In an effort to stop the HHS Mandate that would compel Catholic employers to violate Church teaching on matters of life and conscience, Thomas Aquinas College has filed a formal appeal calling on the Obama Administration to rescind the directive.

Each year Remodeling, a national trade publication read by more than 80,000 professional contractors, names 50 owners of remodeling companies nationwide to its list of the Big50 Leaders in the Business.

Address to the Villanova Class of 2012

By Michael F. McLean

Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean served as the Commencement Speaker at Villanova Preparatory School in the neighboring town of Ojai, Calif., on May 26, 2012. Below is the text of his address.

Rev. Sanders, Fr. Heidenblut, distinguished guests, administrators, faculty, staff, parents, families, friends, and especially the graduates of the Class of 2012:

Sherwood Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif., was the site of the sixth annual Thomas Aquinas College Golf Classic, hosted by the Greater Los Angeles Board of Regents on May 21. The Classic benefits the more than 70 percent of Thomas Aquinas College students who rely on assistance from the school’s student scholarship fund — some of whom were present to sing for and to personally thank the attendees. Sixty-six golfers participated in this year’s event, which was followed by a clubhouse awards ceremony and reception.

More from Commencement 2012:

Note: Each year the graduating class elects one of its members to present the Senior Address at Commencement. This year’s speaker, James W. Thompson of Amherst, N.H., will be teaching as Glendale Preparatory Academy in Glendale, Ariz., starting this fall.

Note: The following open letter to President Barack Obama appears on the back page of the May 20, 2012, issue of the National Catholic Register. (Download the PDF.)

Three years ago, only hours after he received his diploma as a member of the Thomas Aquinas College Class of 2009, Robert Mohun returned to the stage at the foot of the academic quadrangle for a very different sort of ceremony. Surrounded by his family, his classmates, and his fiancée, Mr. Mohun became 2nd Lt. Mohun, receiving his commission as a member of the United States Marine Corps.

Under a bright California sky, on Saturday, May 12, Thomas Aquinas College celebrated its 38th Commencement exercises, welcoming the 66 members of the Class of 2012 as its newest alumni. The day began with the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, with the College’s head chaplain and assistant to the dean for religious affairs, Rev. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J., serving as the principal celebrant: