Thomas Aquinas ushers in 74 students of 'Great Books'
John Scheibe
Ventura County Star
Sunday, May 13, 2007
They came together for a final time on Saturday after four years
of contemplating some of the greatest books ever written.
The 74 graduates of Thomas Aquinas College's class of 2007 were
told that God has a unique plan for them in the coming months and
years.
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him," Archbishop Albert
Malcom Ranjith told graduates during his commencement speech at
the campus, located in the hills north of Santa Paula.
"God has a unique plan for each of us," the Sri Lanka
native said.
Ranjith is the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The congregation deals with
many of the affairs of the Latin Catholic Church.
Thomas Aquinas students use the "Great Books" curriculum,
reading directly from the works of such thinkers as Homer, Plato,
Aristotle, Pascal, Marx and Goethe. They then discuss these works
around a table with their professors, called "tutors"
at the college, in keeping with the school's Socratic method of
teaching through guided questioning.
Graduates earn a bachelor's degree in liberal arts.
Rafael Orellana, 22, grew up in Santa Paula in the shadow of Thomas
Aquinas College.
When it came time to choose a college, Thomas Aquinas was a natural
choice, partly because Orellana's parents, Robert and Mary, had
studied there in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
"I really couldn't have asked for a better foundation in terms
of a college education," said Orellana.
Among the things he learned was how to structure an argument, a
skill he said will serve him well when he enrolls in law school
this fall.
Orellana said he was accepted to various law schools, including
those at UC Berkeley and UCLA. He chose the law school at the University
of Virginia in part because the school offered him a generous scholarship.
Juliana Vazquez enrolled at Thomas Aquinas after a year of studying
creative writing at Princeton University.
"I decided I wanted to study philosophy," the 24-year-old
Chicago native said.
Vazquez said the past four years at Thomas Aquinas have been some
of the most intense and profound in her of life.
"I learned so much and I will take a lot of fond memories
with me," said Vazquez, who plans to study theology at Marquette
University in Wisconsin in the fall.
Saturday's commencement comes amid numerous construction projects
at the campus, including the $21 million campus chapel Our Lady
of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel.
From its cruciform floor plan to its long nave, pillars, arches,
vaulted ceiling and marble floors, the chapel exudes a classical
feel. Its designers say the chapel, which has a capacity to seat
some 700 worshippers, is one of the most unusual architectural projects
to come to Ventura County in a long time. The chapel is scheduled
to be completed next year.
This article originally appeared in the
Ventura County Star on May 13, 2007. Reprinted with express
permission.
|
