Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani returns to action with a spring encore

• March 1, 2025

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Encore?

Last spring, Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in his second at-bat in Cactus League play with the Dodgers. This year, coming off of shoulder surgery in November, he hit one in his first at-bat of the spring.

“Regardless of the results, the biggest takeaway was being able to go through my three at-bats with no issues physically,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I felt really good.”

The two home runs were remarkably similar. Both were hit to the opposite field. This year’s drive came off of Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi – like Ohtani, a graduate of Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate, Japan – who pronounced Ohtani fully recovered from that surgery on his left shoulder.

“Obviously he’s fine after that first home run that he was able to hit that far,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter. “I’m sure he’s going to be able to put up the same numbers this year.”

That would be … something.

Ohtani’s numbers last season were historic – MLB’s first 50/50 season, leading to a third MVP award. This year, his resources will once again be channeled into both hitting and pitching. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Ohtani can be just “as productive” offensively even if his return to pitching could mean fewer opportunities as a hitter.

“I don’t think he’s going to get the same number of at-bats, plate appearances, given that he’s going to be pitching,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “I don’t think he’s going to steal as many bases, just appreciating the fact that he does need to pitch and save his legs. But as far as the kind of performance per plate appearance, I still think he can be just as productive. And I’m sure Shohei is expecting the same thing.”

Roberts wouldn’t say how many fewer plate appearances he expects Ohtani to get in 2025. Last year, Ohtani led the National League with 731 plate appearances (second in the majors to Boston’s Jarren Duran). In his first year as a two-way player with the Angels, Ohtani was given the day off before and after each start.

The Dodgers have no plans to impose any such arbitrary limitations on Ohtani’s playing time, Roberts said.

“I think, for me, it’s kind of continued conversations,” he said. “I just think it’s unfair to everyone to put a number on it where I really have no idea.

“I just don’t know if it’s going to be before a start day to prepare, after a start day. … I just don’t know any of that stuff right now.”

Ohtani said he had “no discomfort” in his surgically-repaired left shoulder during his three at-bats Friday – the home run, a pop out to shortstop and a strikeout.

“My last at-bat, the last swing I was pretty late and my shoulder felt great. That was a good test,” Ohtani said.

“The intensity of the game is different from the practice settings. So it’s always going to be checking to see how it feels in a game situation.”

The Dodgers have put Ohtani through some sliding drills, hoping to eliminate his tendency to brace himself with his left arm – exactly the movement that led to his shoulder injury during the World Series in October. But Roberts said he has seen no signs of that injury this spring.

“He’s just worked so hard to get back to where he needs to be,” Roberts said. “His work in the weight room, obviously in the trainers’ room, the rehab process, the surgery went well – kind of from that point on just gearing up for the season, he really hasn’t missed a beat.”

SASAKI PLAN

Rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki will make his Cactus League debut on Tuesday, Roberts announced Friday.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday night and pitch at least three innings. Sasaki will follow him and also is expected to pitch three innings.

So far, Sasaki has faced hitters twice in live batting practice situations – first against Dodgers hitters then against minor-leaguers from the Chicago White Sox camp.

“We’ll set up an exact inning for Roki to get prepared so he can kind of prepare for those three, four innings,” Roberts said. “They both have been talked to and asked about it and they both feel very good about it.”

Yamamoto is on track to start the first game against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 with Sasaki likely to start the second game there. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are being lined up to pitch in the two exhibition games at the Tokyo Dome.

BACK ON MOUND

Right-hander Bobby Miller was back on a mound Friday for the first time since he was hit by a line drive last week. Miller threw a bullpen session during Friday’s workout.

Miller said his concussion symptoms have not returned even as he increased his activity level this week. He could be back in games “sooner than later,” Roberts said.

“I don’t think it’s been that long as far as costing him, as far as his build-up,” Roberts said. “I’m confident that the mindset, the mentality, the fear, he’ll be able to manage. But I think that once he gets past this (bullpen session), it’s more going to be on him and how his comfort level is.”

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The offseason remodeling project at Dodger Stadium has entered its final stages and the stadium will be ready to host fans for the Freeway Series against the Angels on March 23, team president Stan Kasten said Friday.

The seats have been restored and the field replaced. Some work still needs to be done to the expanded clubhouse areas. But everything is expected to be completed in time for the Freeway Series.

