Tuesday, May 21, 2024

An Expert in Closing Lutheran Colleges - John Nunes, LCMS, ELCA

 

"California Lutheran University President Lori Varlotta has resigned. 

Lori VarlottaLori Varlotta

She will step down from her role May 31.

The action comes only days after the school’s May 10 graduation and four months after an overwhelming vote of no confidence in the leader by the university’s faculty.

The school’s Board of Regents, which issued a statement of support for Varlotta following the no-confidence vote, on Tuesday issued a statement regarding the resignation.

“On behalf of my Board of Regents colleagues, I extend sincere thanks to President Varlotta for her service, which leaves the university well-positioned as we seek new leadership,” said Board of Regents Chair Ann Boynton."

"Replacing Varlotta on a two-year interim basis will be the Rev. Dr. John Nunes, who most recently served as pastor at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Santa Monica and served as president of Concordia College New York from 2016 through 2021, when the school closed.

Nunes has since 2020 served on the Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is also a senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy.

Ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1991, Nunes holds a bachelor of arts from Concordia University Ann Arbor, a master of divinity from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary and a master of theology and doctorate of philosophy from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago."