CLU Magazine - April 2021

APRIL 2021 CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

Living the Mission

AmeriCorps helps students earn money for college through community service

EXPANDING AWARENESS PROGRAM AIMED AT JUSTICE VIRTUAL WORSHIP PASTORS ADAPT DURING PANDEMIC MAJOR IMPACT NEW MINOR FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

UNEXPECTED

HONOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIAM MCFERRIN

Out in Front

W

hen a friend from graduate school recently sent Kathleen Ritterbush ’06, PhD, a link to a 20-year-old research paper, she was mystified at first about the reason.

“I looked down and thought it was that paper from 2001 …

I didn’t read the title very carefully,” Ritterbush said. But her friend urged her to read the paper, titled “Early Sinemurian Ammonoids and Biochronology of the Sunrise Formation, New York Canyon, Mineral County, Nevada.”

She soon was delighted to discover that the co-authors, Jean Guex and David Taylor, named an ancient ammonite, Arnioceras ritterbushi, after her.

Ammonites were squid-like animals with seashells resembling snails that lived during the time of dinosaurs and earlier, about 300 million to 65 million years ago. Because ammonite species evolved and went extinct relatively quickly, discovering and identifying fossils of their different species in layers of sedimentary rock helps scientists pinpoint specific time periods. Discovering the same ammonites and layers on multiple continents has helped scientists understand geological events such as the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea.

Having a fossil named after you is an increasingly rare honor because fewer scientists today specialize in biostratigraphy, the science of using fossils to assign ages to rock and sedimentary formations, Ritterbush said. Biostratigraphers often are the scientists who discover new ammonite species.

Ritterbush is a paleoecologist, a scientist who studies ecosystems of the past, and has a passion for teaching science, which is ironic considering she never wanted to go to Cal Lutheran or be a scientist, especially a paleontologist. Her mother, Linda Ritterbush, PhD, Cal Lutheran professor emeritus, is a paleontologist who spent her career studying paleoecology. However, she didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

After graduating from Thousand Oaks High School, she attended Cal Lutheran, planning to major in philosophy with the goal of becoming an architect. However, a marine biology class helped change her trajectory. During a winter interim session in her sophomore year, she went on a field trip to Hawaii to stay on a research boat and study marine life. At the end of that trip, her professor suggested she stay on the boat, an idea she loved.

Ritterbush told her parents she was leaving school, packed a bag and flew back to live on the boat and teach marine biology to teenagers for six months. By the time she returned to Cal Lutheran, she knew she wanted to be a scientist and teacher. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in environmental science.

While working on her PhD in earth sciences at the University 2 CLU MAGAZINE

of Southern California, she traveled to New York Canyon, an old silver mining area in Nevada, one of the best places in the world to study fossils and sedimentary rocks from Jurassic seas. That trip led her to do her PhD research on what happened during the mass extinction event between the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

She and fellow graduate students spent years traveling to New York Canyon, not fully understanding what they were seeing in the rocks. They tried mapping the layers, and knew bits of microscopic trash from sponges were in the rocks, but the odd shapes they saw didn’t make sense.

“Eventually as I was trying to draw illustrations of what I thought this would have looked like if I was snorkeling over it, I thought, what if the sponges were actually sitting there on the sea floor when the storm swept around them, but didn’t totally obliterate all of them, and some of them got caught like Pompeii?” she said.

This revelation ended up being a turning point in her research. She discovered that most of the layers of rock that represent the first 2 million years of the Jurassic period in that area are made predominantly by sponges. No one had ever looked at the rocks that way.

Ultimately, that discovery is why Guex and Taylor chose to name an ammonite after her, she said. The ammonite also is assigned to a distinct layer of ancient time or horizon of rock — Ritterbushi horizon.

“Getting an honor like somebody recognizing my work and naming a new species of my favorite animal after me because they recognize that the work I did was helpful — I can’t even express what a professional compliment that is,” Ritterbush said.

“And I still have not written them a thank you letter because I have just been at a loss for words. I just don’t even know what to say.”

— Linda Martinez

PHOTO COURTESY OF CYPRESS COLLEGE ATHLETICS

CLUMAGAZINE

When Wes McCurtis '14 attended Cal Lutheran, he had trouble juggling sports, academics and two jobs. He thought he was giving up his dream of a career in sports. A moment of reflection helped him find his new path to becoming an athletic director.

4 A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Bold choices bring promise of new life to campus.

5 HIGHLIGHTS

University sets drive-in commencement Sports start again CERF wins grant Donor redirects gift SOM receives accreditation Classes in person and outside

Linda Martinez ART DIRECTOR

Bree M. Montanarello CONTRIBUTORS

Jim Carlisle Karin Grennan Peggy L. Johnson Karen Lindell Jana Weber Michele Willer-Allred PHOTOGRAPHER

Brian Stethem ’84

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EDITORIAL BOARD

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

APRIL 2021 2 OUT IN FRONT

INTERIM EDITOR

Jean (Kelso ’84) Sandlin, MPA ’90, EdD ’12 Bruce Stevenson ’80, PhD

14 COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE

Three students are part of the new Community Scholars for Black Lives program.

18 CARING FOR THEIR FLOCKS

Pastors have had to adapt to serve their congregations during the pandemic.

Paloma Vargas, PhD VOLUME 28, NUMBER 3

Copyright 2021. Published three times a year by University Relations for alumni, parents and friends. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of Cal Lutheran nor the magazine staff.

CORRESPOND WITH US

20 MAJOR IMPACT

Public health minor will help students promote well-being.

22 CLASS NOTES

CLU Magazine California Lutheran University 60 W. Olsen Road #1800 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2787 805-493-3151 clumag@CalLutheran.edu CalLutheran.edu/magazine

7 IN MEMORIAM

27 MILESTONES

8 Q&A: TRUDY ARRIAGA Associate dean and author aims

28 VOCATIONS

CLU Magazine welcomes letters to

to close gender equity gap in schools.

Alumnus Wes McCurtis makes a career in sports.

the editor. Please include your name, phone number, city and state, and note Cal Lutheran graduation years.

If requesting removal from our

10 SERVING THE COMMUNITY

AmeriCorps Fellows meet community needs, develop professional skills and earn money for college.

31 LINKS

distribution list, please include your name and address as they appear on the mailing label.

To submit a class note and photos for publication, write to us or visit

ON THE COVER Junior biology major Miguel Angel Gomez distributes food to families through Safe Passage, one of the nonprofits Cal Lutheran students are serving with as part of the AmeriCorps program. See Page 10.

— Photo by Brian Stethem '84

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 28).

APRIL 2021 3

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

A Letter from President Lori E. Varlotta

Bold decisions help bring new life to campus

S

pring brings the promise of new life, and this year that promise seems more symbolic than ever before. As I started writing this, the Thousand Oaks campus had just concluded its first week of in-person spring semester classes. After the successful launch of four outdoor classrooms during fall semester, we expanded the number of these opensided tents — outfitted with 360-degree cameras, screens, whiteboard readers and lights — to 10. We even added heaters to keep students and faculty members nice and warm during the somewhat cool days. With these 10 outdoor classrooms, we have the capacity to teach 100 of our traditional undergraduate classes in person. This gives more than 1,000 students the option to attend at least one of their classes on campus.

While our novel outdoor classrooms have received national media coverage, they are not being used quite yet to their fullest capacity. Given the virus outbreaks during the holidays, students and faculty alike have been extraordinarily cautious about returning to campus for socially distanced, mask-to-mask instruction. We expect comfort levels to increase soon, however. Thankfully, I was able to secure, in late February, 450 doses of the vaccine for Cal Lutheran employees. We were scheduled to receive our second doses on March 20 and 21 and had identified March 29 as the day the vast majority of us would return to campus.

“... we are making bold, not brash decisions.

Such decisions will enable us to deliver as fully as possible on our promise to offer students a highly personalized, vibrant, community-based learning experience.”

Along with the outdoor classrooms, we are seeing other signs of campus life. We have about 630 students living in our residence halls, up from about 380 in fall, and our athletic teams have begun practicing together and competing again for the first time in 11 months. Hopefully, by the time you read this magazine, Ventura County and Alameda County (home to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary) will have moved into the less-restrictive “Red Tier,” allowing us to offer some indoor instruction. When that occurs, we have plans to open some of our science and music labs and art studios to physically distanced mask-to-mask teaching and learning. Other classes will follow.

All of the above should tell you that we are making bold, not brash, decisions. Such decisions will enable us to deliver as fully as possible on our promise to offer students a highly personalized, vibrant, community-based learning experience. All the while, we are diligently following public health guidelines. As we geared up for the current semester, we increased our surveillance testing and we expanded the Cal Lutheran Compact that everyone must sign. The extensive COVID-19 protocol training completed by our large team of 11 contact tracers impressed even county public health officials.

I share this with you not to simply provide an update on how we continue to respond to the pandemic, but to signal that Cal Lutheran has responded in strong, bold and creative ways. Such a response has emerged as the exception in California higher education, not the norm. And that is what I want you to think about as you read this magazine: Cal Lutheran is an exception.

As we continue to differentiate ourselves from the field, the leadership team and I may be calling on you to help us become an even stronger, healthier, more coherent version of ourselves.

No doubt, COVID-19 has been difficult. But it has allowed Cal Lutheran to show ourselves and others what we have and what we are made of: It’s good stuff!

