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On September 16, 2006, students, faculty, and staff gathered in St. Joseph’s Square next to the Commons to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of Thomas Aquinas College. The first of two special events to mark this milestone in the College’s history, the campus celebration consisted of a Mass of Thanksgiving followed by a banquet under a spacious canopy where even an ominous orange glow in the sky and falling ash from a near-by major California brush fire could not dampen the enthusiasm. The College is deeply grateful to His Excellency the Most Reverend Fabian Bruskewitz, Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, who presided over the day’s events as the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass and keynote speaker at the dinner later on that evening. He began his dinner talk with a ringing endorsement of Thomas Aquinas College, saying, “It is no flattery, but a fact, to point out that for many Catholics, throughout the United States, Thomas Aquinas College has become the prophet Jeremiah’s proverbial ‘wall of brass, pillar of iron, and fortified city’ in the present condition of Catholic higher education in the United States.” He then went on to discuss the relationship between faith and reason in Catholic higher education, referring to the University of Regensburg lecture that Pope Benedict XVI had given just days before. President Dillon was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and began the dinner program with an optimistic look at the future of Thomas Aquinas College. He then introduced in turn four of the College’s founders—Dr. Ronald McArthur, Mr. Marc Berquist, Dr. Jack Neumayr, and Mr. Peter DeLuca—who addressed the gathering. They reminisced about their experiences over 35 years as they worked to found and firmly establish Thomas Aquinas College as an institution committed to genuine Catholic liberal education. Following dinner, students, faculty, and staff danced the night away to the music of a Dixieland band headed by member of the Board of Governors Mr. Tom Sullivan. Two weeks later, on September 30, the College held a more formal, black-tie gala event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The evening began with a Mass of Thanksgiving in one of the hotel’s smaller ballrooms. Msgr. Francis Weber, Archivist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Director of the San Fernando Mission, was the principal celebrant, and Rev. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem., a graduate of the College’s class of 1994, preached the sermon. Following Mass, the doors to the Wintergarden Ballroom were opened, and guests began to celebrate in style with excellent food, warm camaraderie, and the music of the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra.
The evening was emceed by Mr. Jim Newman, a veteran business news reporter for both ABC7 and KTLA television, and Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, gave the invocation. Throughout the evening, guests heard heart-felt testimonials and congratulations from prominent friends of the College including President of the Western Association of the Order of Malta, Richard Madden, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors, Maria Grant and James Barrett, Los Angeles County Mayor and Supervisor Mike Antonovich, and noted Catholic author George Weigel, who delivered the keynote address. President Dillon thanked all in attendance from the podium of the ballroom as he reflected on the past and looked forward with hope to the future. “So long as the love of truth burns in our souls,” he said, “so long as we cherish and revere our faith and devote ourselves to Christ, the College will flourish.” More photographs and the complete texts of the talks presented at both the campus celebration and the gala dinner will be included in a forthcoming special 35th Anniversary edition of the College newsletter.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Winter 2007 |
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