Current Students

Note: Each year the president of Thomas Aquinas College hosts a dinner on the Wednesday before Commencement as a chance for members of the faculty and staff to bid farewell to the graduating class. The president, dean, and assistant dean all speak to the Seniors and, customarily, the Seniors present a gift to the College. Below are President Michael F. McLean’s remarks and a photographic slideshow from this year’s dinner.

On Wednesday, as members of the Senior Class completed their last final examination, they greeted one another with hugs and congratulations on the academic quadrangle. After all arrived they then headed down to the campus ponds for a celebratory swim:

The soon-to-be graduates then met up again at lunchtime in St. Joseph’s Commons, where they proudly announced to the underclassmen their accomplishments — measured in tutorial hours, seminar hours, final examinations, papers, and, of course, a senior thesis. Below is the slideshow:

At lunch in St. Joseph Commons this afternoon, Thomas Aquinas College bid farewell to Lucinda Anderson, who — after managing food services at the College for 20 years — is retiring this summer.

In anticipation of a verdict in the Supreme Court case of Zubik v. Burwell, members of the Thomas Aquinas College community today launched a nine-day novena, praying for a favorable outcome in the College’s challenge of the HHS Contraceptive Mandate.

As part of their long farewell tour — which has included brunch with the sophomores and dinner with the juniors — members of the Class of 2016 gathered with the freshmen Sunday for a “midnight snack.”

Dispensed from their usual curfew, the seniors and freshmen stayed up late in the Campus Coffee Shop, enjoying treats and each other’s company in the waning days of the academic year. Commencement is now 11 days away!

In a longstanding tradition, the younger classes at Thomas Aquinas College take turns each spring bidding farewell to the soon-to-be-departing seniors.

On Saturday evening the juniors had their opportunity, hosting a reception and dinner for the Class of 2016 on the academic quadrangle, followed by a dance behind St. Gladys Hall.

Construction is now under way on the College’s new lecture and concert building, St. Cecilia Hall!

“We are currently doing the grading of the site, which will continue for several more weeks,” reports Vice President for Finance and Administration Peter L. DeLuca. “After that we will be building the retaining walls, and then we will start the construction of the building itself.”

Last spring, a group of underclassmen challenged the College’s upperclassmen to a Saturday game of baseball. Somewhat presumptuously, they dubbed the event The First Annual All-American Baseball Game, suggesting that they were confident that they were establishing a longstanding tradition. One year later, their hopes are bearing fruit, as on Saturday, the campus athletic fields were the site of the Second Annual All-American Baseball Game.

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 2016.

The signs first started appearing around campus about a week ago: “Someone’s Dead, and We Need YOU to Find out Whodunit!”