Academic Inaugural : Cal Lutheran: Luther S. Luedtke becomes the university’s fifth president. ‘Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,’ he urges colleagues.

With pomp, circumstance and lots of applause, Cal Lutheran University on Wednesday inaugurated Luther S. Luedtke as its fifth president in a colorful 90-minute ceremony in Samuelson Chapel.

Luedtke, who began his academic career in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Minnesota, doffed his tasseled mortarboard and rearranged his doctoral gown to display the heavy gold presidential medallion that he received during a symbolic transfer of power.

Faculty, staff and administrators welcomed their new leader with a standing ovation, then publicly reaffirmed their commitments to “seek truth, pursue scholarship, and enliven and enrich this community” in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, a Lutheran bishop.

Taking his cue from President Clinton, the 49-year old Luedtke urged his colleagues to live by the motto, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.” But, he quickly added, “our calling is also not to stop thinking about yesterday and today.”

Three former Cal Lutheran presidents sat in the front row for the pageantry-laden ceremony, reinforcing Luedtke’s theme of continuity amid change. Or, as he put it, “minding the past, creating the future.”

“Our primary challenge today, as in the past, is fundamentally one of faith, imagination and courage,” Luedtke said.

His brief speech followed an eclectic mix of readings that included excerpts from the Scriptures, a T.S. Eliot poem and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter.”

Because Cal Lutheran has 110 full-time faculty members and 3,000 students--some of whom skipped the ceremony to play soccer outside the chapel Wednesday morning--the university has an obligation to reach out to the community, Luedtke said.

That plug for close community college relations thrilled Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar, who sat on the podium in her own academic regalia.

“The list of benefits we reap from having this university in our neck of the woods is endless,” Lazar said in welcoming remarks to 800 people who packed the chapel.

More than 40% of Cal Lutheran’s undergraduates hail from Ventura County, and 2,600 alumni live in Thousand Oaks. The 34-year-old university has pumped $1 billion into the regional economy over the past decade, Lazar said.

But during the last year, the university’s relations with the city have been somewhat strained, as Cal Lutheran struggled to win City Council approval of a 150-foot radio tower. The council finally gave the go-ahead last month after expensive and time-consuming negotiations.

Likely to be even more problematic are Cal Lutheran’s plans to construct new athletic and academic facilities on the vacant hills of the university’s north campus, across Olsen Road from the current campus. Winning city approval for the $70-million project will be a major focus of the new administration, Luedtke has said.

Cal Lutheran has not yet drafted specific plans for the new complex. But even vague talk of the expansion thrills Raymond Olson, who served from 1963-71 as Cal Lutheran’s second president.

“In the years I was here, the issue was, can we stay alive?” Olson said after the ceremony. “I just rejoice that this has come to pass.”

Amid the excitement of inauguration-week festivities, a few critics voiced fears that Luedtke, as a Cal Lutheran outsider coming from 22 years at the University of Southern California, might be reluctant to propose controversial reforms during his first year as president.

Nixing the “dry campus” policy and allowing upperclassmen to drink alcohol, for example, is one change that senior Charlie Flora considers vital--and unlikely.

“There are some issues on campus that need immediate action, and I think Dr. Luedtke’s been a little hesitant because he knows first impressions are very important,” said Flora, editor of the student newspaper.

Yet such criticism of the new president is rare. Luedtke’s colleagues describe him as intelligent, energetic and open to new ideas. He has served as interim president since August. His term is indefinite but his contracts will be reviewed every few years, Luedtke said.

“This is a real celebration,” said Denise Aiani, director of Cal Lutheran’s continuing education program, after filing out of the chapel with other black-robed academics.

“It’s awesome,” concurred Jason Russell, the student body president.

Aiani praised the inauguration address of W. James Ware, a U.S. District judge in Northern California, who called on the audience to fight a growing bias in society based on race, religion and gender.

“I think a lot of women in the audience were going ‘yes’ when Judge Ware spoke about ethnic and gender issues,” Aiani said. “It was very timely because the university is really striving to recognize those issues” by recruiting minorities and women.

“The whole ceremony was beautiful,” concluded Rudy Edmund, a professor of geology who retired in 1980 but still lectures at Cal Lutheran. “Everything was right on.”

Luther S. Luedtke: A Biography Name: Luther S. Luedtke

Birth date: Nov. 17, 1943

Education: B.A. in English, German and history from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, 1965; Ph.D. in American civilization from Brown University, 1971.

Professional Accomplishments: Author of two recent books, “Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Romance of the Orient” (1989), and “Making America: The Society and Culture of the United States” (1992); professor and administrator at the University of Southern California, 1970-92; worked as director of the American Studies Research Center in India and was a Fulbright lecturer in Germany.

Family: wife Carol Lindstrom Luedtke teaches literature at Westridge School in Pasadena; son Pehr is a sophomore at Princeton University; daughter Pia is a sophomore at Polytechnic School in Pasadena.

Hobbies: Landscape design (raises roses and other shrub plants); carpentry (built several additions to his home in Pasadena); travel (to Central America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe).

Comment on transition at Cal Lutheran: “It was like a coming home--but in the same way home changes every time you go back to it.”