Steering Cal Lutheran Towards Long-Term Success
Within the first 18 months of her presidency, Dr. Varlotta addressed several pressing issues. She navigated Cal Lutheran through its immediate financial crisis; got the University off the WSCUC Notice of Concern; and led the creation of the university’s inaugural DEIJ Division and Strategic Plan.
With early challenges addressed, she began to position the institution for long-term stability, starting with an inclusive strategic planning process that emphasized measurable goals and sustainable growth. She also served as the catalyst for ensuring that California Lutheran’s graduate and adult programs were offered in contemporary modalities at an affordable tuition. It was under President Varlotta’s tenure that quick and substantial progress was made in this area. In less than one year, the university transitioned eleven adult and graduate programs to online and hybrid formats, increasing accessibility for students seeking flexible learning modalities and schedules.
Strengthening Governance and Inclusion
Dr. Varlotta achieved none of the above in isolation. These accomplishments came to fruition via an updated and bolstered shared governance system. For well over a year, she worked with a task force of faculty, staff, administrators, and regents to expand and restructure shared governance at Cal Lutheran. As had been the case in her first presidency, she was determined to have a shared governance system that not only included faculty but staff and students as well. Hence, Dr. Varlotta catalyzed the creation of a new staff senate and assembly and explicitly charged the existing student government to operate as the official student input group. Together, representatives from all three senates— faculty, staff, and student—contributed to the design of the ADRI decision-making matrix. This emerging framework institutionalized a highly collaborative approach to decision-making. Dr. Varlotta’s passion for shared governance was not the only accelerant in paving a path forward for California Lutheran University. Her commitment to the university’s dual identity as both a faith-based and Hispanic-Serving Institution helped her envision and implement a unique structure—the Division of Talent, Culture, and Diversity (TCD). TCD brought DEIJ center stage by explicitly connecting it to the Office of Mission and Identity and to the Office of Human Resources which oversees employee recruitment and retention efforts. These strategic moves reinforced the university’s commitment to inclusivity and equity as documented on pages 5-9 of the WSCUC team’s 2022 Special Visit Report.
A Courageous Leadership Approach: University Success over Personal Popularity
Varlotta’s leadership was marked by bold and sometimes difficult, unpopular decisions. All the while, her focus remained on securing the university’s long-term viability. As such, she was reluctant to “kick the can down the road” or make short-term decisions that felt good in the present but were unsustainable in the long term.
In Spring of 2024, with the institution stabilized and major crises averted, she made the decision to step down. Her tenure saw the resolution of pandemic-era disruptions, the dismissal of a major internal lawsuit, the amelioration of racial tensions, and the removal of the WSCUC Notice of Concern, positioning her to pass the torch to a new leader who would not be forced to remedy such significant issues.
The Journey Continues
Though stepping down as president, Varlotta’s journey with Cal Lutheran is not entirely over. She has been invited to return in August 2025 as the university’s first Distinguished Professor of Higher Education Leadership. Beyond Cal Lutheran, she is advising university presidents and governing boards across the country who are repositioning their own institutions.
As she travels the next leg of her journey, she is grateful for the academic credentials she has earned. These include a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University, and an interdisciplinary PhD in educational leadership and feminist philosophy from Miami University (OH).
Dr. Varlotta is the first to credit her college degrees with opening many career doors. But she is quick to add that it was her blue-collar upbringing in Pittsburgh, PA—and the experiences it delivered day in and day out—that taught her life’s most valuable lessons. As a first-generation college student, she is grateful to her family, especially her late parents, for instilling in her the ethics, grit, and sense of purpose that molded her not only into a capable leader, but a principled one.
