[audio = Mother Assumpta 2012]

The Joy Filled Heart of a Thomist: Proclaiming the Gospel with Love, Life, and Learning

During the last days of classes before final examinations, 31 Thomas Aquinas College juniors gathered in the rotunda of St. Thomas Hall to sing five hymns. The brief performance marked the latest chapter in a young but increasingly anticipated campus tradition.

With the end of the academic year fast approaching, the College community took time this past weekend to bid farewell to two of its beloved members who will not be returning in the fall — Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P., and Dr. John Finley. (See slideshow.)

Each year, starting in the fall and continuing well into the spring, the seniors of Thomas Aquinas College labor to create what will be the culmination of their four years of academic efforts — the senior thesis. Based on a subject of each student’s own choosing, and drawing from the College’s classical curriculum, the thesis represents its author’s effort to apply his education to a matter of scholarly and personal importance.

Address to Friends and Alumni
of Thomas Aquinas College

By William McGurn

Earlier this month William McGurn, vice president for News Corporation and author of the weekly “Main Street” column in the Wall Street Journal, was the featured speaker at a reception for friends and alumni of Thomas Aquinas College in New York City. The text below is adapted from his remarks that evening.

THANK YOU, President McLean, for those kind words.

Each spring, in the final weeks of the semester, members of the Senior Class team up against the faculty in the annual Senior-Tutor Softball Game. In this year’s contest, which took place on the afternoon of Thursday, April 26, the tutors convincingly defeated their pupils, 11-2.

Posted: April 30, 2012

Under the direction of Daniel Grimm (’76), the Thomas Aquinas College Choir performed Mozart’s The Magic Flute at its annual spring concert, accompanied by a chamber orchestra composed of student and local instrumentalists. View highlights in the following video and photographs in the slideshow below.

An end-of-the-year, outdoor dance, Chez Martin has become one of Thomas Aquinas College’s most popular annual events. Put on by members of the Senior Class, it is a relaxed occasion for the seniors to say goodbye to the underclassmen. The evening begins with dinner, proceeds with a comical talent show, and ends with dancing. It also serves as a fundraiser, with proceeds going toward the seniors’ farewell gift to the College.

Posted: April 24, 2012
 

On the morning of Friday, April 20, Thomas Aquinas College was graced by the visit of the superiors of some 20 North American religious communities belonging to the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick. The sisters, who were in the area for their annual provincial meeting, have as their charism serving the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the ill by traveling to their homes to provide nursing services and to keep vigil at their bedsides.

In a longstanding tradition, the younger classes at Thomas Aquinas College take turns each spring bidding farewell to the soon-to-be-departing seniors. This past Sunday the sophomores had their opportunity, preparing and serving an elegant outdoor brunch for the Class of 2012.

The menu included homemade muffins, quiche, and cinnamon rolls — as well as numerous toasts, both humorous and wistful, as the two classes looked ahead to Commencement and the end of the academic year.