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CLU MAGAZINE

Highlights

Cal Lutheran plans in-person commencement PHOTO COURTESY OF BRITTANY APP

Drive-in ceremonies to honor ’20 and ’21 graduates

C

alifornia Lutheran University will honor 2020 and 2021 graduates at drive-in, in-person ceremonies attended by their classmates and families at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on consecutive weekends in May. The 2021 Traditional Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 8, and the 2021 Graduate and Professionals Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 15.

The 2020 graduates, who were honored at virtual commencement ceremonies last year because of public health restrictions, also will be celebrated at the fairgrounds during this time period.

A schedule will be announced after the 2020 graduates are polled.

The graduates will be able to walk

across the stage if Ventura County is in the “Red Tier” or higher as outlined under current state and county public health guidelines. If the county is in a more restrictive tier, photos of graduates will appear on four large LED screens as their names are announced.

Each graduate can bring one car full of people to the fairgrounds parking lot, which can accommodate up to 700 vehicles at a time. There will be a four-sided, theater-in-the-round stage, and attendees will tune in to the stateof-the-art sound system through their car radios. All state and county COVID19-related guidelines will be followed.

CBF Productions will draw on its experience presenting its successful Concerts in Your Car series at the fairgrounds to produce the ceremonies.

Other universities have announced

plans for virtual ceremonies or small-scale in-person commencements on their campuses without guests or broken down into smaller gatherings by area of study. Cal Lutheran administrators wanted to provide an in-person opportunity for graduates to celebrate with family and all of their classmates while following all public health protocols.

“We wanted to do something special that our graduates will fondly remember, given everything they have gone through,” President Lori E. Varlotta said.

“We are pleased to have found a venue that allows university faculty and staff to celebrate — in person — the incredible accomplishments of our graduates.

Knowing that graduates will be accompanied by a few family members or friends makes it all the better.”

APRIL 2021 5

Highlights

Sports

T

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRINITY MARTINEZ

he Kingsmen and Regals are back in action for the first time since March 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were first implemented. The men’s and women’s tennis, golf, and swimming and diving teams began competing with other schools in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association in late February following the guidelines of federal, state and local health authorities. The men’s and women’s basketball teams started outdoor practices in early February. At press time, Cal Lutheran was working on a conference schedule for spring sports with available teams and conference competition schedules for fall and winter sports.

Pictured is Ben Vincze during the men’s tennis season opener against Biola.

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CLU MAGAZINE

News briefs

Hamilton and Fienup

FOUNDATION AWARDS CERF RESEARCH GRANT The Bank of America Charitable Foundation awarded Cal Lutheran’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting a $250,000 research grant to identify the total economic contribution of Hispanics by U.S. state. This new data will build on CERF’s ongoing work on the nationallevel Latino Gross Domestic Product Report, with the most recent edition published last September.

CERF Executive Director Matthew Fienup and Director of Economics Dan Hamilton head the research team, which includes two colleagues from UCLA working under a subgrant award.

“With this research, we turn our attention to the eight largest U.S. states by Latino population, which together contain nearly three-quarters of the nation’s Latino population. Those states are California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey and Illinois,” Fienup explained to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

The team will calculate state-level Latino GDPs for each of the targeted states, benchmarked to the U.S. Latino GDP, then produce a report with detailed analysis of state-level data including population, age distribution, educational attainment, household formation, labor force participation, income growth and real consumption. The next report will be released this summer.

DONOR REDIRECTS $4.8M FOR IMMEDIATE IMPACT In response to the economic challenges spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, former Hughes Dorfman executive Steven Dorfman decided to redirect $4.8 million donated to the Cal Lutheran School of Management in order to immediately support students and entrepreneurship.

Dorfman originally pledged the money for a School of Management building. Aware of the financial pressure on students and their families during this period of unprecedented economic uncertainty, he developed the new agreement with Cal Lutheran President Lori E. Varlotta.

The Thousand Oaks resident directed that $1.2 million be used to award renewable scholarships covering 100% or 75% of tuition to the top percentile of admitted students in the School of Management interested in entrepreneurship and innovation.

The remaining $3.6 million will provide grants to promising startups involving Cal Lutheran students or alumni, support activities such as the New Venture Competition and startup weekends, and create an endowed professor of practice in entrepreneurship in the School of Management. Faculty member Mike Panesis, director of what is being renamed the Steven Dorfman Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will be the first to hold the position.

Dorfman served as an executive of Hughes Space and Communications Co., Hughes Telecommunications and Space, and Hughes Communications. His responsibilities ranged from directing

the landing of five probes on Venus to helping create DirecTV. After retiring in 1999, he taught as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and received NASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Public Service Award. He has been a member of the School of Management Advisory Council for several years.

SOM RECEIVES ACCREDITATION The international Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Apfelthaler granted Cal Lutheran’s School of Management full accreditation without conditions.

ACBSP is the premier accreditation body for business schools focused on excellence in teaching. The organization evaluates the quality of academic programs, faculty credentials, educational support, leadership, relationships with stakeholders, and strategic planning to determine whether the business programs offer a rigorous educational experience and demonstrate continuous quality improvement.

“This puts us in the top tier of business schools in the nation and is a guarantee that our students receive the very best education from the very best professors,” said School of Management Dean Gerhard Apfelthaler.

This is the first time Cal Lutheran sought separate accreditation for its business programs. The intensive three-year process included self-study and site visits by an evaluation team that interviewed students, alumni, employers, faculty and advisory board members.

In Memoriam

Classes In Person — Outside

TRACIE KARASIK

Ten new classrooms on the Cal Lutheran campus are an innovative solution to keeping students and faculty safe in COVID-19 times: They’re open-air tents.

But no one is roughing it.

Each outdoor tented classroom features — along with tables, chairs and a lectern — lighting, a digital whiteboard, space heaters, a green screen, a 360-degree camera and a large video monitor. Small numbers of physically distanced students can attend in person, while those who want to continue learning virtually watch via Zoom.

The tents, first set up and used on a more limited basis during the fall semester, are near the Ahmanson Science Center, Swenson Science Center and Swenson Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences and in the parking lot next to the Mogen and Grace residence halls.

As more students returned to campus for in-person instruction during the spring semester, the outdoor classrooms became a key component of the university’s health and safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some indoor labs and art studios are open on campus as well.

Ryan Van Ommeren, associate vice president of planning and services, told the Thousand Oaks Acorn that “the students are not obligated to come in. The idea is to reintroduce the in-person experience but still make it so any students can still take every class online.”

Palmer T. Olson

Joseph Paulucci

Milton Woken

1926-2020

1934-2021

1933-2021

Palmer T. Olson, a longtime Cal Lutheran employee, died Dec. 2, 2020. He was 94.

Olson was drafted into the Army in 1945 and, following his service, returned to his home state of Iowa, where he met and married his wife, Lorraine. The couple moved to Thousand Oaks with their three children in 1963.

Olson was known as a jack-of-all-trades. He became a well-known, well-loved addition to the Cal Lutheran staff, working in maintenance and security for 44 years. He retired in 2012.

His wife also was a longtime university staff member, running the bookstore for 26 years, then working as a campus switchboard operator until her retirement in 2009.

Olson was a longtime supporter of the Cal Lutheran football team and was a member the Pi-R Squares Dance Club, Sons of Norway and Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks.

He was preceded in death by his wife and son David Olson. He is survived by his son Dan Olson ’74, daughter Diann (Olson ’80) Savage, 10 grandchildren, 12 greatgrandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Joseph (Joe) Paulucci, whose name graces the KCLU broadcast studios, died on Jan. 16, 2021. He was 86.

A longtime resident of Agoura Hills, California, Paulucci was a minister, a therapist and a businessman.

He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Roberts, after graduation. He received a doctorate in psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and was the pastor of Kirk O’ the Valley Presbyterian Church in Reseda, California, for 16 years. He also continued his education and became a psychologist. Forty years ago, he and his wife founded PTS Furniture in Thousand Oaks.

He was very active in the Conejo Valley community, supporting many projects through the years. He was involved with the Westlake Rotary Club and served as president from 1995 to 1996.

He also contributed to many local and national nonprofit organizations.

He and his wife were special friends of KCLU, contributing $1 million to kick-start the campaign a decade ago to build a state-of-the-art home for the radio station.

The Paulucci Studios, which include the newsroom, are mentioned in the station identification at the top of the hour.

Paulucci is survived by his wife of 64 years, two daughters, two granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.

Milton (Milt) Woken, a longtime supporter of Cal Lutheran, died Jan. 31, 2021, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 87.

Woken and his wife, Mary, have donated more than $182,000 to Cal Lutheran over the past 32 years and have participated in every major giving campaign during that time.

Woken Walk, a trail along the riparian corridor behind the athletics complex, was dedicated in 2009 and named in their honor for their support of the Now is the Time campaign. The Woken Athletic Training Room also is named in their honor.

Woken was a certified public accountant who loved his clients and worked into his 80s. He enjoyed traveling and had visited all 50 states.

He especially enjoyed visiting New England in autumn and the Indianapolis 500 in May. He was a man of faith who loved God, family, country, hard work, singing and sports. He actively followed the stock market and often sat on the front porch or back patio of his home in Bear Valley Springs, California, enjoying beautiful sunsets, birds and wildlife.

Woken is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.

Robert A. Dull, associate professor and chair of the Earth and Environmental Science Department, teaches a class in one of the outdoor classrooms.

