Each July, 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.

Each July, 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.

In today’s competitive collegiate marketplace, what causes some Catholic colleges to flourish — and others to fail? So asks the Cardinal Newman Society’s Adam Wilson in a newly released white paper, Catholic College Closes, but Other Small Colleges Thrive on Faithful Catholic Mission (PDF).

One day in March, Director of Gift Planning Tom Susanka received some extraordinary news: Virginia Thorpe, a longtime benefactor who had recently passed away, had left nearly the entirety of her irrevocable trust, some $1.5 million, to Thomas Aquinas College. “The gift came as a great surprise,” says Mr. Susanka. Miss Thorpe had made periodic, modest gifts since 1994, but as far as anyone knew, she had no direct connection to the College. Neither she nor any members of her family was a graduate. She had never visited campus or met with College officials.

Attorneys representing Thomas Aquinas College and its co-plaintiffs have submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari (PDF) to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking relief from the HHS Mandate that threatens the religious liberty of Catholic institutions across the United States.

On April 25, 1970, almost 18 months before Thomas Aquinas College opened for its first academic year, its founders staged a major promotional dinner at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. Some 450 guests attended the event, at which the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen served as the keynote speaker.

Below is the audio of the remarks that the College’s founding president, Dr. Ronald P. McArthur, gave that evening:

Note: In May Ignatius Press published Who Designed the Designer? A Rediscovered Path to God’s Existence by Dr. Michael A. Augros (’92), a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College and a member of its teaching faculty.

Reflections on the Art of Living: Our Society’s Predicament
by Henry J. Zeiter, M.D.

Note: After serving for two years as a chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College, Rev. Joseph Illo departed last summer for San Francisco, where, at the invitation of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, he is now the pastor of Star of the Sea Church and a co-founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Fr. Illo graciously accepted the College’s invitation to return to campus for this year’s Commencement ceremonies, where he served as the principal celebrant and homilist at the Baccalaureate Mass.

From Devotionals to Museum Tours,
Supporting Students in Myriad Ways

Although charged with fundamental responsibility for the College’s operation, the members of Thomas Aquinas College’s Board of Governors have never regarded their responsibilities as limited to governance. Ever since the College’s founding, governors have supported the College in numerous other ways, beyond the many hours of pro bono service they donate each year.