Current Students

Each spring, in the final weeks of the semester, members of the Senior Class team up against the faculty in a highly anticipated softball game. In this year’s contest, which took place on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 25, the seniors won for the second year in a row, besting the faculty by a score of 4-2.

After the game the two teams, joined by the rest of the Senior Class and many faculty families, came together for a barbeque on the campus picnic area.

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.

On Sunday, Chrysostomos, a student choir directed by Isaac Cross (’19), performed its spring concert in St. Cecilia Hall.

The concert consisted of 12 pieces from the Western tradition, spanning the 16th to the 21st century, including “Christus Factus Est” by Bruckner, “Ubi Caritas” by Ola Gjeilo, and “Regina Coeli,” by Palestrina.

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 2018, complete with many heartfelt toasts.

An end-of-the-year 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. It also serves as a fundraiser, with proceeds going toward the seniors’ farewell gift to the College.

This year’s Chez Martin, hosted in the newly completed St. Cecilia Hall, began with a student-produced movie and ended with desserts and dancing.

On Friday evening the Thomas Aquinas College Choir, under the direction of Daniel J. Grimm (’76), performed Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, or Bunthorne’s Bride, before a packed audience in the newly completed St. Cecilia Hall. The production was part of the 2017-2018 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture and Concert Series, endowed by Barbara and Paul Henkels.

On Sunday evening, the rafters of St. Joseph Commons were festooned with flags from around the world. On the wall beside the community bulletin board were dozens of handwritten copies of the Hail Mary, each translated into a different language — Nepali, French, Hindi, and Portuguese, among others.  Students had gathered for an event of their own creation, Cor Unum, or “One Heart,” named for a former dicastery of the Roman Curia, signifying, in the words of Bl. Paul VI, “a heart that beats in rhythm with the heart of Christ.”

On Saturday evening the Class of 2021 hosted a dance for the first time, staging a “Casino Royale” themed event in the recently completed St. Cecilia Hall. The freshmen made maximum use of the new facility, re-fashioning the foyer into a casino, turning the stage into a dance floor, and playing a homemade film on the hall’s full-sized movie screen. Those too timid or tired to dance watched from the building’s balconies.

To celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, Chaplain Rev. Robert Marczewski, led a Eucharistic procession across the campus after Sunday’s 11:30 a.m. Mass. The procession visited each of the residence halls, where students kneeled, sang hymns, and prayed before the Eucharistic Lord.

Jesus, we trust in you!

“This is a fascinating time right now for liberal education, and I will tell you why,” said Rob Neal, a managing partner with Hager Pacific Properties, to an audience of Thomas Aquinas College students at a recent on-campus Career Forum. “Another Industrial Revolution is under way, and that Industrial Revolution is not one of hands meeting implements and machines, like the last one. It’s one of human cognitive ability meeting Artificial Intelligence.… That’s going to create some very interesting opportunities, especially for those who have a liberal education.”