APRIL 2021 7

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

Q&A

A LENS ON EQUITY

Trudy T. Arriaga, associate dean of equity and outreach and Distinguished Educator in Residence in Cal Lutheran’s Graduate School of Education, served for 14 years as the first female superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District. In the recently published “Leading While Female,” she and co-authors Stacie L. Stanley and Delores B. Lindsey aim to help both female and male educational leaders close the gender equity gap in schools.

8 CLU MAGAZINE

Why did you decide to write “Leading While Female”? When 78% of the teachers in this nation are female, yet 24% of the superintendents are female, that’s a compelling piece of data.

As a superintendent, I had 18,000 whys — 18,000 students who were paying close attention to the decisions we were making as adults. I don’t have 18,000 anymore, but I have two: a granddaughter and grandson. Two is enough for me to make sure both of them look up and find women in roles of leadership and prestige and influence. As well as men.

What are some obstacles you have faced as a female education leader? I think one of the challenges was the misperception of me as a woman in leadership.

Don’t confuse my greatest strength — that I am kind, caring, compassionate and sensitive — as a weakness. I wasn’t afraid to cry, to show my emotions, to say, “That kept me up at night.”

Another was people walking in the room looking for the superintendent, and not assuming that might be me.

Also, I did not have a network like men do. I would go to a conference, where there would be 100 superintendents, and maybe eight were women.

The men networked — met for drinks at the bar, went golfing on Saturday. In my early years, I didn’t have a network of support.

In our research, we found that as women, we’re often our own worst enemies. Not only do we not network, but we have a tendency to say, “Pull up the ladder; I’m the extraordinary woman in the room and I like it” versus “I’m going to work hard to make sure I take the hand of other women, pull them up and bring them in.”

How do women lead differently than men? I think women have unique contributions because our lens is different. It’s not a better lens, but it most definitely is a different one.

In my own career, for example, we were doing layoff notices during the recession. I had gone to every single indi-

They can say, “We’re not going to talk about women that way.”

How important are mentors for educational leaders? Research shows that mentors are critically important — certainly informal mentors, but formal mentors as well, selected and paid for to ensure that you have a person outside the organization who’s been successful in the role. I’m currently a mentor to two female superintendents in the state.

Of course we need male mentors, but we also need each other.

What kind of changes do you think are needed outside the workplace to help women succeed in leadership roles? Gender equity is an opportunity to look at systems and procedures in our homes as well as in our communities and workplaces. If you listen to nursery rhymes, Jack was nimble and quick, and Georgie Porgie kissed the girls and made them cry. But Jill followed Jack up the hill, and Little Bo Peep lost her sheep. Those are formative nursery rhymes. It’s ever so subtle yet disturbingly intentional to woo our children to sleep with thoughts of what boys and girls do.

And then they get to school, and we assume the boys will build the Lego structures and explore science, but girls will participate in activities that don’t require technical, scientific or spatial skills.

We absolutely subject our children to gender inequities from day one.

We don’t do it intentionally with bad hearts, but it’s an opportunity for us to think about what we do and say, and what our expectations are for our children.

We’re not talking only about binary boys and girls, female/male. We talk about the intersectionality and fluidity of the unique contributions of individual women in the LGBTQ+ community, women of color and women who are not of the majority faith community.

How can male educational leaders be allies, advocates and mentors?

Men in educational leadership can be very intentional about ensuring women have networks; and about processes, procedures and protocol in terms of how they impact women. They can recognize it isn’t just that women want a seat at the table, we want a voice at the table.

They can make certain there is no opportunity in the organization for gender bias, discrimination or harassment. And I’m not just talking about in the boardroom, but in the locker room.

Can you share some of what you learned from talking to women of color and people from the LGBTQ+ community? LGBTQ+ women spoke of not being able to share who they are as a woman within their school community, and the conflicts that presented.

Six percent of the superintendents in this nation are women of color. So there’s an additional “I’ve never seen you there, so therefore it’s hard to imagine myself there” barrier.

The research is very clear that if a child can look up and find themself, there is great hope.

vidual teacher and handed the notice to them, and listened as they shared their anguish about the possibility of losing a job. It was not the easy way out.

I remember telling a colleague who happened to be a male just how exhausted I was by it. He said, “Why on earth would you do that? We just mailed them in the mail.”

I don’t want to stereotype and say that’s because he was a male and I was a female. But we definitely had a different style.

APRIL 2021 9

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

PUBLIC SERVICE

AmeriCorps program helps students engage with the community, develop professional skills and pay for college

BY MICHELE WILLER-ALLRED

Junior biology major and AmeriCorps Fellow Miguel Angel Gomez distributes food to families through Safe Passage.

10 CLU MAGAZINE

A

first-in-the-nation pilot AmeriCorps Fellow cohort, aimed at helping students pay for college through public service, is underway this spring semester at Cal Lutheran and already producing a positive reaction among participants.

“The skills I have learned through the AmeriCorps program are just amazing,” said 20-year-old Miguel Angel Gomez, a junior biology student serving at Safe Passage, a program in Thousand Oaks committed to eliminating gang-related crime by stopping gang recruitment among at-risk youth.

Likewise, the students’ service is producing promising results in underserved communities.

For instance, community organizers with the Mixteco/ Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) have credited students in the program for helping Indigenous Mexican youth in their organization become more engaged in the community.

Organizers say those are exactly the results they were hoping for when deciding to offer the pilot program, which also allows the university to become more engaged in the community.

Cal Lutheran is one of eight universities partnering with the state of California on the Civic Action Fellowships coordinated

by California Volunteers, which administers the AmeriCorps portfolio.

An inaugural cohort of 20 students is serving low-income and immigrant populations throughout Ventura County.

Upon completion of their fellowships, the students can receive up to $7,900 from the federal and state governments.

Last fall, the students participated in professional development training, which included learning about serving vulnerable populations, and connected with the leaders at the organizations where they would serve.

In addition to Safe Passage and MICOP, the organizations include Cal Lutheran’s Rising Scholars Academy partnership with Moorpark College; Cal Lutheran’s TRIO Pre-University Programs; and Oxnard College’s OMEGA Initiative for men of color, First Year Experience (FYE) Center and DREAM Center.

The students started their service hours in mid-January, and this spring are dedicating 25 hours a week for 22 weeks to activities, such as tutoring both children and adult language learners and developing and running extracurricular programs.

Concurrently, they are taking courses focused on social justice theories, educational equity and community engagement.

In the summer, they will complete data collection and assessment reports.

“It’s a big program,” said project director Cynthia Duarte.

“Given that it’s the first year, it’s really challenging. The students are at their sites right now, and we’re seeing them helping other students, so it’s a really exciting time.”

Duarte, an assistant professor of sociology and director of Cal Lutheran’s Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice, said each participating student has a passion for service and education. They also have unique strengths and innovative ideas on how to better connect with more people in the community.

Gomez is involved with several tasks at Safe Passage, including distributing food, clothing and school supplies to individuals and families in need, and tutoring at-risk youths, who may

Cal Lutheran students were sworn in to the AmeriCorps program via Zoom in the fall semester.

“We want students who are strong in character, have a global mindset, and are committed to social justice.” not otherwise get the support that they need. He is utilizing his science knowledge to create a mini-science fair for young students and working on ways to better bridge the gap between the police and certain parts of the community that might have animosity toward law enforcement.

“I’ve also become more socially aware, and I’ve become more cognizant of the way my actions and behaviors can affect others,” said Gomez.

Denise Quezada, a 22-year-old exercise science major, is serving with Oxnard College’s First Year Experience, which provides resources and informational and recreational workshops to first-year college students.

Aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected daily activities such as exercise, Quezada helped create a workshop for the students called Wellness Wednesdays. It is designed to promote physical and mental wellness in an interactive and accessible manner, including through short TikTok videos.

“The FYE program was in need of a resource for students to exercise this fundamental need that is often overlooked,” Quezada said. “I really enjoy working on this project so far because this is a topic I am passionate about. Physical wellness is something I believe to be central to many aspects of our life.”

“I don’t think any of them realized their TikTok skills were going to be really valuable. It’s really neat to see something they didn’t know was a skill suddenly become a skill,” said Duarte, adding that the students are also putting the knowledge they have learned in the classroom to great use.

The students also are gaining valuable professional skills APRIL 2021 11

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TIM HAGEL

L TO R: AmeriCorps Fellows Emma Janzen and Jade Reyes work with students from Safe Passage as part of their service.

and learning how to organize, manage and present themselves in a work setting, Duarte said.

“I really like that this program feels more like community service, which I really enjoy participating in, as opposed to just work and no fun. It feels more like giving back,” said Angelina Leanos, a 19-year-old sophomore English major, who is also serving at Oxnard College.

“I would tell students if they’re passionate about community service and helping students on their path toward higher education, that this is definitely a program to do that type of work,” Leanos said.

Katia Ayala, a 22-year-old senior political science and Spanish major, is focusing on the Tequio Youth Group and helping advocate for the health and well-being of Indigenous Mexican youth in Ventura County as part of MICOP. Her supervisor is Xochitl Lopez, also a senior at Cal Lutheran, who serves as a youth organizer with MICOP. “For so long our Indigenous youth have kind of been left out and not always welcome. So, that’s why our organization and youth group in general is super important for our community,” Lopez said. “I see our youth show up religiously now, and they’re super excited to interact with their classmates and fellow youth.”

