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 video ...

Final examinations week has arrived at Thomas Aquinas College, and students are supplementing their academic preparation with various forms of spiritual preparation — including seeking the intercession of the College’s beloved patron, St. Thomas Aquinas.

This past weekend, a group of the College’s Canadian students squared off against their American counterparts for a friendly game of street hockey on the campus tennis courts. Following a prayer and the singing of both countries’ national anthems, the match ensued — with team USA claiming an easy, 14-2 victory.

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 for the Class of 2015 at the Doheny Hacienda, followed by dinner on the Chapel plaza and a dance behind St. Gladys Hall.

With the spring semester drawing to a close, the men’s intramural soccer league concluded its season Friday evening with its championship game. In a close-fought match, the team captained by Andrew Carey (’16) bested that of Franz Wall (’16), three goals to two.

As part of their long goodbye, members of the Senior Class hosted freshmen to a late-night snack of ice-cream sundaes in St. Joseph Common on Friday. See photos, below:

Commencement 2015 is now less than two weeks away!

When members of the Class of 2015 arrive at the President’s Dinner on May 13, awaiting them at each place setting will be a gift from the College — and one from an anonymous friend.

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.

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 Wednesday, April 29, the tutors crushed their students, 10-2.

After the game, the College’s athletic fields became the site of another popular senior tradition — the thesis draft-burning party.