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IN MEMORIAM
Sir Daniel J. Donohue, 1919–2014
Thomas Aquinas College mourns the death of a dear friend who was one of its earliest and most generous benefactors, Sir Daniel J. Donohue, who died on December 3. For more than 40 years Sir Daniel served as president and chairman of the Dan Murphy Foundation in Los Angeles, which is one of the College’s most loyal and generous benefactors.
The Dan Murphy Foundation’s annual gifts have long been a mainstay of the College’s financial aid program, and its Donohue Endowed Scholarship Fund more than sextupled the College’s endowment to provide scholarships in perpetuity for deserving students. The Foundation also provided lead gifts and leadership to spearhead the design and construction of St. Bernardine of Siena Library and Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel.
In 1993 the College awarded Sir Daniel its highest honor, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion, and in 1999, it inducted the Dan Murphy Foundation into the Order of St. Albert the Great. “Were it not for the unparalleled generosity of Sir Daniel and the Dan Murphy Foundation, Thomas Aquinas College simply would not exist, let alone thrive as it does today,” says President Michael F. McLean. “We thank God for this good man’s loyal commitment to our shared, noble endeavor to help build souls for Christ.”
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Sir Daniel J. Donohue
Slideshow:
Sir Daniel and the College
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KEEPING CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS
Students Stage Second Annual
“Flash Mob” at Ventura Mall
Bringing the joy of Advent and the promise of Christmas into the marketplace, some 150 Thomas Aquinas College students descended on Ventura’s Pacific View Mall on the first Saturday of December to stage a choral “flash mob.”
After stealthily gathering around the mall’s Christmas central lobby — by the Santa Claus photo center — the students simultaneously burst into song. They began with “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “O Come, All ye Faithful,” and then concluded with a rousing rendition of “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” The mall’s surprised customers and employees seemed to delight in the performance, stopping whatever they were doing to take in the music, to sing along, and to cheer afterward.
Organized by sophomore Giorgio Navarini, the yuletide event is fast becoming a regular College tradition. Last year’s inaugural “mob” was so widely and well received — generating nearly 50,000 views and coverage from EWTN’s World Over — that students were especially enthusiastic about doing it again, preparing in their spare time for weeks in advance.
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Flash-mob video
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HHS MANDATE UPDATE
College to Challenge Federal Appeals Court’s Contraceptive Ruling
On November 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied Thomas Aquinas College’s challenge to the HHS contraceptive mandate. In its ruling, the Court sided with the government’s argument that the latest “accommodation” to the mandate — which requires Catholic employers to facilitate the availability of free contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilization services to their employees — is sufficient to ward off religious-freedom objections.
Yet the revised accommodation “does not address the College’s concerns,” says Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean. “The College’s notification would still be the ‘trigger’ for the provision of the objectionable coverage, and the College would still be materially cooperating in the provision of coverage for morally objectionable procedures and medications.”
As such, the College intends to continue its legal effort against the HHS Mandate. “We will be appealing the ruling to the United States Supreme Court,” says Dr. McLean. “We look forward to vindicating our religious liberty rights there.”
In a recent radio interview on the Salem Radio Network's WHK in Cleveland, Dr. McLean elaborated on the College’s position. “Our faith commitment is foundational in our lives and foundational here at the College. It animates everything we do,” he told host Molly Smith. “It’s very important to our mission that we model our fidelity to the Church and our fidelity to Christ, and that is what we are trying to do in this particular battle.”
Full story
Audio: Dr. McLean’s radio interview
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Thomas Aquinas College
Department of Health and Human Services
Hear Dr. McLean on the Salem Radio Network
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog
• Two alumni brothers, Phil (’97) and Luke Halpin (’98), played significant roles in the production of a new one-hour documentary film, Miles Christi: Soldiers of Christ in America, which recently premiered on EWTN. The film explores a new order of priests, Miles Christi (soldiers of Christ), which is committed to helping lay Catholics pursue holiness in their everyday lives. Phil served as the project’s writer and editor, and Luke composed and produced the original score.
• After serving for three years as the parochial vicar at Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish in Topeka, Kansas, Rev. Nicholas Blaha (’02) has moved on to a new assignment. The young priest is now the head of campus ministry at Emporia State University, a 6,000-student, public university some 100 miles southwest of Kansas City. Writing on his archdiocesan blog, Evangelized Kansas, Fr. Blaha observes that working on a college campus has given him, “a front row seat to the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of young men and women.”
• “I left the Army,” writes John Tuttle (’98) John Tuttle (’98), “but am still with the federal government.” Having completed his service as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Mr. Tuttle (’98) is now a law clerk in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable Daniel A. Manion, a Reagan appointee whose chambers are located in South Bend, Indiana. Mr. Tuttle follows in the footsteps of three previous Thomas Aquinas College graduates whom Judge Manion has hired over the years.
Faith in Action Blog
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Miles Christi: Soldiers of Christ in America
Rev. Nicholas Blaha (’02)
John Tuttle (’98) |
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“OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT”
Interactive Media Council Honors
Thomas Aquinas College for Website
Three years after its launch in 2011, the Thomas Aquinas College website has received a prestigious Interactive Media Award for Outstanding Achievement. Created by the Interactive Media Council (IMC), the Interactive Media Awards exist “to recognize the highest standards of excellence in website design and development.”
Out of a possible 100 points in each category, IMC’s judges awarded the College’s site with scores of 98 for content, 100 for feature functionality, 91 for usability, and 96 for standards compliance — resulting in a total score of 475 out of 500 points, or 95 percent. “We are gratified to receive the IMC’s recognition because it confirms what we have long hoped and believed, namely, that our site is making it easier for people to learn about and interact with the College,” says Director of College Relations Anne S. Forsyth. “We view the site as a wonderful way to help share and spread the College’s mission of Catholic liberal education.”
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