​ Orange County Register 

Dalton Rushing’s walk-off double rallies Dodgers past Angels

• March 1, 2025

THE GAME: Dalton Rushing’s walk-off double drove in two runs and lifted the Dodgers to a 6-5 victory over the Angles on Friday night at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.

HITTING REPORT: Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Josue DePaula’s single started the Dodgers’ rally. Ryan Ward walked and Rushing delivered the game-winning hit. … Shohei Ohtani went 1 for 3 with a home run in his first Cactus League at-bat this spring. … Tommy Edman was 2 for 3 with a single in the first inning and a solo home run in the fifth. … Mookie Betts singled in the first inning, went to third on Edman’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Max Muncy. … Kiké Hernandez doubled and scored on Miguel Rojas’ RBI single in the fourth.

PITCHING REPORT: Dustin May retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the first inning, but he got off track in the second inning and didn’t retire a batter. May walked two and an error by third baseman Max Muncy loaded the bases. Jo Adell hit a full-count sinker that stayed up for a grand slam. … One of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospects, left-hander Jackson Ferris, made his first Cactus League appearance. He walked a batter and struck out one in a scoreless fifth inning. … Added to the 40-man roster for the first time last fall, left-hander Jack Dreyer struck out the side in the eighth inning.

DEFENSE REPORT: Right-hander Justin Jarvis made the play of the game in the sixth inning when he grabbed Tim Anderson’s 93.1-mph line drive back to the mound, protecting himself as he fell to the ground then starting a double play.

UP NEXT: Giants (RHP Carson Seymour) at Dodgers (RHP Matt Sauer), Saturday, 12:05 p.m. PT, at Camelback Ranch, SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Rosary girls basketball loses to Rolling Hills Prep in final second of CIF-SS 2A championship game

• March 1, 2025

ONTARIO — The Rosary girls basketball went almost the entire 32 minutes of the CIF-SS Division 2A championship game without trailing Friday at Toyota Arena.

But that changed in the final second.

Rolling Hills Preps’ Regan Enright hit a pair of free throws with one second on the clock to give the Huskies their first lead and a 51-49 victory over the Royals.

The Royals, who led 17-0 after the first quarter, managed to get off a half-court shot in that final second but the ball landed well short of the basket.

“We battled,” Rosary coach Richard Yoon said. “It just didn’t turn out our way. I thought that we definitely got hacked (on the final shot), but you know, that’s just the way things go sometimes.”

Enright hit a 3-pointer to make the score 49-49 with less than 30 seconds left.

Prior to Enright’s basket, Rosary (20-9) missed a pair of free throws that would have made it difficult for the Huskies to come back in the few seconds that were remaining.

After the 3-pointer, the Royals ran down the clock, hoping to take the final shot, but turned the ball over with five seconds left.

Enright was then fouled just before the final second ticked off the clock.

Rosary led 22-0 before Enright scored the Huskies’ first points three minutes into the second quarter.

Rolling Hills Prep chipped away and cut the Royals’ lead to 10 points at the half.

By the start of the fourth quarter, the Huskies were within four.

Rosary seemed to regain control. A basket by Kylie Yoon put the Royals up by seven points with three minutes left.

Noelani Pablo scored for the Huskies to cut Rosary’s lead to five but Yoon scored again to get the lead back up to seven with just over a minute remaining.

The Royals never scored again.

“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Richard Yoon said. “I always say, in close games, you’ve got to take care of the ball. You can’t turn it over. You’ve got to make a free throw and you’ve got to rebound.”

The Royals, who started four sophomores and a junior, will continue their season in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday, March 4.

“They’re young, and they’re learning,” Richard Yoon said. “They worked really hard to get here, and we could’ve lost any one of those games before. So I’m really proud of them for getting here.”

“Sometimes it’s a rollercoaster,” he added. “You’ve got to get back right into it. If you lose, you know, you’ve got to get over it quickly.”

Yoon said his team could have made smarter decisions during the game.

“Taking our time on offense to get a better shot,” he said. “Little things, but you’ve got to learn from it. They’re young, and they’re learning.”

Isabella Holmes and Kate Duarte each scored eight to lead the Royals.

Enright led all players with 17.

“That was good basketball,” said Huskies coach Moniquee Alexander, a former center at UCLA. “There’s multiple girls on both teams that could play Division I. So, I’m proud of both teams as a woman, as a female that’s done it.”

​ Orange County Register 

Woman charged with running over teenagers with her car in Irvine

• March 1, 2025

A 35-year-old woman was charged Friday, Feb. 28 with running over some teenage girls and a boy in Irvine after her daughter was beaten up.

