Current Students

Ever since his Holiness Pope Francis canonized St. Junipero Serra on Wednesday afternoon, the campus of Thomas Aquinas College has been abuzz with celebrations of California’s new patron saint.

On Wednesday night, the men of the residence hall formerly known as Blessed Junipero Serra sang at the evening Mass. For the propers of the Mass, they sang arrangements composed by junior Giorgio Navarini, who also served as director of the self-styled “Serran Choir.” Below is a video of their rendition of the Sanctus:

A Tutor Talk by Dr. John Nieto

Note: Periodically members of the Thomas Aquinas College teaching faculty or chaplaincy present informal lectures, followed by question-and-answer sessions, on campus. These late-afternoon gatherings afford an opportunity for speakers to discuss topics of great interest to them and to share their thoughts with other members of the community. Dr. John Nieto delivered the following talk on September 30, 2015:

Students met on the lower portion of the campus on Saturday for what was billed as Thomas Aquinas College’s “First Annual Spearshake Festival.” That is not a typo. The festival was not dedicated to the Bard of Avon, but to the art of hurling spears … into a bullseye affixed to the side of a haystack. College tutor Dr. Christopher Oleson, a trained martial artist, organized the event, which promised, “Real spears. Real Prizes. Real Glory.”

Fans of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings converged on the Dumb Ox Coffee Shop last night for the first-ever Tolkien Trivia Night, organized by freshman Joe Daly. Several teams of five contestants squared off in the competition, which featured a series of increasingly obscure questions about all things Middle Earth. The winners for the evening were members of the squad captained by tutors Andrew Seeley, Patrick Gardner, and Tony Andres.

On Wednesday night, the eve of the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the women of the residence hall named in her honor came together for a talk about their patroness.

In a letter filed on Wednesday, September 30, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Solicitor General of the United States, endorsed Thomas Aquinas College’s effort to bring its challenge of the HHS Mandate before the U.S. Supreme Court.

For the last year, students at Thomas Aquinas College have studied around the classroom tables in St. Gladys Hall — and they have met for dances and other events in the adjacent Fritz B. and Gladys C. Burns Plaza — but the building was not truly complete. Only on Friday, with the unveiling and blessing of a new statue of the building’s patroness, is St. Gladys Hall now truly finished, a permanent and beloved fixture on the Thomas Aquinas College campus.

On Friday afternoon, incense filled the air, holy water softened the ground, and four spades pierced the soil at the site of Thomas Aquinas College’s forthcoming lecture and concert building, St. Cecilia Hall.

Audio: