On December 2, 2012, Thomas Aquinas College hosted its annual Christmas Appreciation Dinner to thank many of the dear friends who have given generously to the College and its students over the years. Together, benefactors and College officials enjoyed excellent food, fine music, and good company.

Posted: December 3, 2012

President Michael F. McLean recently addressed the Thomas Aquinas College community, giving students, faculty, and staff an update on the College’s efforts with respect to the HHS contraceptive mandate. His remarks appear below:

Remarks at the 2012 Thanksgiving Dinner

By Michael F. McLean
President, Thomas Aquinas College

The other night at the on-campus dinner honoring our Board of Governors, our guest, Fr. Luke Mata, spoke eloquently on the Year of Faith. Appropriately enough, in his reflections Fr. Luke emphasized the “new evangelization” and the importance of deepening our relationship with Christ and of bearing witness to Christ in the contemporary world.

Members of the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors meet three times a year to conduct the business of the College. In the fall, a lengthier meeting allows for fellowship, study, and prayer. This year’s fall retreat, held on the first weekend of November, provided the usual opportunity for Governors to visit with one another, with students, and with members of the faculty.

When Patrick Gardner was a high-school student in suburban Milwaukee in the 1990s, two classes captured his imagination: classical literature and economics. One offered a smattering of poetry, philosophy, and history; the other, a coherent, analytical methodology by which to arrive at answers about the common good. Naively, he believed that he had to choose between the two.

He may have attended dances in St. Joseph Commons, slept in the men’s residence halls, participated in discussions about the great books, and attended Mass in the Chapel, but Travis Cooper was never actually a student at Thomas Aquinas College. Although given the frequency of his campus visits and the number of friends and family members who were students at the College, there certainly were times when he felt, or wished, that he had been one, too.

One of the nation’s most trusted publishers of business forecasts and personal-finance advice, Kiplinger has ranked Thomas Aquinas College on its list of the Top 10 Best Values in Private Colleges Under $20K (net cost, including financial aid).

On Sunday, October 21, 2012, the College hosted a wine-tasting reception for members of the Greater Los Angeles Board of Regents and their guests. “The Regents are ambassadors who introduce the College and its mission of Catholic liberal education to their friends and colleagues,” says Vice President Paul J. O’Reilly. “This event helped to make those introductions more personal, by letting our Regents bring their friends to campus to see the College for themselves — and to try some fabulous wines.”

Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean and Dean Brian T. Kelly ask that members of the College community join with the students, faculty, and staff in praying fervently through November 6 for “the conversion of our country and a very happy outcome to the elections.” Additionally they have asked that priests who are alumni or friends of the College keep this intention in mind when offering Mass.