On Thursday evening Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a “stay at home” order for the State of California. As such, all students now must depart the California campus by the end of Friday night. Exceptions will be granted only in cases of extreme hardship, at the discretion of the Assistant Dean. Students who need help getting off campus should contact a prefect for assistance. We apologize for the difficulties this change will no doubt cause many, and ask for continued prayers during these trying times.

After President McLean announced at lunch Tuesday that students were to return to their homes, members of the Senior Class gathered for the above photo on the steps of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel.

Dear Parents,

Responding to increasing efforts of government authorities to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Board of Governors, pursuant to the unanimous recommendation of the College’s Instruction Committee, has authorized me to take the steps necessary to return students to the safety of their homes and families. Their education this academic year will not stop, however. They will be given guidance from the Dean’s Office to help them prepare for the commencement of online instruction, which will begin next week and continue until the semester’s work is complete.

Audio

“From Valley Forge to Appomattox: 
George Washington and the
Formation of the American Nation”

by The Hon. J. Leon Holmes
United States District Judge (retired)
Eastern District of Arkansas
President’s Day Lecture
California - February 21, 2020
New England - March 5, 2020
St. Vincent de Paul Lecture and Concert Series

On Thursday night, Chaplain Rev. Greg Markey organized a Rosary Procession “in reparation for our sins and the sins of our nation,” and with the intention of an end to the spread of the novel coronavirus afflicting the country and the world.

The procession, which began and ended at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel and worked its way around the New England campus, also remembered St. Gregory the Great’s Miraculous Procession to end the plague in 590 AD.

In light of recent developments regarding the novel coronavirus, Thomas Aquinas College is taking additional steps to minimize the disease’s potential effects on our two campuses.

On Wednesday morning Thomas Aquinas College’s chaplains began leading the community in praying the following Novena to St. Joseph for protection from the novel coronavirus. The novena will be recited at every Mass offered on campus, concluding on March 19, St. Joseph’s Feast Day.

Please join us in praying for the safety of the Thomas Aquinas College community, the health of those who are most vulnerable, and for all public-health officials who are working to contain COVID-19.

Novena to St. Joseph