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A Day of Welcome

Visit of Archbishop Miller Marks Start of New Academic Year

(Fall 2009 Newsletter)

Interim President Peter L. DeLuca and the Most Rev. J. Michael Miller, CSB, archbishop of Vancouver, British Columbia, greet freshman Daniel Bagdazian at Matriculation.

As members of the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors, faculty, and staff welcomed this year's incoming freshmen at Convocation on August 24, they were joined by a distinguished guest of honor: the Most Rev. J. Michael Miller, CSB, archbishop of Vancouver, British Columbia; former secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; and the College's 2009 Convocation speaker.

As is customary, these exercises marking the start of the new academic year began with a Mass of the Holy Spirit. For the first time, however, this Mass was offered in the newly dedicated Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, with Archbishop Miller serving as principal celebrant and homilist. "You are at Thomas Aquinas College because you are resolved to put your minds and hearts at the service of the sacred cause of truth," the Canadian prelate told the freshmen. "But your undertaking will be fruitful only if you attend assiduously to your spiritual formation according to the mind of Christ."

A Welcoming Ceremony

Just as the completion of the Chapel yielded a new setting for the Convocation Mass, so, too, did it improve the setting for the Matriculation ceremony that followed. Over the summer the College's facilities department dismantled the temporary chapel that for nearly 30 years had occupied roughly one-third of St. Joseph Commons, resulting in a much needed, much larger dining area, a space that could now accommodate the dais and backdrop for this august occasion.

There, Thomas Aquinas College Interim President Peter L. DeLuca told the new students that through the course of their studies they will "learn how to learn the truth and how to distinguish it from error." In his address, Archbishop Miller spoke of "the important role that I hope the Angelic Doctor will play in the coming years of your education here."

The Newcomers

The members of the Class of 2013 formally began their tenure as students when Director of Admissions Jon Daly called their names, and each approached the dais, greeting Mr. DeLuca and the Archbishop, then signing the College's registry. The College also welcomed its newest tutor, Dr. Michael Augros, who made the Profession of Faith and took the Oath of Fidelity. With the College thus prepared to start the semester, Mr. DeLuca proclaimed the start of the new academic year, and the students responded with a loud, standing ovation - an annual occurrence met, for the first time, by the sound of bells ringing gloriously from the tower of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel.

Gratitude

"We very much appreciated Archbishop Miller's coming to our campus to celebrate with us the opening of the 2009-2010 academic year," Mr. DeLuca later reflected. "We are grateful for his friendship, and our students were blessed to hear his thoughtful remarks."

The sentiments were seemingly mutual. In a letter to Mr. DeLuca that His Excellency sent upon returning to Vancouver, he wrote: "It was indeed a great pleasure to visit the College. It was an unforgettable experience. The Chapel bears splendid witness to the beauty of God and the unifying place played by theology in your curriculum. Above all, however, I enjoyed my time with the students at the seminar and tutorial I attended. How confidently, respectfully (and even wisely) they discussed and questioned one another!"

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2009