“I see (Ayala’s) work being very important to our community, showing us that we belong in these spaces where we weren’t always welcome,” she said.

Ayala said the service she is involved with is expanding her horizons.

“The program really prepares you for the real world because it exposes you to so many problems within your own community that really make you think, and really make you be proactive instead of living in your own bubble,” Ayala said.

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Another Cal Lutheran student, Amaris Menjivar, a 21-year-old senior communication major, is assisting MICOP community organizer Juvenal Solano with farmworker justice initiatives.

Menjivar is helping to design informational materials, including those that inform farmworkers about their rights, as well as calling farmworkers to encourage them to attend Zoom meetings or training.

“It is an asset (having Menjivar here) because she knows a lot about marketing and that is a plus for us since most of our organizers themselves were farmworkers with limited technology abilities,” Solano said.

Duarte said Cal Lutheran received the initial pilot funding to test out the program, and now the university is applying for a two-year grant to continue it.

If the application is successful, Cal Lutheran will start accepting applications for the 2021-22 AmeriCorps Fellow cohort program in late spring or early summer.

What kind of student is Cal Lutheran seeking for the program?

“We want students who are strong in character, have a global mindset, and are committed to social justice,” Duarte said.

“These students are living the mission of Cal Lutheran in our community, as well as giving themselves training so even when they leave college, they’ll be able to continue that mission. So, they really represent us at our best when it comes to Cal Lutheran,” Duarte said.

For more information, visit www.CalLutheran.edu/centers/ cej/americorps.

Michele Willer-Allred is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Ventura County Star, Malibu Surfside News and Central Coast Farm & Ranch magazine. She lives in Moorpark, California.

GIVE TO CAL LUTHERAN Thank YOU! If you have already made a gift to Cal Lutheran Cares Day, you have our appreciation. If not, there is still time! With your help we can top last year’s total giving of $1.9 million. All gifts made through April 21, 2021, will be counted toward our Cares Day goal.

REGINA D. BIDDINGS-MURO, EdD Vice President, University Advancement

JODY SKENDERIAN, MA Executive Director, Development Programs United States & International

rbiddingsmuro@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3160

jskender@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3837

EDGAR AGUIRRE ’99, MA

MARIA PAREDES, MA

Major Gifts Officer Eastern Ventura County, Arizona, Nevada

Washington, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County

edgaraguirre@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3273

mariaparedes@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3640

LANA CLARK ’06, MPPA ’13

MICHELLE SPURGEON

Major Gifts Officer

spurgeon@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3157

West Ventura County, Orange County and Greater San Diego

Director of Development

Senior Director of Annual Giving

lclark@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3163 Contact a member of our team today to learn more about supporting Cares Day and giving to what matters most to you.

Stronger Together.

CalLutheran.edu/caresday

14 CLU MAGAZINE

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELYSIA WILLIAMS

For her project, Elysia Williams started a virtual book club with books featuring positive stories with Black protagonists.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LANDRY IRUMVA

EXPANDING AWARENESS New Community Scholars for Black Lives program is part of Cal Lutheran’s commitment to service and justice

BY MICHELE WILLER-ALLRED

Landry Irumva organized a networking forum to connect Black students with local business leaders.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZINO AYETUOMA

W

hen Cal Lutheran student Elysia Williams was growing up, she couldn’t really find any Black comingof-age novels that showed a positive experience.

“Those books are usually attached to some sort of trauma, and so, it was really hard for me to read them,” Williams explained. “And, when you’re in high school and your morals and worldview are developing, it’s really great, especially for people of color, to read books that represent a positive experience as their own because the media doesn’t always portray us in a great light.”

Looking to make a change and help youth in her community going through the same experience, Williams recently started a new virtual book club featuring positive stories with Black protagonists.

She created the book club as a project for Cal Lutheran’s newly-created Community Scholars for Black Lives program.

Williams and fellow students Zino Ayetuoma and Landry Irumva are spearheading projects to increase awareness of systemic racism in the media, health care and the workplace as recipients of the new fellowships launched by Cal Lutheran.

The three students are the first Community Scholars for Black Lives selected by Cal Lutheran faculty and staff and local chapter members of long-established national and international civil rights, community service and Black Greek-letter organizations.

Regina D. Biddings-Muro, EdD, vice president of University Advancement, explained that when George Floyd was killed in May 2020, it reminded people of the gravity of racism in the United States.

“My (Cal Lutheran) colleagues, with an abundance of support and compassion, turned to me and others for ideas about what we could do in this tragic moment to let the entire university community see a tangible commitment to service and justice,”

Zino Ayetuoma is working on a mini-documentary about the disparities in health care that are harming the Black community.

APRIL 2021 15

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELYSIA WILLIAMS

When she was growing up, Elysia Williams couldn't find any Black coming-of-age novels that showed a positive experience.

said Biddings-Muro, an African American who is the first person of color on Cal Lutheran’s executive cabinet.

Biddings-Muro and colleague Kelly Owens, PhD, director of sponsored research and projects at Cal Lutheran, came up with the program concept and are implementing it with the help of others on and off campus, including university alumni.

After hearing presentations about local needs from partner organizations, each student proposed a project that promotes “a more just society where African Americans do not bear the brunt of racist structures and systems,” Biddings-Muro said.

“Our goal is that students will work with the community to expand awareness and strengthen community to bring about broader societal impact,” she said about the program, in which students received project funding. The Amgen Foundation provided a two-year grant for the program.

Irumva, a native of Kigali, Rwanda, and junior majoring in political science, has organized a networking forum to connect Black students with local leaders from both the public and private business sectors.

“In schools, you have career service offices that help you get into jobs, but this forum will focus on once you get into those jobs, what are the pathways and things you need to do to get into a leadership position,” Irumva said.

16 CLU MAGAZINE

“Our goal is that students will work with the community to expand awareness and strengthen community to bring about broader societal impact.”

Ayetuoma, a senior majoring in biology, is working on a mini-documentary aimed at bringing awareness to the disparities in health care that are harming the Black community.

She said she has firsthand knowledge, having had vast interactions with medical professionals because she has sickle cell disease.

“I hope that this would change the practices of some, or at the very least make people aware of the biases that disadvantage many members of the Black community who need medical care,” she said.

Williams, a junior majoring in English, said she was inspired after listening to an explanation of the program by Michele Dean ’78, MA ’89, EdD ’06. The Cal Lutheran field placement director and lecturer noted that there was a need for young role models for the youth in the community.

“I can already see the students are really excited about the books,” Williams said. “The book club is also a real melting pot of individuals, which is really great because it’s not only good for Black folks to read positive stories, but it’s also good for people of other ethnicities and different cultures to read positive experiences too.”

Dean is chairperson with the Channel Islands Chapter of the Links Inc., an African American women’s service organization that is helping Cal Lutheran with the program.

“I was very pleased and honored that the university stepped up and decided to develop this social justice program,” Dean said. “You can’t just sweep things under the carpet. You have to discuss issues like these and share them. People will only grow when they know what is going on and are given the tools for how to improve.”

Ken Barrow, MPPA ’13, also was asked to help with the program due to his extensive involvement in the community, including as executive director for Black Lives Matter Ventura County and social action chair for Omega Psi Phi Chapter No. 779, an African American fraternity.

Barrow said the program was one he long asked for on campus, but it never got the needed funding until now.

“It’s necessary for Cal Lutheran to ingrain itself in a community that’s more diverse than it is,” Barrow said. “The program also supports what Cal Lutheran is supposed to be doing as a Lutheran campus: It is operating with what I consider a heart for humanity and the salvation of people.”

Michele Willer-Allred is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Ventura County Star, Malibu Surfside News and Central Coast Farm & Ranch magazine. She lives in Moorpark, California.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ELIZABETH LOHR-MYERS

Media Services worker Brandon Perera ’20, left, and Media Services coordinator Chris Reynolds-Baldwin ’17 help the Rev. Scott Maxwell-Doherty ’76, MDiv ’81 (PLTS), prepare to film a weekly service at Cal Lutheran’s Samuelson Chapel. The services are streamed on the Cal Lutheran Campus Ministry Facebook page at 11:25 a.m. Thursdays.

Caring for T their flocks Adaptability has been the key for pastors trying to serve and stay connected to their congregations during the pandemic.

BY JIM CARLISLE

18 CLU MAGAZINE

he effect on life during the pandemic has been so pervasive, it has even shaken how we worship God. But the need was seen as vital, and those in charge of campus ministry at Cal Lutheran and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary made sure it could still happen.

Chapel services and other events have continued to take place online during the past year at both campuses.

“As soon as the pandemic became a reality and we were going to be disallowed from gathering as a community, our office made a swift decision to become highly adaptable and that adaptability has served us well,” said university pastor the Rev. Scott Maxwell-Doherty ’76, MDiv ’81 (PLTS).

For many, coping with the coronavirus would have been unimaginable without the church.

“It’s not a moment, when trauma hits, for the church to shrink back and say, ‘We don’t know what the heck we’re doing, so we’re just going to wait and see what rolls out,’ ” Maxwell-Doherty said. “No, whether we’re right or wrong, we’re going to step to the front of the line and say we’re called to serve, we’re called to engage people, we’re called to meet with people. So we just kept the worshiping practice going week after week after week.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARA WILSON '13

“We realize we can tend to the community better if we’re tending to our own spiritual economies around the staff table.”

