confidence in my skills, and I know my training was the very best. As a result, I have found an art form that I can use on a daily basis and that fuels my passion for acting. I love my job and it doesn’t take me away from my family for long. I’m able to balance my career while being a good wife and mother, so at this stage in my life, I feel very well-rounded and hopeful for more fun and adventure in my future.

For an anime movie called Wolf Children, I voiced a nervous little boy named Ame. About that same time, my son was scared to go to kindergarten, and I was able to draw on all of those feelings for this little character. As an actor, I am best known for English translations of kids’ voices in Japanese anime. My first character out of college was Conan Edogawa (aka Jimmy Kudo), the boy detective in the series Case Closed.

Naru Kotoishi of the series Barakamon is a little girl, but also a version of my son Cyrus. He, too, is extremely curious and excited about everything. Cy pops out everywhere all the time, just jumps out and scares me. The other day, I said, “Cyrus, where are you?” And he said, “I’m here.” I opened the pantry and he jumped out grinning and laughing. DECEMBER 2016

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CLU Annual Fund

THE IMPAC T OF GIVING Your gift to the CLU Annual Fund directly impacts the life of Cal Lutheran students. As the premier giving society, the CLU Annual Fund ensures that essential funding is provided where it is needed most – and where there are the greatest opportunities for our students to thrive. Thanks to your generous gifts, the CLU Annual Fund has been able to:

FILL THE 15% GAP BETWEEN TUITION AND ACTUAL COST TO EDUCATE ONE STUDENT

EQUIP 100% OF OUR CLASSROOMS WITH THE LATEST EQUIPMENT

ENCOURAGE PHILANTHROPY AMONG STUDENTS THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN STUDENT GIVING AND THE STUDENT PHILANTHROPY COUNCIL AFFORD 26% OF STUDENTS A ONCEIN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY THROUGH STUDY ABROAD

PROVIDE 4,126 ENROLLED STUDENTS WITH BENEFITS

ENSURE 96% OF STUDENTS RECEIVE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

RECRUIT HIGH QUALITY EDUCATORS — 85% OF OUR FULL-TIME FACULTY HOLD A DOCTORATE OR TERMINAL DEGREE

34 CLU MAGAZINE PARTICIPATE TO HELP US REACH OUR GOAL

EVERY GIFT

MATTERS

3

WAYS TO GIVE

(805) 493-3157 CalLutheran.edu/giving Mail to: 60 W. Olsen Road #1625 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360


Continued from Page 15

LINKS Ben Sikorra supports the Kingsmen at a fooball game in September.

but a sink-or-swim proposition. Shirk found herself tested early in her time at the academy on Zuma Beach — the stretch of sand reputed to have the gnarliest waves in Los Angeles County. She spotted a teenager caught in a rip current. When she swam to the girl’s aid, the 16-year-old was in full-blown panic in tall surf. Despite her own fears, the Division III National Water Polo Player of the Year kept her cool and applied the techniques she learned in the academy to reassure the victim that they would make it together. Soon the girl was back in the arms of her grateful mom. Most Cal Lutheran students who become L.A. County lifeguards progress naturally into it from Junior Lifeguards or the state beaches program. But a few say they never would have tried out without Rond’s prodding. “If it wasn’t for Craig telling me about the tryout, I wouldn’t have known about it,” said Brandon Gross ’12. “Craig and CLU were a big influence on it.” Cal Lutheran’s second all-time leading scorer in water polo, Gross now teaches seventh-grade math and serves as athletic director at Hillcrest Christian School in Thousand Oaks. For him, lifeguarding in the summers provides year-round income, he said. Condron decided to leave the lifeguard ranks a couple years ago as the demands of his young family and his accounting career grew, but he harbors no regrets for the time and effort he sank into it. “You get out of your comfort zone. You encounter life-anddeath situations, so it helps you grow up pretty quickly,” he said. Now 51, Rond plans to lifeguard until he is 70. Aside from keeping him fit, the work supplies satisfaction few people ever experience, he said. “At the end of the day, you close up the tower and realize people are home and safe because of your watch,” he said. But that feeling of fulfillment comes at the cost of eternal vigilance — even when off duty. Said Shirk, “You are a lifeguard for life. You can never go to the beach and drink a beer. You can never take your eyes off the water.” Colleen Cason is an award-winning journalist and longtime columnist for the Ventura County Star. A Thousand Oaks resident, she has served as adviser to The Echo student newspaper and as a communications specialist for nonprofit organizations.

Ben Sikorra, a 21-year-old Westlake Village (California) man with a rare incurable neurological disease, listened to his friends talk about going to college and said, “Well me too, why not?” Although juvenile Batten disease has robbed him of most of his sight and caused cognitive and neurological difficulties, Sikorra is having his college experience – thanks to his parents, Joe and Lori, and Cal Lutheran. After undergoing a simulated admissions interview last summer with assistant dean of students and director of student life Scott Silverman, Sikorra participated in some student orientation activities in August and met with his faculty mentor President Chris Kimball. He attends football practices, serving as the team’s “hydration specialist,” participates in student activities, and sits in on a marine biology class and a freshman seminar. Sikorra’s brother John died from juvenile Batten disease a year ago at the age of 24. “One of the things [Ben] said that really struck me as interesting and important, was how proud his brother would be of him to know that he’s in college,” Joe Sikorra told reporter Jessica Rice of NBC4 News. See goo.gl/FfFYpS.

Coming Up Artists and Speakers Series presents Canadian Brass Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. Samuelson Chapel Canadian Brass has toured the globe for more than 40 years and earned international fame. Known for the musicians’ unique performance attire of formal black suits with white running shoes, the brass chamber quintet had its first European tour in 1972 and made its American debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 1975. The group has released more than 130 albums. DECEMBER 2016

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NO N PRO F IT O RG . U. S . PO S TAG E

PAID THO U S AND OAKS C AL IF O RNIA PERMIT NO. 68

60 W. Olsen Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2787

Change Service Requested

CAN YOU HELP? If this magazine is addressed to a Cal Lutheran graduate who has established a new address, please notify us at clumag@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3151. Thank you!

IGNITING PURPOSE Through its Mission Endowment Fund, the Lord of Life 녀Sun City West Church strives to leave a lasting legacy of mission work that reaches beyond its congregation. The church’s contributions over the years to Cal Lutheran’s Religion and Vocational Life Scholarship and the Theology and Christian Leadership program have helped prepare leaders with purpose who have created and nurtured innovative and productive ministries. Ignite purpose in Cal Lutheran and PLTS students who are beginning their path of service by giving to the Religion and Vocational Life Scholarship. Learn more at (805) 493-3158 or CalLutheran.edu/giving.

“As a psychology major, I chose religion and vocational studies to complement what I am truly meant to be — a pastor. I am using this scholarship to better myself and to be able to help as many people as possible in the future." Emily Erisman, Class of 2019 Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Sun City West, Arizona


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CLU Magazine - December 2016 by California Lutheran University - Issuu