Cal Lutheran University faculty vote no confidence in President Lori Varlotta

California Lutheran University's faculty assembly overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in President Lori Varlotta on Tuesday, calling on her to resign or be removed by the board of regents.

The resolution ― approved by a 122-3 faculty vote ― decried Varlotta's handling of university finances and said the third-year president has "eroded and divided" the university's "historically close" community.

Faculty Senate Chair Sharon Docter and Faculty Affairs Committee Chair Kristine Butcher confirmed the vote in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“Cal Lutheran is a special place and we are dedicated to the success of the university and its students,” they wrote. “To that end, the faculty assembly met on January 16 and, after a thoughtful discussion, voted to approve a resolution of no confidence in President Varlotta.”

Mark Berry, a university spokesman, acknowledged the vote in a statement Tuesday evening, but said it carries no legal or official authority.

“Votes such as these are permissible in an academic environment like ours that values shared governance,” the statement says. “They have also become increasingly common at institutions facing difficult budget decisions and other change-management issues.”

Varlotta, Cal Lutheran's first woman president, has faced stiff headwinds since succeeding 12-year president Chris Kimball in September 2020.

Student enrollment plummeted in the wake of the pandemic, hitting its lowest point in 15 years this fall, according to university data.

And Cal Lutheran has been battling retired U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly in court since 2021, when the former Republican congressman sued the university for allegedly allowing a university center established in his name to die on the vine because of apparent political differences.

A senior faculty member, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by administrators, said the resolution passed through the faculty senate’s executive committee and the senate itself before going before the full body of roughly 180 faculty members.

”We didn’t take it lightly, because this has never been done at Cal Lutheran," the faculty member said. "It’s a somber decision ... and we hope that it will bring some positive results.”

The Star tried to contact nearly 20 members of the faculty. Some did not respond by publication time while several refused to speak.

Challenges at California Lutheran University

In an interview Thursday, days before the no-confidence vote, Varlotta said the university will have a “bit of a challenge” for the next five years as it seeks to recover enrollment and balance its books. The drop has already triggered some belt-tightening measures, and Varlotta said more drastic cuts are possible if the situation doesn't improve.

The enrollment trouble began in earnest, as for many universities around the country, in the fall of 2020, when new undergraduate enrollment dropped by 17%. The university saw an uptick in new undergrads in 2022 before the number dropped off again in 2023.

Across all of its programs — including both undergraduate and graduate degrees ― the university had 3,410 students in the fall semester, nearly 1,000 students down from fall 2018 and lower than any autumn since before 2007, when it had 3,411.

The enrollment drop has begun to hit the university budget. In October, campus emails show, university leaders told staff they were shutting down some offices for extra days over the winter break and offering early retirement to some faculty.

Varlotta said Thursday that the faculty retirement offers are also intended to help the university reallocate resources to growing programs like its sports management bachelor’s degree.

The president said the university is trying to confine cuts to areas that will have the least impact on student experience.

Cal Lutheran is not yet in dire financial straits, she said, thanks to the long-term “prudence” of the university’s board of regents in the years before the pandemic enrollment drought.

Asked Thursday if she thinks the university’s enrollment is on a positive trajectory, Varlotta projected confidence.

”We don’t think,” she said. “We know we’re headed in the right direction.”

Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Cal Lutheran President Lori Varlotta faces no-confidence vote