Note: The following essay is adapted from comments made before the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors at its October 28, 2017, meeting.

By Barbara O’Brien (’18)

Thank you. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here with you all today. It’s a hard act to follow Matt Dugan. Everyone looks up to him on campus!

I am Barbara O’Brien, and I am the oldest of nine. I come from a very small town in southwest Wisconsin. There are 500 people in my town!

Note: The following essay is adapted from comments made before the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors at its October 28, 2017, meeting.

By Matthew Dugan (’18)

Well hello, everyone. I’m Matthew Dugan, for any of you whom I haven’t yet met. I’m from Wayzata, Minnesota, a small town of 2,000 people, and I’m the youngest of four. So, there’s a pretty large gap between my oldest brother and me — he’s 13 years older, and that left me with big shoes to fill. I always felt like I had to be just like my big brother.

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The rules of Thomas Aquinas College’s Cookie Bake-Off are simple: Teams get one evening to bake their confections, working entirely from scratch. Recipes and ingredients are left to students’ own devices and imaginations. The next day, a select panel of tutors, students, and staff evaluate the cookies on the basis of several criteria, including taste and presentation. Below are photos from both the preparation and judging at this year’s competition:

This year’s winners:

The Most. Rev. Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin, has accepted President Michael F. McLean’s invitation to serve as Thomas Aquinas College’s 2018 Commencement Speaker.

“We are grateful that our longtime friend Bishop Morlino has agreed to come to California to join us for Commencement,” says Dr. McLean. “We are honored that he will be part of this important day in the life of the College and its newest graduates.”

On Friday evening, in honor of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, Chaplain Rev. David Gonzalez, O.Praem., led a small group of students in a candlelit, Candlemas procession around the campus. The group began outside Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel and processed along the perimeter of the academic quadrangle to the Guadalupe Fountain.

Our Lady of the Presentation, pray for us!

After the close of classes on Friday, January 26, more than 200 Thomas Aquinas College students departed for San Francisco and the 14th annual Walk for Life West Coast. They arrived late in the night at North Beach’s Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, where the Salesian fathers graciously offered them places to sleep. The next morning, they attended Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral offered by the Most Rev. Salvatore J.

After the close of classes on Friday, more than 200 Thomas Aquinas College students met up behind St. Joseph Commons to begin their pilgrimage to San Francisco and the Walk for Life West Coast. They heard some encouraging words from Dean John J. Goyette, then received a blessing from Head Chaplain Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P., before boarding three buses and numerous cars for the voyage north.

Their seven-hour, 350-mile journey is now under way. Please pray for their safe travels and their witness!

Audio | CC

“Joseph is a fruitful bough” (Gen 49:22):
The Patriarch, His Seed, and the Messiah
 

By Dr. Christopher A. Decaen
Assistant Dean and Tutor
Thomas Aquinas College
January 19, 2018