The woman was charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, four counts of child abuse and endangerment and a hit-and-run count, all felonies.

She is accused of attacking the teenagers Wednesday at Harvard Avenue and Barranca Parkway, Irvine police Sgt. Karie Davies said. Police were dispatched there at 4:45 p.m.

It appeared the woman’s daughter was in a physical conflict and had to be treated at a hospital, Davies said.

The daughter was in the car when the mother struck two girls riding tandem on an e-bike and the others on foot, Davies said. She said the victims managed to jump out of the way.

The injuries were relatively minor, according to Davies.

​ Orange County Register 

Zelensky’s dilemma is Trump’s shame

• March 1, 2025

It takes a special kind of evil to know that you have the survival of an entire nation in the palm of your hand, and choosing to clench your fist and watch them squirm. President Trump and Vice President Vance met with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office on Friday to agree to a deal that would grant US access to minerals in exchange for continued aid. It devolved into one of the most embarrassing displays in the history of American diplomacy. 

There’s no doubt that without American help, Ukraine would have fallen to Russian forces long ago. Everyone, including Trump Vance and Zelensky, know that without the continued support of the US, Ukraine’s chances of keeping the Russians at bay are slim. With these asymmetric dependence conditions in mind, the president and vice president decided to shout at and humiliate the war-weary Ukranians. 

It was truly hard to watch as Trump and Vance repeatedly yelled at Zelensky that he should be more grateful and that he was in no position to dictate anything. 

Vance said things like, “Have you said thank you once?”, “Just say thank you,” and “We know you’re wrong.” Trump said things like, “You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel”, “Your country is in big trouble”, “You’re not winning this”, and “You have to be thankful. You don’t have the cards, you’re buried there.”

As Ukraine enters its third year of a grueling conflict where thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, women, and children have died and millions displaced, our leadership decided that it was a great time to bleed the battered country and hold aid hostage while demanding access to their minerals. Zelensky had no option if he wanted to save his country and so he complied, agreeing to sign the deal. 

After weeks of having to listen to Trump parroting Putin’s lies, hinting that we would abandon the vulnerable country, and attacking the legitimacy of his presidency, Zelensky arrived at the Oval Office and was told that diplomacy with Russia is the solution. What prompted the barrage of attacks by Trump and Vance was that Zelensky questioned whether diplomacy was really the answer. 

An understandable apprehension given that diplomacy was tried countless times to prevent Putin from invading. A lucid unease given that Russia violated their Friendship Treaty with Ukraine when they invaded the Crimean Peninsula, violated the Budapest memorandum (where Russia agreed to respect Ukrainian sovereignty in exchange for removing Soviet nukes from their territory), violated the Minsk agreements, and violated numerous cease-fire agreements. 

It is difficult to find something in Russia’s recent history that would indicate that they respect international agreements. What its history does tell us is that they like to sign agreements and then violate them as soon as they see an opportunity for advantage. 

For expressing an entirely sensible opinion and having the audacity to disagree with the great and powerful administration, Trump and Vance made it very clear to Zelensky that the perilous position that his country finds itself in means that he is their dog, and they don’t want to hear the dog chiming in. 

Ukraine is not the only one who is benefitting from American intervention. Russia, a great international rival, has been severely diminished. Their military has been revealed to be so weak that they have had to import malnourished North Korean soldiers to help them continue their offensive.  

And yet, we see what Trump and Vance do when they have someone by the short and curlies. It doesn’t matter that the owner of said curlies is attempting to save his people from annihilation at the hands of a cruel dictator – they pounce on the opportunity to extract benefits, and rub his nose on the ground in front of the world. You could see in Zelensky’s face that he was struggling with restraint in the face of utter disrespect.

They and Zelensky understand that pride is a price the Ukrainians must pay for their survival. Trump and Vance made it clear that if they want America’s help, groveling is the only way. Ignore the crazy nonsense that Trump spews, keep your mouth shut, and never stop acknowledging that we are the ones that are saving you. It takes a special kind of cruelty to present this sort of a dilemma to a broken country: set your pride aside and beg or die. 

Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group.

​ Orange County Register 

10 best things to eat at Disney’s 2025 Food & Wine Festival

• March 1, 2025

Foodies flocked to Disney California Adventure for Food & Wine Fest 2025 to sample and share small plates highlighting California-grown ingredients while grazing from one booth to the next on an epicurean adventure.