In addition to Cal Lutheran’s Thursday chapel and Sunday night Lord of Life services, many other regular activities involving a number of religious groups have continued online.

And, following chapel services at both Cal Lutheran and PLTS, participants are invited to stay logged in to chat and check in with each other.

“Those have been magnificent moments of how to engage with each other when there’s so much around us that’s uncertain and unstable,” Maxwell-Doherty said.

Cal Lutheran campus minister the Rev. Hazel Salazar-Davidson TEEM ’17 (PLTS) said when she is preparing a sermon that will be delivered in an empty chapel, she tries to envision some of those who will be hearing it.

“I create little Post-it notes,” she said. “I write their name, and I try to meditate on that for a minute, and then I begin my sermon-writing so that when I walk into the room, I’ve seen and visualized those people there and I want to speak to their hearts.”

Both schools have benefited from tech support as well as from student musicians, who have prerecorded hymns.

Jessica Helms ’04, Cal Lutheran’s coordinator of chapel music, and administrative assistant Elizabeth Lohr-Myers added video technology tasks to their regular duties.

At PLTS in Berkeley, Eucharist has not been celebrated since services have gone online. But for Ash Wednesday, associate director of seminary relations Sara Wilson, MDiv ’13 (PLTS), who serves as pastor for worship, prepared ashes and invitation to Lent kits for Bay Area students. Similar arrangements were made at Cal Lutheran.

Wilson said the pandemic caused her to postpone her ordination service for five months. Then, after she planned to move it outdoors to a Lutheran camp, Northern California wildfires forced another change: indoors on Zoom and Facebook Live with only 12 attendees.

“When I had two days to replan my ordination, I got the experience of the PLTS and Cal Lutheran communities, my friends and bishops who rallied around me and honestly carried me through. It was my ‘Footprints in the Sand’ moment with Jesus.”

Wilson said seminary alumni now serving as pastors are enduring burnout, financial difficulties and other challenges.

Some attendees lack internet access. PLTS and other ministries are offering congregations prerecorded worship services.

Even while trying to care for their flocks, the ministers are also trying to care for each other.

“To ask people how they are at the beginning of a staff meeting, it’s no longer the casual question where everybody usually says, ‘I’m fine,’ ” Maxwell-Doherty said. “We realize we

Associate director of seminary relations Sara Wilson, MDiv ’13 (PLTS), said the pandemic caused her to postpone her ordination service for five months. After several changes, it was held indoors on Zoom and Facebook Live with only 12 attendees.

can tend to the community better if we’re tending to our own spiritual economies around the staff table.”

But the pastors also expect to keep many of the virtual offerings in place. There are PLTS students in Russia and Lebanon who have joined worship through Zoom.

Salazar-Davidson said meeting virtually has helped people feel more involved.

“I hope that we can go back to life as normal, but life is not normal,” she said. “Life has people who have not been included and we didn’t even realize that we were excluding.”

Jim Carlisle is a former sports columnist and reporter for the Ventura County Star. He has been the public address announcer for Cal Lutheran football since 2001 and lives in Simi Valley, California.

CONNECTING ONLINE Cal Lutheran Campus Ministry: CalLutheran.edu/mission-identity/campus-ministry/ Campus Ministry Facebook page: facebook.com/CLUministry/ Cal Lutheran worship opportunities: CalLutheran.edu/mission-identity/campus-ministry/wannaworship.html Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Spiritual Practice: PLTS.edu/life-at-plts/spiritual-practice.html Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Chapel: PLTS.edu/students/student-services/chapel.html

APRIL 2021 19

Major Impact

New public health minor helps students promote well-being in diverse communities

O

livia Chee used to have an uncomplicated definition of “public health.”

“I took it very literally,” said the freshman biological sciences major. “I thought it was about public health care programs and not making other people sick.”

But after taking Cal Lutheran’s Introduction to Public Health class during the fall 2020 semester, she’s developed a new interpretation: “It means striving for equity.”

Public health covers vaccinations and other topics related to communicable diseases and preventive health, Chee said, “but goes so much deeper than that.” The field also explores “the socioeconomic status of communities” — how people from poorer neighborhoods, or racial or ethnic minorities, are often at a disadvantage when it comes to health care and negative environmental problems such as air or water pollution.

So when Chee, who wants to become an OB-GYN, learned that Cal Lutheran was introducing a minor in public health starting with the spring 2021 semester, she eagerly signed up.

Adina Nack, a Cal Lutheran sociology professor, spearheaded efforts to create the program.

“As a medical sociologist, I look for the ways in which one’s personal illness experiences connect with larger social problems, including systemic inequities that result in health disparities,” Nack said. “Collaborations with different health care professionals — from physicians and nurses, to social workers and mental health practitioners — taught me the value of being able to draw on knowledge from the health sciences, social and behavioral sciences, ethicists and artists.”

The new interdisciplinary minor isn’t just for students who want to be doctors or nurses. Knowledge of public health is beneficial across many subjects and majors, including biology, chemistry, communication, environmental science, exercise science, psychology and sociology.

Nack invited her former Cal Lutheran student Jennie (Metzgar ’08) Torti to teach the introductory class in the fall.

Torti, who earned her master’s degree in public health at California State University, Northridge, is a public health educator at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard; she’s especially interested in pregnancy and postpartum health.

Discussion about the public health minor was in the works before the coronavirus pandemic walloped the world with a real-life crisis. Torti, who taught her fall class remotely, found plenty of timely material to make the course relevant to students. Suddenly, the history of the 1918 Spanish flu, controver20 CLU MAGAZINE

BY KAREN LINDELL

sies about vaccines, and statistics related to the social determinants of health no longer seemed abstract.

“Every student could engage in the material from both an academic and personal perspective,” Torti said. “With the pandemic, people are getting an understanding of the role public health plays in our lives.”

Sophomore Cheyenne Wierzbicki, a sociology major, was a student in Torti’s class and among the first students to select the public health minor.

Wierzbicki, who eventually wants to earn a doctorate in medical sociology, said she’s been showering her family with COVID19-prevention statistics, such as the efficacy of mask-wearing.

Like Chee, she felt especially enlightened to learn about what she now considers the biggest health problem in our country: the effect of race and socioeconomic status on health care. “The more money you have, the better health care you have,” she said.

The study of public health can lead to jobs in research, environmental science, education, nutrition, community planning, social work, epidemiology, occupational health, policymaking, mental health, substance abuse prevention, policing and more.

Some of the elective classes Cal Lutheran students can take to fulfill the public health minor include Statistics for the Sciences, Sexuality and Society, Persuasive Communication, Deviance in U.S. Society, Substance Abuse, Nutrition, Bioethics and Sport Psychology.

“Public health looks at the health of a community, whereas medical doctors diagnose and treat individuals,” Torti said.

“For students going into medicine, understanding the factors affecting an individual’s health at a community level — where they live, work and play — broadens their perspective.”

She said public health is also a key topic for students interested in environmental science, sociology and psychology because they need to “understand how the health of a community impacts daily life.”

Public health might be a “minor” at Cal Lutheran, but the potential positive health effects are major.

Karen Lindell has been a newspaper, magazine and website writer and editor for more than 15 years, including work at the Ventura County Star, L.A. Parent magazine, Los Angeles Times, Ojai Valley News, VC Reporter and Ranker.com. She lives in Los Angeles.

BRIAN STETHEM ’84

Jennie (Metzgar '08) Torti was invited to teach the introductory class in the fall, before the public health minor was approved.

CLASS NOTES NOTICES RECEIVED AS OF FEB. 17. Not sure how to submit a note? See Page 3

’60s John Luebtow ’67, Chatsworth, California, was recently featured in an hourlong interview with the Craft in America Center and the Public Broadcasting Service. The interview, “Artist Talk: John Luebtow,” which was presented in conjunction with his Craft in America Center exhibition “Democracy 2020: Craft & the Election,” covers his 55 years of making art. John has become one of the most respected names in contemporary glass sculpture and has received commissions from major public and private corporations.

’70s Joel Davis ’70, Bellevue, Washington, is officially retired but still enjoys writing. He recently had two articles published on Astronomy.com: “The breezes of Arrokoth may have rejuvenated the space rock’s surface” (Oct. 21, 2020) and “Who discovered Neptune?” (Nov. 9, 2020). A feature article, “The mystery and majesty of the ice giants,” appeared in the December 2020 issue of Astronomy magazine.

Linda Gawthorne ’70, Bogotá, Colombia, has returned to Colombia after spending nearly eight months in California due to travel delays caused by the pandemic. Linda is happy to return to her work assisting the Kogi Christians in the South American country. Her brain is slowly switching from thinking and speaking in English back to Spanish and the Kogi language.

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’90s Lori (McMillin ’77) Hartin, Hayden, Idaho, and her husband, Tom, recently retired and relocated to Idaho to be close to family. Being a native of sunny Southern California, Lori wondered if she could live in a snowy climate but has found she enjoys the rugged beauty of Idaho. In the past several years, Lori and Tom have developed a passion for cruising. So far, they have cruised Alaska and the Mexican Riviera, and spent three weeks cruising and snorkeling Bora Bora and the Tahitian Islands. They are looking forward to more retirement adventures and hope to catch a viewing of the Aurora Borealis this fall.

’80s Eric Dever ’84, Bridgehampton, New York, has participated in a Drive-By-Art (Public Art in This Moment of Social Distancing) gallery near his Water Mill studio garden.

