As the fall 2024 semester begins, California Lutheran University welcomes John Nunes into the role of Interim University President.
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Nunes is a graduate of Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan. He holds a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, as well as a Master of Theology and doctoral degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
“I am deeply grateful and honored for the opportunity to serve, and for the way in which Monique and I have been so warmly and generously welcomed to the California Lutheran community,” Nunes said.
According to the Cal Lutheran website Nunes’ appointment to the position of Interim University President was supported by the Region 1 and 2 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy, Nunes was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1991 and has served on the Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression at the Bipartisan Policy Center since 2020, of which many universities, both private and public, have consulted when looking to foster “robust intellectual exchange during the current period of national polarization.” Nunes also formerly served as president of Concordia College, New York, and CEO and president of Lutheran World Relief.
“I think leadership is really about service, and service is hard work, and necessary work, but it’s so much easier when you’re part of a community that affirms and supports and prays for your leadership.” Nunes said. “And those are the things that I sense from our students.”
Nunes said the larger Thousand Oaks community has also offered its support, citing encouraging text messages from alumni and long-time university donors. Nunes said the support has helped him and his family adjust to the change and start on the work.
“The truth of the matter is it’s a whirlwind and it’s a warm welcoming,” Nunes said. “It’s some business dimensions that need to be grappled with because we are a business, and our business model is really challenged, and it’s human at the same time.”
Nunes’ appointment comes following former University President Lori Varlotta’s resignation on May 31 of this year, which was announced months after a vote of no-confidence in Varlotta’s leadership was passed by the Faculty Assembly at the start of the 2024 spring semester. In February of this year, The Echo conducted an opinion poll asking students, faculty, staff, and alumni to rate the efficacy of Varlotta’s leadership, to which many expressed dissatisfaction in Varlotta’s ability to serve as an effective university president.
“I don’t fault students for their cynicism around leadership,” Nunes said. “I mean, if you look at every level of our society, you see leaders who lack integrity, who say one thing and do another thing, who line their pockets, who engage in practices that are lacking virtue or lacking honesty.”
Nunes said he doesn’t find anything unreasonable about cynicism, and instead finds that it can be a useful tool to understand the needs leaders may be failing to meet.
“I’m not making any statements about the prior president, so please don’t misunderstand me, I’m just saying in society as a whole,” Nunes said. “They [students] should have a high level of expectation of leaders, and this is what’s wrong in our national politics.”
Nunes said he is prioritizing using creative solutions to earn the community’s respect and trust, including learning a new language and making himself accessible and available on campus. He said the university is currently focused on investing in its value proposition through Academic Program Analysis; evaluating how education at Cal Lutheran can evolve to meet the changing demands of current and future students.
“We’re not going to change what we sort of do, education, formation of the lives of people, students, but the how we might have to think differently about,” Nunes said. “And is that something that will be a constantly evolving process?”
Nunes said the constant evolution of Cal Lutheran’s history reflects his own growth in both his career and personal life.
“I would never have dreamt that I’d one day be a president of a college or a university in Southern California. It was the furthest thing from my mind,” Nunes said. “So many things I never thought would ever exist, because America was much more divided. I’m saying all of this to say, with sociological changes, technological changes, why should we not think that there’s going to be changes in education? As much as we like it, and we’re comfortable with it, we’ve got to keep up with the times.”
Nunes said his work as a leader is heavily guided by his Lutheran faith, and said that being an effective leader requires humility.
“Life is a gift,” Nunes said. “Gifts need to be received with thankfulness and with grace and with gratitude. Not only did God breathe life into me and people I love and people who are like me, but God breathed life into people I don’t like. And so treating everyone with dignity and value and respect is hard and requires humility.”
At one point during the interview, Nunes reached into his bag and pulled out a small mirror with the words, “it’s not about you” written on the cracked glass. Nunes said the mirror was gifted to him following a public speaking event, where he “must have been just a bit too self-absorbed.”
“In the 25 years since I’ve had it, it’s cracked, and it gives it character in my opinion. When you look in the cracked mirror, you see a picture of yourself,” Nunes said. “So when things go well in life and they often do, you have to remember that it’s not about you. It’s about the gift of a creator who is the source of all blessings and when things don’t go well in life, you have to remember it’s sometimes not about you either. This is humility.”