The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival kicked off on Friday, Feb. 28 and runs through April 21 with local, celebrity and Disney chefs offering cooking tips during culinary demonstrations, tasting seminars and signature events.

The focal points of the festival are the eight marketplace booths offering 13 new food and drink items during this year’s event. DCA eateries and food stands as well Downtown Disney restaurants also serve festival fare.

Disney trimmed three marketplace booths from the festival this year (D-Lish, Earth Eats and Nuts About Cheese) and added the new Mercado de Antojos to the mix.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland reveals tasting menus for 2025 Food & Wine Festival

Food & Wine Fest Sip and Savor passes are back again this year that allow visitors to purchase a prepaid card with eight or four digital coupons good for individual items at food and beverage stands throughout the event.

A Sip and Savor card with eight tabs good for individual items at food and beverage stands throughout the festival costs $63 for 8 items with a $5 discount for Magic Key annual passholders. This year there is also a $32 Sip & Savor pass for 4 items with no AP discount.

ALSO SEE: How Disneyland Paris uses airline-style dynamic pricing

Skip the long lines at the Sip and Savor sales booths and get your card and lanyard at one of the festival merchandise booths along the parade route that rarely have long queues.

You don’t have to buy your food at the booth where it’s served. The best bet is to figure out everything you want to eat and order it all at once from the register stand with the shortest line. Then you can pick up your food whenever you want.

The Uncorked California booth had the shortest line with the most open cashiers on opening day — in part because it was farthest from the front entrance and had the least festival traffic.

Here’s what I liked from best to worst at DCA’s 2025 Food & Wine Festival.

1) Birria Mac & Cheese

Mercado de Antojos

Served with onion-cilantro sauce and tortilla crunch ($9)

It’s always hard to beat the mac and cheese at Disney’s Food & Wine fest and this year is no exception.

The birria was moist, juicy and delicious with bits of tortilla chips tossed in for crunch. The mac and cheese had a bit of a tang to it.

The mash-up combined classic Southern-style mac and cheese with the Mexican flair of the trendy seasoned braised meat.

At this point, Disney California Adventure should host a mac and cheese festival and bring back all the old favorites mixed in with a few new experiments each year.

2) Western BBQ Burger Bao

LA Style

Served with sweet barbecue sauce, applewood smoked bacon and crispy onions ($9.50)

The award for the most daring food mash-up at this year’s festival goes to the bao burger. This is what Disney’s Food & Wine Festival is all about. A clash of cultures mixing one classic Californian food with another.

I come to the food festival every year to try something I’ve never had before. The bao burger perfectly fit the bill.

The deconstructed barbecue burger topped with bacon bits and a squirt of barbecue sauce paired perfectly with the ground beef boa that also doubled as the bun.

3) Corn Chip Chili Pie

Peppers Cali-Ente

Seasoned plant-based beef, spicy cheese sauce, tomatoes, sliced jalapeños and cream ($8)

The presentation in the Fritos snack-sized bag was traditional and cute, but you’re going to want to dump the chili and corn chips into a bowl if you want to get an even mix of both the savory and the crunch.

Otherwise you’ll finish all the chili and be left with nothing but chips.

The Disney chefs tossed in a few jalapeño slices for those who want to add a little extra kick.

I would not have known the “beef” in the chili was plant-based without reading the menu. And even then I would still call myself pleasantly fooled.

4) Cherry Cobbler Pot de Creme

Golden Dreams

Vanilla custard, cherry filling and oat crumble ($7.50)

The cherry-covered cobbler looked like it was going to be way too sweet before I took my first bite — but to my surprise the tasty dessert was not overly sugary.

The cherries were tart, the custard was smooth and the oat crumble on top offered a hint of a classic cobbler baked batter topping.

All the flavors were evenly balanced — especially when you got a scoop with all three layers.

The cobbler was theoretically shareable, but I’d tell your friend or loved one to get their own. You’re going to want to eat the whole thing.

5) Sirloin Gruyere Mac & Cheese

Garlic Kissed

Served with black garlic chimichurri and garlic butter crunch ($9)

The second mac and cheese offered in the festival marketplace booth this year basically borrowed the chimichurri sirloin topping from last year’s baked potato and put it on top of gruyere-soaked elbow noodles.

The first thing I noticed was the giant chunks of sirloin that hid any hint of the mac and cheese in the bowl below.