Eric’s paintings are in a number of public collections and part of the United States Department of State Art in Embassies exhibition program. Eric continues to present studio painting workshops at the Parrish Art Museum and the Andy Warhol Preserve-Visual Artist Workshop in New York.

John Fasano ’85, Cumming, Georgia, has been appointed chief financial officer of VIVA Finance, an Atlanta-based fintech platform that provides innovative financial solutions for consumers. John most recently served as CEO of VoApps, a technology company that provides voicemail solutions for businesses. John is honored to join VIVA as it tackles challenges in the financial system that prevent many people from accessing fairly priced financial products and services.

Scott Schultz ’90 and wife Carrie, Ladera Ranch, California, embarked on a 16-day, 3,000-mile “empty-nester” road trip last October. They have two daughters in college. Gabriella is a senior at Cal Lutheran and Victoria is a freshman at Pacific Lutheran. Scott and Carrie spent four days visiting with classmate Dan Smeester ’90 and his wife, Susan Gutierrez, in Walnut Creek, California. Dan and Susan are both doctors. Dan specializes in drug and alcohol dependence and addiction treatment. Scott, above left, and Dan reunited to celebrate their 30-year anniversary of graduating from Cal Lutheran and the eight-week trip they took together cycling

over 1,800 miles through France and Italy.

Scott and Carrie then visited classmates Jenifer (Larson ’90) and Dave ’90 Salzwedel, below left, in Reno, Nevada, where they posed with the Cal Lutheran alumni flag. They spent three days wakeboarding, golfing, mountain biking, and enjoying good food and wine together.

Sean Atkins ’93, Larchmont, New York, has joined Western Governors University as senior vice president and executive dean of its College of Business. He previously served as president of Viacom’s MTV division and held senior leadership roles at Discovery, Warner Media, Yahoo! and The Walt Disney Co. He also served on the advisory boards of Evolution Media Partners, Bain Consulting and LinkedIn. Jesus “Chuy” Loza ’93, Santa Paula, California, has joined the Limoneira Co. board of directors. Limoneira is a 126-year-old international agribusiness headquartered in Santa Paula that has grown to become one of the premier integrated agribusinesses and a leading producer of lemons, avocados, oranges and other specialty crops enjoyed throughout the world.

Chuy is also a founder of Freska Produce, which is one of the largest distributors of mangoes in the United States and has helped accelerate the growth of this fruit in popularity.

Corey Undlin ’94, MBA ’07, who started his career in 1998 as part of the Kingsmen coaching staff, most recently joined the coaching staff of the San Francisco 49ers as a pass game specialist and secondary coach. Last season, Corey was the defensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions, and previously spent four seasons as defensive coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had their first ever Super Bowl win in 2018.

Richard Hernandez ’98, Moorpark, California, joined the Bank of Southern California as executive vice president and chief banking officer. Richard has more than 20 years of experience in finance and is active in his community. He previously served on the board for Casa Pacifica in Ventura County and the Boys and Girls Club of Las Virgenes.

Jasmine (Budhu ’99) Ruys, Santa Clarita, California, has been promoted to serve as vice president of student services at College of the Canyons. Over the past 20 years, Jasmine has held various leadership positions there including dean of enrollment services. She also opened the Multicultural Center and assisted in the rollout of the college’s First-Year Promise program, known as Canyons Promise. Jasmine is passionate about education and student success.

’00s Jason Hirsch ’04, Denver, Colorado, is the managing partner for Fast Performance, a premier sports development facility. After a career in major league baseball as a starting pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, Jason is now dedicated to helping baseball players of all ages develop healthy arm habits and routines that will last through their own major league careers.

Kathleen Ritterbush ’06, Salt Lake City, Utah, has received the extraordinary distinction of having an ancient ammonite named after her, the Arnioceras ritterbushi.

Kathleen notes that she shares this species and horizon name with her mother, paleontologist and Cal Lutheran Professor Emeritus Linda Ritterbush. Kathleen holds a PhD in earth sciences from the University of Southern California and currently is an assistant professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah. (See Page 2.)

David Zacks ’06, Oxnard, California, is the chief compliance officer of bitFlyer USA, where he leads risk, compliance, legal and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining bitFlyer USA, David held compliance management roles at Airbnb, Auka and JPMorgan Chase. Throughout his career, David has organized compliance programs, led investigative teams, navigated complex sanction regimes, expanded global licensing and provided executive oversight. He is a certified anti-money laundering specialist and a certified financial crime specialist.

Nate Johnson ’07, Los Angeles, coauthored the book The Successful Mind: Tools to Living a Purposeful, Productive, and Happy Life, which became an Amazon No. 1 bestseller in October 2020.

Brett Waverly ’08, Corvallis, Oregon, recently joined The Corvallis Clinic as a podiatrist providing comprehensive foot and ankle care. Brett believes in educating patients on their condition so they can make informed decisions about their care options.

ALUMNI BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Candice (Cerro ’09) Aragon President and Regent Representative Andrew Brown ’09, Vice President, Alumni Involvement & Recognition Irene (Tyrrell ’00) Moyer Vice President, University Relations Sergio Galvez ’03, MPPA ’09 Vice President, Development Jean Helm, MBA ’00 Secretary Erin (Rivers ’97) Rulon, MBA ’06 Immediate Past President/ At-Large Representative VOTING MEMBERS Joanne (Satrum ’67) Cornelius, MA ’74 Julie (Heller ’89) Herder Karsten Lundring ’65 Reggie Ray ’92, MBA ’04 Sal Sandoval ’78 Brandi Schnathorst, MBA ’10 AT-LARGE MEMBERS Pedro Guillen ’16, MA ’20 Cristy Richey McNay ’03, MA ’13, EdD ’17 Mark Schoenbeck ’96 REPRESENTATIVES Joshua Carter-McHale, MBA ’21 GASC Josyua Gatison ’22 ASCLU-G Angela (Namba ’02) Rowley, MS ’05 Faculty OFFICE OF ALUMNI & FAMILY RELATIONS Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren Senior Director Stephanie Hessemer, Associate Director Steven Guetzoian, Assistant Director Jana Weber, Administrative Assistant

APRIL 2021 23

Class Notes Juan Ros ’09, Simi Valley, California, recently earned the certified value growth advisor (CVGA) designation awarded by the Corporate Value Metrics for his advisory practice at Forum Financial Management in Thousand Oaks. The CVGA allows Juan to assess qualitative factors, identify weak points, and work with business owners and management teams to bring balance and value to their businesses.

Arik Smith ’15, Bakersfield, California, is set to start his sixth season of professional basketball and his second year with Belfius Mons-Hainaut, one of the top teams in Belgium’s EuroMillions Basketball League.

During the season, Arik enjoys staying in Belgium and lives very near to where the team plays in the Mons Arena.

’10s George Steves ’12, North Hollywood, California, recently guest-starred in an episode of “NCIS: Los Angeles” and is in the upcoming feature film “Saving Paradise” that will be released later this year. His award-winning one-man show “Magic 8 Ball, My Life with Asperger’s” has played at Hollywood Fringe, North Hollywood Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe and in New York City and Virginia. The play has won five awards and an upcoming documentary titled “My Life with Asperger’s” is currently in postproduction.

Ryan Townsend Strand ’12, Chicago, is the executive director and a tenor with the Constellation Men’s Ensemble and is producing a digital event called "Glee Pub: Five O’Clock Somewhere."

Ricardo Torres ’12, Oxnard, California, is running for the District 2 seat on Oxnard’s City Council in the November special election. Ricardo is a resident services coordinator for the City of San Buenaventura Housing Authority and is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at California State University, San Bernardino.

Josh Gray ’15, Simi Valley, California, was elected for a seat on the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District board of directors last November. As one of five board members, Josh will help manage over 60 parks, maintain open spaces, and run recreational programs for Simi Valley and unincorporated Oak Park.

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Brittany Butts ’16, Manhattan, Kansas, earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University in May 2020 and is serving a one-year internship at Kansas State University. Brittany loves working with animals, particularly her special friend Callie (pictured).

McKenna Johnsen ’17, TC ’18, MED ’19, Thousand Oaks, California, has published the book 50 Things to Know About Being an Elementary School Teacher: Lessons Taught Through Experience. The book was written to show what life in an elementary school classroom is like and is currently available on Amazon.

Alexis Wallace ’17, Camarillo, California, earned her master’s in communication management from the University of Southern California in December. Her studies focused on strategic corporate communication, and her capstone examined the benefits of interpersonal relationships between managers and their direct reports. Alexis has worked in marketing at Disney Channel since 2018.

Rachel Lapp ’18, Santa Cruz, California, was evacuated from Peace Corps Ethiopia in March 2020. She served for 15 months and secured a grant for 20 bio-gas installments in her rural village to provide a methane gas burner for cooking. The energy for the burners is sourced from animal waste, which reduces reliance on scarce wood fuels. Reforestation, soil retention and beekeeping were also part of the grant. In May, Rachel returned for a second summer in Kodiak, Alaska, as a skiff operator for commercial salmon fishing. Her parents and fellow alums James ’86 and Leslie (Simmen ’87) Lapp visited her there. In October, Rachel returned to Ethiopia to finish implementing a program she initiated with private donations to provide hand-sewn, reusable menstrual pads for girls who would normally miss a week of school each month.

