Seniors Submit Theses and Celebrate!

Over the past two weekends, members of the Class of 2026 turned in the final drafts of their senior theses: the fruits of four years’ study and industry at Thomas Aquinas College. 

The Senior Thesis project is integral to the College’s program of Catholic liberal education. Students must raise a question similar to those considered in the Great Books and offer a defensible answer in light of the central themes of the College’s classical curriculum. Writing, and later defending, this paper synthesizes both the students’ analytical acumen and their general grasp of the wider Western intellectual tradition.

Per tradition, at 9 p.m. on Saturday night, members of the Class of 2026 gathered with their final drafts, accompanied by the rest of the student body. The California seniors clustered in St. Cecilia Hall, welcoming their classmates as they entered, flash drives in hand. A week later in New England’s St. Frassati Student Center, triumphant music played from the loudspeakers on the ground floor, while the seniors lined up with their theses on the balcony above. 

One at a time, the seniors approached the registrar’s desk and, as their theses were registered and accepted, made their success known with percussive zeal — ringing a bell in California, hitting a gong in New England — to the applause and shouts of their peers.

Once all the theses were submitted, the students celebrated with their peers, congratulating each other and enjoying refreshments prepared in honor of the occasion. “Handing in something that is the work and fruit of all four years here is very rewarding,” observed Tommy Fallon (NE’26). “I am so happy to be celebrating with everyone now!”

More Senior Thesis Turn-In Party photos from California ...

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... and New England!