You’re going to need a knife to quarter those blocks of beef if you don’t want to spend all day chewing on your cud like a cow. It didn’t help that the beef was tough.

My guess is the Disney chefs chose not to chop the chunks into smaller bite sizes to preserve the moisture in the meats that sit in a warming box before being served.

The best part was the pile of gruyere mac and cheese sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Hopefully next year the festival chefs come up with a more adventurous topping than sirloin chunks.

6) Lemon Pepper Wings

California Craft Brews

Served with garlic ranch ($9)

The juicy and zesty wings had a lot of flavor with the garlic ranch dressing on the side adding a tang.

The flavors kind of tingled on my tongue whenever I took a bite.

Wings have become a standby at Disney’s Food & Wine Fest. This year’s version felt like a safe bet rather than a “tasting ground” for bold experimentation.

7) Cafe de Olla Tres Leches Cake

Mercado de Antojos

Tres leches topped with piloncillo chantilly, cinnamon and a Mickey-shaped cookie ($7.75)

There were at least three things promised with this dessert and the Disney bakery team only delivered on two of them.

Cafe de Olla is a Mexican coffee with hints of cinnamon and caramel. Tres leches is a sponge cake soaked in three types of milk.

The delicate chantilly topping certainly had hints of coffee and cinnamon flavors, but the cake base was dry and definitely not milky or spongey.

Disneylanders felt differently on the opening day of the festival. The Tres Leches Cake was briefly sold out just after lunch until the stockpile at the new Mercado de Antojos marketplace booth could be replenished from the park’s central bakery.

8) Asa’Dos

Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo

Grilled skirt steak and chipotle chicken with Spanish rice and salsa verde ($9.75)

The Asa’Dos was certainly the most meal-sized dish of the sample-sized plates at the festival marketplace booths.

From a value stand-point, the Asa’Dos offered the best bang for the buck.

But that’s not really the point of the Sip & Savor pass and the festival booths. The idea is to snack on a variety of different flavors from across the spectrum of California cultures and cuisines.

The steak was tough and hard to chew. The chipotle seasoned chicken was hearty and plentiful. The salsa verde was “theme park spicy” — just enough kick to not offend anyone. I could have used another corn tortilla or two to scoop up everything on the plate.

9) Chicken Taquito Ahogado

Paradise Garden Grill

Served in salsa verde with Spanish rice, avocado crema, sour cream, pickled onion, cotija and cilantro ($8)

It’s always a little weird to order one of the Sip & Savor sample-sized dishes from the restaurants during the Disney Food & Wine Fest.

You become acutely aware that you’ve just ordered one taquito for $8.

Despite the cost, the taquito was thick, hefty and stuffed with a lot of chicken. And then topped to almost tipping over with crema, cotija, sour cream and all the other garnishes.

But at the end of the day it was just a taquito. With no festival twist and no mash-up of cultures or cuisines. Just your ordinary, everyday crispy rolled taco.

10) Sloppy Joe Slider

California Craft Brews

Plant-based beef with cheese ($8)

Every year the Disney chefs try a few Impossible “meats” and most of the time they taste exactly like the real thing — but there’s often one protein substitute that just tastes off.

This year’s plant-based “miss” goes to the Sloppy Joe Slider.

The texture and taste of the meat was just off. Maybe it was the flavor that tasted a bit like a Nashville hot chicken sauce. Or maybe it was the “ground beef” that looked more like a thin spread than a hefty meat filling.

The Texas toast-style bun was tasty, but it’s never a good sign when the bread is the best part of a sandwich.

​ Orange County Register 

Newport Beach executive and insurance agent plead guilty in multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme

• March 1, 2025

An Orange County executive and an insurance agent pleaded guilty Friday, Feb. 28 in a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme.

Robert Andrew Lotter, 67, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of illegally selling unqualified securities. Co-defendant Charles Albert Major, 76, pleaded to two counts of making an untrue statement or omission in connection with a purchase or sale and a count of unlawfully selling unqualified securities, all felonies.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced April 11.

In court papers filed in 2020, state Department of Insurance investigator Braelyn Velasco said Lotter “fraudulently sold securities to 20 victims by means of omission, misrepresentation, and through the use of a device, scheme, or artifice, Lotter’s victims lost $4,087,811.04.”

From May 2003 to May 2018, Lotter “sold investments in his companies’ eAgency Inc. and Mymobilewatchdog Inc. by the use of misleading marketing materials and tactics that led victims to believe Lotter’s insurance agency was affiliated with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a state agency that provides retirement pension benefits to California public school educators,” according to Velasco.

