On one Sunday each spring, students, alumni, faculty, and staff of Thomas Aquinas College come together in Ojai’s Soule Park for “Soul Butter” — a concert that features “soulful” selections of a folk and bluegrass music. This year’s concert took place on April 19, and photos are available in the slideshow below, courtesy of Andrea Florez (’14):

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 2015.

The morning included numerous toasts, both humorous and wistful, as the two classes looked ahead to Commencement and the end of the academic year.

An end-of-the-year, outdoor 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.

About two weeks ago, a number of signs appeared on campus:

CHALLENGED!
The following underclassmen challenge the upperclassmen to the Great American Game of Baseball on April 25 ...

Then, last week, new signs appeared, inviting spectators to the College’s “First Annual” upperclassmen v. underclassmen game — suggesting that organizers were confident about their creation’s long-term prospects.

Under the direction of Daniel Grimm (’76), the Thomas Aquinas College Choir held its spring concert, “Wine, Women & Song,” on Friday evening in St. Joseph Commons. The performance featured operatic choruses and scenes by Mozart, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Offenbach, Monteverdi, Donizetti, Verdi, and Rossini. View highlights in the photographic slideshow below:

“Do Whatever the Lord Tells You,
and be Faithful to Jesus”

Note: The Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila is the Archbishop of Denver. He served as the College’s Convocation Speaker last fall, at which time he granted the following interview.

How did you discern your vocation to the priesthood as a young man at a secular college in the turbulent 1960s?

With nearly half of the student body traveling during Easter Vacation, the campus of Thomas Aquinas College grows quiet over Holy Week. After the final classes on Wednesday afternoon, the classrooms go dark. For a brief time, the work, the studies, the myriad activities that dominate campus life cease. Thoughts and hearts turn entirely to Our Lord, His sacrifice, and His ultimate triumph. The Paschal Triduum — from the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper to Saturday’s Easter Vigil — is a solemn time of prayer on campus:

Four members of the Thomas Aquinas College teaching faculty — Dean Brian T. Kelly and tutors Katherine M. Gardner, Jared P. Kuebler, and Paul K. Shields — recently participated in a gathering of theologians at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Conference Center, hosted by the Most Rev. José H. Gomez.

A beloved Thomas Aquinas College chaplain, Rev. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J., has fallen ill and needs our prayers.

“His doctor seems confident that Father will make a full recovery, but this may take some time,” says Dean Brian T. Kelly. To provide spiritual aid and comfort for a man who has served the College so generously and lovingly, Dr. Kelly urges all friends of the College “to pray for Fr. Buckley, especially during the Triduum and the holy season of Easter.”

Over the course of the Easter Triduum, Thomas Aquinas College students spent their time in retreat, practicing the Spiritual Exercise of St. Ignatius under the guidance of a Jesuit retreat master, Rev. Raymond Gawronski, S.J.