Cal Lutheran Marks 40th Anniversary

A lot has changed since the early days of Cal Lutheran University, when the campus had a barn and chicken coops, along with a few hundred students.

George Engdahl, 57, should know. He was a student in the Class of 1965 and among the first freshmen of the then young university, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Cal Lutheran was founded in October 1959, but the first students didn’t begin until two years later.

“In 1961, there was a group of us 200 strong who found themselves on a campus that never had a faculty before, [had] not an administration, and was not accredited,” Engdahl said. “For those of us who were there at that time, this is very special.”

Beginning today, Cal Lutheran has scheduled a weekend of homecoming celebrations for its 15,000 alumni.

Engdahl still has close ties to the university--as a former student, instructor and assistant football coach at CLU. Today, he is vice president of university advancement, which includes public relations and fund-raising.

Spokeswoman Lynda Paige Fulford said light poles at the university have been decorated with banners marking the anniversary, and giant cardboard boxes of faux birthday presents wrapped in the school colors--purple and gold--have been placed around campus.

Festivities kick off at noon today with the annual Homecoming Golf Tournament at Elkins Ranch Golf Course. The homecoming king and queen will be crowned at 7 p.m. in the pavilion.

A reunion will be held at the university Saturday at 10 a.m., an art exhibit at 10:30 a.m. and an alumni luncheon at 11 a.m.

The football team, the Kingsmen, plays Claremont College at 1 p.m. Saturday, and there will be an alumni awards ceremony at 6 p.m.

The weekend festivities end Sunday with a worship service at 10:30 a.m.

For people like Linda Harris of Agoura, who came to the university as a sophomore in 1961 and graduated in 1964, homecoming will be a chance to see old friends.

The Moorpark elementary school teacher said she would attend homecoming with her father, Ernest Gulsrud, 87, of Spokane, Wash., who was one of the founders of the university.

“It makes me feel ancient,” Harris said of the school’s anniversary. “It was very exciting. We were always told we were the pioneers. We had that pioneer spirit. We knew we were always breaking ground for something big to come.”

The university continues to change.

Earlier this year, the Thousand Oaks City Council approved the university’s master plan, which officials expect will cost $30 million to $50 million to implement and includes a new residence hall, an education and technology building, and the development of the north side of campus with a new gym, football stadium, track, tennis courts and an Olympic-sized pool.