Benefactors

This morning some 102 students,  hailing from 5 countries and 30 states,  matriculated as freshmen at Thomas Aquinas College — the Class of 2020.

audio:

“Clothe Yourselves in Regal Gowns”

by the Most Rev. Robert E. Barron
Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles
August 19, 2016

Thank you all very much, and thank you, Dr. McLean, for that very kind introduction, that very gracious introduction, which I fear will be longer than my speech! Thank you for that. It is always a joy to come here.

According to the Los Angeles Times, State Senator Ricardo Lara, sponsor of Senate Bill 1146, has reportedly agreed to strip his controversial legislation of key provisions that threatened the religious liberty of California’s religious colleges and universities.

Across the country, educational and religious leaders of all faiths and denominations are speaking out about the threat that California Senate Bill 1146 poses to religious freedom.

On Thursday, August 11, California’s Assembly Appropriations Committee will vote on Senate Bill 1146, which would incorporate “gender identity” into the state’s non-discrimination policies, in particular those that regulate institutions of higher education. If passed, SB 1146 would undermine the free exercise of religion in California, particularly at religious schools such as Thomas Aquinas College, while also depriving low-income students of much-needed tuition assistance.

On August 22 some 102 freshmen from across the United States and abroad — the Class of 2020 — will mark the beginning of their four years of study at Thomas Aquinas College. Welcoming the students for the start of the academic year will be the Most Rev. Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, who will offer the Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit and preside over the matriculation ceremony.

At the recently concluded Napa Institute conference, Catholic leaders from across the United States contemplated questions of God’s justice and mercy, aided by the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, and guided by two members of Thomas Aquinas College’s teaching faculty.

Each summer, Thomas Aquinas College invites members of the President’s Council — the backbone of the College’s financial-aid fund — to one of two Great Books Summer Seminar Weekends. At these weekends participants get an inside look at the unique education that they so generously help to make possible.

After several weeks of delay, due to the need to sort and remove rock, workers were able to complete rough grading for the College’s newest building, St. Cecilia Hall, at the end of June. They then commenced on building retaining walls around what will be the building’s lower level, site of a future coffee shop and student recreation room. This past week they poured the concrete foundation for the first of these walls.