In anticipation of this year’s Turkey Bowl flag-football game, the women of the freshman and sophomore classes got together on Wednesday night to make uniforms for their classes’ team:

Throughout the fall students have taken to the campus athletic fields for fierce but friendly bouts of flag football. Weeks of games culminated in a championship match on Tuesday, in which the team captained by Brian Schardt (’16) triumphed over that of Rocky Brittain (’15).

Of course, these contests are merely a run-up to the big event this coming Sunday: the Turkey Bowl.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today denied Thomas Aquinas College’s challenge to the HHS mandate that requires Catholic employers to facilitate the availability of free contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilization services to their employees.

By Dr. Brian T. Kelly (’88)

Note: The following remarks are adapted from Dean Brian T. Kelly’s report to the Board of Governors at its February, 2014, meeting. They are part of an ongoing series of talks about why the College includes certain authors in its curriculum.

A Tutor Talk by Dr. Kevin Kolbeck

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. Kevin Kolbeck delivered the following talk on November 5, 2014:

To help ease the financial burden on students and their parents in a weak economy, the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors has announced a freeze in the cost of tuition and room & board for the 2015-2016 academic year. Tuition will remain at $24,500, and room & board at $7,950, bringing the total cost of attendance — including books and all fees — to $32,450. That amount is well below the average of $37,948 for private institutions in the Western United States, according to The College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges (2013-2014).

By November of 1997, officials at Family Planning Associates in Ventura, California, had surely grown used to the sight of protesters. For the previous few months, students from Thomas Aquinas College had spent an hour each Thursday outside this abortion mill, praying, handing out literature, and offering counseling to the anxious clients who came and went.

This past weekend the College’s Office of Career Advisement hosted a panel for students who are interested in pursuing careers in medicine. Leading the discussion was a husband-and-wife team of Catholic physicians, Drs. Mary J. Kotob and Barton Billeci, who are also the parents of a Thomas Aquinas College graduate, Laura Billeci (’09). Joining them on the dais was Dr. Nicole Shirilla, a recent medical school graduate now in her residency.

On Sunday, November 2, Thomas Aquinas College students performed in the first of this year’s two informal concerts — “Schubertiades” — in St. Bernardine of Siena Library.

Below is the program from the concert:

On Saturday night in St. Joseph Commons, students put on an informal presentation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. Photos are available in the slideshow below.