Molly Strawn ’18, Thousand Oaks, California, has joined InnovateMR, a U.S.-based sampling technology company, as a senior marketing strategist to lead its outbound marketing and branding strategy. In her new role, she will oversee social media efforts, curate rich industry content and promote the company’s SAS-based insights platform, Vision. Molly recently published the article “Successful strategies for B2B research and fraud mitigation” in the January/February issue of Quirk’s Media.

The article provides an overview of best practices in survey design, sample quality and red-herring research.

Francheska Tanglao ’19, New York, is pursuing her doctorate in occupational therapy at Columbia University. She’s pictured in front of the university library next to the famous statue “Alma Mater.”

Save the Date for Homecoming 2021 Whether it’s like this

or like this

or something in between …

We will come together and we will celebrate!

October 22-24, 2021 | CalLutheran.edu/homecoming | Check back for updates!

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

The Outstanding Alumni Award is given to a Cal Lutheran graduate with a distinguished record of career achievements or humanitarian endeavors dedicated to social reform.

Jane Lee Winter ’78 Outstanding Alumna

I’m not one to rest on my laurels; I feel there’s always more we can do to connect to others, to serve and to live with purpose.

Jane Lee Winter credits the support and encouragement of countless professors during her undergraduate years as the foundation for her lifelong connection to Cal Lutheran. A highly engaged member of the Thousand Oaks business community for more than 40 years, Jane Lee is a past president of the CLU Alumni Association, a former member of the Board of Regents — where she served for nine years — and a former member of the Hospitality Management Program Advisory Group in the School of Management. As the owner of a luxury boutique travel company specializing in African safaris, Jane Lee has traveled to 113 countries across five continents. Her greatest passion is her service to the Ebenezer Child Care Trust in Livingstone, Zambia, which cares for 500 destitute school children and 50 orphans. Her deep involvement on the organization’s Board of Directors reflects her innate desire to help those in need, to be a catalyst for change and to inspire others to serve.

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

APRIL 2021 25

Class Notes

CLU ADMINISTRATION

’20s

Lori E. Varlotta, PhD President

Natalie Tseng ’20, Canyon Country, California, has launched an art commission project called Chibi for Charity that is dedicated to supporting various causes and communities in need by donating a portion of each commission. Participating charities include Global Giving, NAMI, First Nations Development Institute and Humane Animal Rescue.

GRADUATE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION McKenna Johnsen ’17, TC ’18, MED ’19 (See Page 24.)

Leanne Neilson, PsyD Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs Regina D. Biddings-Muro, EdD Vice President, University Advancement Karen Davis, MBA ’95 Vice President, Administration and Finance Melissa Maxwell-Doherty ’77, MDiv ’81 Vice President, Mission and Identity Melinda Roper, EdD Vice President, Student Affairs and Dean of Students

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT Sue Soy, MBA ’81, Thousand Oaks, California, happily displays the Cal Lutheran alumni flag and matching face mask while visiting the mountains at Big Bear Lake in October 2020.

Corey Undlin ’94, MBA ’07 (See Page 23.)

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY

John Stempien, MS ’20, Newbury Park, California, is currently a fourth-year student in Cal Lutheran’s doctoral program in clinical psychology. While working on his dissertation, John has built his clinical skills through various practicum training opportunities working with individuals, groups and couples at Cal Lutheran’s community clinic, at a substance treatment center, and as a pre-intern at Veterans Affairs. As a clinician, John plans to work as part of a larger interdisciplinary organization to help improve mental health outcomes.

26 CLU MAGAZINE

Ries Bouwman, MBA ’15, Styria, Austria, recently launched a KickStarter campaign for his next startup, Guardmine. The core product of Guardmine is a unique smart and portable security solution that protects personal property such as phones, keys, documents or money. Ries, who also holds a master’s in physics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and a doctorate in petroleum engineering from Montanuniversitaet Leoben (Austria), previously founded Omi’s Apfelstrudel, from which he exited in 2018.

Corey Mazza, MS ’19, Thousand Oaks, California, is a senior vice president at UBS Private Wealth Management in Century City. He recently joined the firm as part of a seven-person team, The Legacy Multi-Family Group. Corey previously held private wealth management roles at both J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. In addition to his master’s in financial planning from Cal Lutheran, he earned a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Management. During his time at Harvard, Corey was named an All-American on the varsity football team and played one season professionally in Europe following college. He served for just under six years in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry officer prior to his career in financial services.

Matthew Ward, PhD Vice President, Enrollment Management and Marketing Gerhard Apfelthaler, PhD Dean, School of Management Lisa Buono, MS ’04, EdD ’11 Dean, School for Professional and Continuing Studies Michael Hillis, PhD Dean, Graduate School of Education Richard Holigrocki, PhD Dean, Graduate School of Psychology Jessica Lavariega Monforti, PhD Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Rev. Raymond Pickett, PhD Rector, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary The Rev. Alicia Vargas, MDiv ’95, PhD Dean, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary BOARD OF REGENTS Bill Camarillo, Chair Randall Foster, Vice Chair Ann Boynton ’83, Secretary Candice (Cerro ’09) Aragon Linda Baumhefner The Rev. Jim Bessey ’66 Andrew Binsley Joshua Carter-McHale ’21 Sue Chadwick Tracy M. Downs ’88, MD Josyua Gatison ’22 Rod Gilbert, H’16 Arnold Gutierrez, PhD Bishop Deborah Hutterer Jon Irwin Malcolm McNeil Gordon Morrell The Rev. David Nagler, MDiv ’93 The Rev. Frank Nausin ’70, MDiv ’74 Carrie Nebens Kären Olson ’83 Jim Overton Debra Papageorge ’12 Mike Soules Deborah Sweeney Lori E. Varlotta, PhD Colleen Windham-Hughes, PhD, MDiv Russell Young ’71 The mission of California Lutheran 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.

Milestones 1

2

BIRTHS 1 Delilah Coates on Jan. 21, 2021, to Ariel (Collins ’08) and Doug Coates.

2 Olivia Esperanza Fairhurst on May 21, 2020, to Michelle (Roa ’10) and Justin Fairhurst.

3 Seamus McNamara on Jan. 4, 2021, to Monica (Louis ’16) and Ben ’16 McNamara.

4 Pranaya Patel on April 6, 2020, to Jenish ’11 and Mauli Patel.

MARRIAGES 5 Kari Hanson-Smith ’00 and Max

3

4

Lofing on Jan. 4, 2020, in Sacramento, California. Cal Lutheran was a big part of this day! The wedding party included Jon Haug, MDiv ’09, as the officiant; Dan Roschke ’00 as the communion celebrant; Angela (Claros ’01, MBA ’03) Card, who sang for the first dance; Brian Foxworth ’00, MDiv ’09, who led the prayers; and Andrea (Gerling ’01) Acosta, an attendant. Pictured from left: Juan and Andrea Acosta, Angela, Kate Rubke-Foxworth ‘01, Bryan Card ‘01, Jon, Kara (Benson, MTS ‘06) Haug, Heather (Embree ’97, MED ’02) Roschke, Dan, Tyler Robinson ‘01 and Jen Crum ‘01. Future Kingsmen/Regals included!

6 Isabella Espiritu ’16 and Ben Sinor

5

on Dec. 12, 2020, in Oklahoma accompanied by friends, family and members of the Cal Lutheran community. Pictured from left: Shelby Pleiss ‘17, Daniel Lacey ‘17, Isabella and Ben, Elise Brady ‘16 and Chase Morris.

7 Elaine Abarta ’18 and Nathan Eprem ’18 on Dec. 18, 2020, at Springville Ranch in Springville, California.

DEATHS Norbert Castel de Oro ’97 on Sept. 6, 2020.

Jack Ericson ’64 on Dec. 6, 2020.

Joseph Harjung ’79 on Nov. 25, 2020.

6

7

Timothy Kuehnel ’69 on Jan. 17, 2021.

John Theodore “JT” “Ted” Larson ’69, MDiv ’73, on Jan. 9, 2021.

Donna Jean Peterson, MS ’80 on Nov. 10, 2020.

James David Power III, H ’98, on Jan. 23, 2021.

Carmen Putrino, MS ’11, on Oct. 13, 2020.

Mary Elizabeth Richardson Reed ’93 on Nov. 15, 2020.

Joseph Richard “Rod” Rodriguez ’76 on Nov. 12, 2020.

Darlene Wallace ’96 on Feb. 2, 2021.

APRIL 2021 27

Vocations

Accept the challenge

The key lessons I’ve learned in my life are all tied to sports — including embracing failures — because you never know where they could lead you.

BY WES MCCURTIS ’14 // PHOTOS COURTESY OF CYPRESS COLLEGE ATHLETICS

28 CLU MAGAZINE

LEFT Wes McCurtis, left, and Cypress College head softball coach Brad Pickler attended the state championship ceremony at Angel Stadium in 2017. Pickler was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2020. RIGHT Wes McCurtis shows the ring from his first state championship at Cypress College in 2017. The Cypress College softball team went 48-0, the first undefeated season in California Community College Athletic Association softball history.

S

ports have been my passion for as long as I can remember. Basketball, football, track, hockey, soccer, golf, BMX, you name it.

I remember being a student at Hillview Middle School in Palmdale, California. I’d change into my basketball attire for a two-hour practice as soon as school let out. Then I’d go straight home after basketball, throw on my helmet and pads, and go to a three-hour football practice. After a long day of school and multiple practices I would finish my homework, go to bed, wake up and do it all again.