Lotter created My Mobile Watchdog, a Newport Beach-based company that helps parents use the app to keep track of web activity on their children’s cellphone.

“Victims responded to the misleading materials with the belief they were requesting a retirement analysis from (the state retirement system),” Velasco alleged.

Accredited investors were then solicited to invest in the defendant’s companies, Velasco said.

Velasco alleged:

• Lotter “inappropriately used his agency to access customers’ private financial information to determine if the customer was accredited, in order to solicit the customers’ investments” in the defendants’ companies;
• Lotter dangled “unrealistic and inflated financial projects of his companies” to potential investors;
• Lotter also “failed to properly disclose to all victims” that investments in his companies were “high risk.”

“At least 10 victims stated there were no such discussions of the risk involved, or that such discussions did not identify the investment as high-risk,” Velasco said. “Some victims were told there was no chance they would lose any of their investment.”

Velasco further said that Lotter and his “companies continued to lull victims throughout the years into believing eAgency Inc. and/or Mymobileatchdog Inc. was making significant progress and investors would see substantial returns soon. Nearly every victim stated they were told investors would see returns within one to two years. The same message was given to victims from the early 2000s until 2018.”

​ Orange County Register 

Chapman president highlights university’s growth in final annual address

• March 1, 2025

Chapman University President Daniele Struppa on Friday, Feb. 28, delivered his final State of the University address after a near-decade leading the school, celebrating its growth and rise in the ranks of higher education.

The address had a theme of finality for Struppa, who is stepping down in September. It was one last time for him to show Chapman leadership, faculty, staff, students and donors how much the university has grown over the past decade and the new initiatives underway.

Chapman’s endowment has eclipsed $800 million, Struppa highlighted, more than double what it was a decade ago — fueled by the school’s recent fundraising spree.

A bigger endowment, Struppa said, allows the school to weather financial challenges better and pursue new educational programs.

“I think that’s a big success story,” Struppa said. “The reason why this number is so important is we’ve been able to face significant challenges over and over again, and do very well every time.”

Struppa delivered his speech at the school’s Musco Center for the Arts and thanked his colleagues before he retires as the university’s president and returns to its mathematics faculty. He spoke about how Chapman has risen in the U.S. News & World Report’s national university ranking to number 121 and the school is knocking on the door of the highest research classification designated by the Carnegie Foundation.

Some of those research investments will be showcased when the school opens its new home for quantum and advanced physics studies later this year.

The university will have spent more than $70 million to purchase the historic Killefer School from Orange Unified — it was the first campus in California to desegregate — and preserve and renovate it to “house some of the most advanced quantum research.”

Struppa acknowledged some of the challenges faced in recent years, including shepherding the university through the coronavirus pandemic and the botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by the U.S. Department of Education.

That delay in financial aid awards caused the school to lose some enrollment over the last year, Struppa said. To further address budget issues caused by the drop in enrollment, the university closed 20 open positions and used some of its endowment.

Struppa was reminded of another of those challenges on Friday when his speech was interrupted at separate times by four different pro-Palestinian protestors. As with several universities, Chapman saw an encampment develop with students entrenched for about two weeks just before graduation in May.

Struppa picked back up with his remarks, saying he, too, was a big protestor when he was in college.

Matt Parlow, Chapman’s executive vice president and chief advancement officer, will become the school’s new president in September. Struppa will take a sabbatical and then return to the school’s mathematics faculty.

“I don’t think the university could be in better hands,” Struppa said.

Parlow had been a dean of Chapman’s law school and in recent years ran its fundraising campaigns. Midway through the State of the University address, Struppa welcomed Larlow onstage to deliver the final half of the address.

Parlow spoke about Chapman’s efforts to help Orange County high school students. One program, fueled by a $5 million grant from CalOptima, will fund scholarships for students from under-resourced backgrounds to attend Chapman’s physician assistant program in return for committing to work in the county following graduation.

Parlow ended his remarks by thanking Struppa and saying there was no playbook for many of the challenges encountered by the school, and with his leadership Chapman came out of them stronger.

“The president’s job is really hard,” Parlow said. “I see that every day working with him, and yet he always keeps his cool. He cares so deeply about the people he works with, about the students that we serve, the alumni who come back and stay engaged with the university, he really cares about people. It’s genuine.”

​ Orange County Register