History
In 1954, a committee was first formed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church to plan a Lutheran college in California. Five churches served on the committee, dubbed the California Lutheran Education Foundation, which still owns the university. Richard Pederson, son of Scandinavian immigrants, donated 130 acres of farmland for the university in 1957. In 1959, the college was officially incorporated, with Orville Dahl, Ed. D. instituted at the first president. The college opened to its first incoming class in September 1961, and was accredited by the Western Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in March 1962. Dahl served as president until 1962, bringing the university's first football coach, Robert Shoup, to the campus in his final year.
While CLU grew in size, and in debt, steadily through the 60s. In 1970, the college was $3,600,000 in debt and predicted to go bankrupt. However, belt tightening by the school and enrollment increases pushed finances into the black by the end of the year. Fates turned around further when the school won its first, and only, NAIA football championship, in 1971.
In the 1980s, the school began expanding at a rapid pace; with major construction of new buildings and renovations underway. In 1986, the school was renamed California Lutheran University to reflect the addition of graduate programs.
In 1994, KCLU was created and housed on the Cal Lutheran campus.
Several notable teams have trained on the campus. The Dallas Cowboys, a NFL team, trained there from 1963 to 1989. After the Samuelson Aquatic Center was completed in 2007, it served as the official training site of the the 2008 and 2012 US Olympic Men's Water Polo teams. Other notable visitors to CLU events include Ronald Reagan in 1979; Bob Hope in 1984; and the President of Nicaragua Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1991.
Read more about this topic: Segerhammar Center For Faith And Culture
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