My mom is a genius; she knew sports and competition were my motivation for everything. If my grades slipped or I got into trouble, she’d still make me go to practice, but I had to sit on the sidelines and watch after explaining to the whole team why I had to sit out that day. It drove me crazy, but it taught me early on to be accountable.

The key life lessons I’ve learned, friends I’ve made and many of the noteworthy accomplishments and failures in my life are all tied to sports. The competition, camaraderie and excitement are what drive me — and always have.

I never truly believed I could have a career in sports until the experience I had as a student at Cal Lutheran. I chose to attend Cal Lutheran partly because it gave me an opportunity to continue playing basketball. After having a successful high school career, I had high expectations for myself, and I fell short of those expectations as a student-athlete.

I played two seasons on the JV men’s basketball team, waiting for the opportunity to make the varsity roster. I was attending 6 a.m. practices, playing games in mostly empty gyms and being called up to practice with the varsity team on occasion. As a first-generation college student, it was difficult for me to navigate my athletic aspirations while also balancing college classes and two jobs to help support myself. Looking back on it, I was crazy to try to fully commit myself to all of those things at once.

Even though I was able to handle that type of schedule before, adding the burden of “adulthood” made it nearly impossible.

It was a hard pill to swallow. Athletics, specifically basketball, was part of my identity, but something had to give. Following my sophomore season, I had to face the same harsh reality that all athletes eventually do, and decided it was time to hang it

up. This gave me the opportunity to focus on school and get as much work experience as I could to prepare for what I assumed would be a life after sports.

As a business major, I was able to land jobs and internships in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. I learned a lot from those experiences, but my main takeaway was that I needed a career in sports to truly be passionate about what I was doing. I began to research different career paths in athletics and started to reflect on my experiences as a student-athlete. I thought about the community surrounding athletics at Cal Lutheran, the special events, student-athlete support programs, marketing, compliance, athletic training, fundraising and the list goes on.

That moment of reflection helped me decide to become an athletic director. I had found my purpose — the opportunity to take what I had learned through sports and my educational journey and apply that knowledge to lift student-athlete voices, be a mentor, create support programs and build destination programs for prospective student-athletes, coaches and staff.

Upon graduating in 2014, I was accepted into the graduate program in sports management at California State University, Long Beach. I went into grad school with high expectations, wanting to land that job or internship with the big-name NCAA Division I athletics department. Again, things didn’t go the way I planned; I was used to that. The only internship I landed was in the athletics department at Cypress College, a two-year community college, where I worked with the sports information and marketing director. I didn’t think it would amount to much, but that opportunity changed my life.

Shortly after I began the internship, the director left for another job in the middle of the fall athletics season. I was called upon to take her place for the remainder of the season.

I quickly realized two-year-college athletics was the perfect fit for me. I was working with underdogs, student-athletes who had been overlooked in high school or who had gone to fouryear universities with the same expectations I had but it didn’t work out. I was able to relate to student-athletes and their struggles and was eventually hired full time as the director.

I officially had a seat at the table. I was able to attend conferContinued on Page 31 APRIL 2021 29

Cal Lutheran Planned Giving

Virtual Information Session Tuesday, May 11 | 12-12:45 p.m.

Join us and hear from a panel of Planned Giving experts, including alumnus and Orville Dahl Society member Erik Lundring ’94. Let us show you how easy it is to leave a legacy that benefits you, your family and Cal Lutheran.

ERIK K. LUNDRING ’94, CFP

SUSAN M. LOONEY, CTFA

REGINA D. BIDDINGS-MURO, EdD

EDGAR AGUIRRE ’99, MA

Wealth Advisor Coastal Wealth Advisors, Thrivent Financial

Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager BNY Mellon Wealth Management

Vice President University Advancement

Major Gift Officer University Advancement

To RSVP or for questions, contact: development@CalLutheran.edu (805) 493-3837

ence and state meetings with other sports information and athletic directors. One of the first things I noticed was the lack of representation. Although everyone I came across was well-intentioned, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little uncomfortable. I thought, here are the decision-makers for what is probably the most diverse student group on campus facing unique challenges at colleges across the country, and I am one of the few people of color at the table. I wanted to prove I belonged, so I committed myself to becoming the best sports information director in the state.

In my second year on the job, the Orange Empire Conference selected me as the sports information director representative for the conference. In year three, I was voted by my peers to take over as president-elect of the California Community College Sports Information Association. The culmination of effort came in year five when I was presented with the Brass Top Award, given to the top sports information professional in California Community College athletics. In August 2019, I was promoted to athletic director at Cypress College and have enjoyed every minute of it since, despite having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. It has not been easy. I’ve heard every reason why I shouldn’t be here. “He’s never coached.” “Doesn’t have enough experience.” “Don’t think he’s ready to lead.”

I am not perfect. I have failed on more than one occasion, but sports taught me to never back down from a challenge, to be resilient, to overcome and create my own opportunities.

Prior to 2019, I had never been a coach, athletic director, administrator or manager. But I am ready. I will work tirelessly to give student-athletes an opportunity to reach their goals. I will continue to empower them as the established norms in college athletics are being challenged. I will go out of my way to provide opportunities for the underrepresented, specifically women and people of color. I am committed to advocating for student-athletes everywhere. That is the challenge I’ve accepted and what I believe to be my purpose.

I would not be here today without the support of my family, the environment that Cal Lutheran provided for me in my four years as a student, and the challenges I faced along the way.

To my Cal Lutheran alumni family: Embrace your failures, whatever they may be. It might lead to something great.

Wes McCurtis is the athletic director at California’s Cypress College , where he oversees all aspects of the 14 intercollegiate athletic programs and provides support for nearly 300 student-athletes. He serves as the Orange Empire Conference athletic director representative for men’s basketball and serves on the Cypress College Sustainability Committee, Black Lives Matter Task Force and Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee. He is an adviser for both the Cypress College Student Athlete Advisory Committee and Spirit Squad, while serving as a mentor for the Legacy Program, which provides instructional resources and support to students in underrepresented groups.

He recently was elected to the Cal Lutheran Alumni Board of Directors. He also works to mentor future sports industry professionals as an internship site supervisor through the graduate program in sports management at California State University, Long Beach.

LINKS SERIES CELEBRATES U.S. POETS’ VOICES

Joy Harjo, the current U.S. poet laureate, writes in her memoir, Crazy Horse, about how she came to follow the “spirit of poetry,” whose voice said to her, “You’re coming with me, poor thing. You don’t know how to listen. You don’t know how to speak. You don’t know how to U.S. Poet Laureate sing. I will teach you.”

Juan Felipe Herrera Harjo is one of three poets whose work is featured in Cal Lutheran’s “Voices of the Nation: Celebrating the Work of U.S. Poets Laureate,” a free, three-part online series open to the public.

Jacqueline Lyons, the series’ host and a Cal Lutheran associate professor of English and creative writing, said the series “focuses on how poets and poetry examine America past and present, illuminating beauty, variety, power and prejudice.”

In February, the first webinar featured Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Tracy K. Smith, U.S. poet laureate from 2017 to 2019. In March, Juan Felipe Herrera, appointed U.S. poet laureate in 2015 and California poet laureate in 2012, read from his new book of poetry, Every Day We Get More Illegal.

The third webinar on April 14 will focus on Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. laureate.

To watch recordings of the first two webinars, or to register to watch the third (7 to 8 p.m. PDT Wednesday, April 14), visit CalLutheran.edu/voices. VC Reporter | Feb. 10

GRAD STUDENT’S PROJECT AIDS PASADENA RESTAURANTS A Cal Lutheran graduate student is helping restaurants — among businesses hardest hit by coronavirus restrictions — to successfully reopen doors to diners. In 2020, Steve Mermell, city manager of Pasadena, contacted Cal Lutheran to see if any public policy faculty or students might be able to help the town come up with ways to aid struggling businesses. Gregory Sefain took on the challenge, and turned his plan into the capstone project for his master’s degree in public policy administration.

The MPPA program “wanted to try something new … where students work with nonprofits and city organizations to begin to use the tools they use in class in real-life scenarios,” Sefain told the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. He decided to focus on restaurants because he saw “they were really the ones that were suffering.”

He conducted surveys and interviews with Pasadena restaurants, businesses and consumers, and studied how restaurants handled the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, then published his findings in a report titled “The City of Pasadena and the Economic Recovery Strategy for the Restaurant Industry.” Mermell said the city was considering all of Seifan’s suggestions. San Fernando Valley Business Journal | Jan. 18 APRIL 2021 31

CARLOS PUMA/UC RIVERSIDE

Continued from Page 29

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

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Join us for Cal Lutheran Cares Day on April 7, 2021 to support the campus area that means the most to you:

• Annual Fund

• Graduate School of Education

• Athletics

• Kingsmen Shakespeare Company

• Autism and Communication Center

• Mission & Leadership

• Cal Lutheran Relief Fund

• Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

• Center for Nonprofit Leadership

• School for Professional and Continuing Studies

• College of Arts and Sciences • Community Counseling Services • Community Leaders Association – Student Scholarships • Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Engagement

• School of Management • Student Experience • Student Inclusion and Equity Fund • Student Support Services • Veteran Resource Office

• Emergency Support Scholarship • Global Engagement Fund

12:01 AM - 11:59 PM | CalLutheran.edu/caresday With your support, we are stronger together!