Parents

Video: Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit

When members of the Class of 2019 arrive at tonight’s President’s Dinner, awaiting them at each place setting will be a gift from the College — and one from an anonymous friend.

When members of the Thomas Aquinas College Class of 2019 attend the Baccalaureate Mass — and, later, receive their diplomas — as part of the College’s May 11 Commencement exercises, friends and family members near and far will be able to watch live online.

College Factual, a statistics-based guide that aims to “help students find and get great deals on the best fit colleges for them,” has ranked Thomas Aquinas College within the top 1 percent in the United States — No. 8 overall — on its 2019 list of the 1,510 Best Colleges for the Money.

For Thomas Aquinas College’s second annual Parents’ Day of Giving on May 1, the parents and grandparents of students past and present were challenged to raise $125,000. With four hours left to go in the day, they had already surpassed that total.

Thanks to the tremendous support of many Thomas Aquinas College parents, grandparents, and alumni, the College has reached its initial goal for the second annual Parents’ Day of Giving! “With less than four hours to go until day’s end,” says Parents’ Association Coordinator Robert Bagdazian, “we have surpassed the $125,000 in matching gifts that two generous benefactors contributed to get the day going.”

In a longstanding tradition, the younger classes at Thomas Aquinas College take turns each spring bidding farewell to the soon-to-be-departing seniors.

Last Saturday evening the juniors had their opportunity, hosting a reception for the Class of 2019 at the Hacienda, followed by dinner on the Chapel plaza and a dance on the patio behind St. Gladys Hall.

In assembling their latest college rankings, the editors of Forbes claim to have produced “the definitive guide for those looking for an excellent return on their college investment.” To that end, they compared data from 645 colleges and universities, evaluating them on the basis of six criteria: quality, net price, net debt, alumni earnings, timely graduation, and access for low-income students.

Over the recently concluded Easter Recess, a group of freshmen who will transfer to Thomas Aquinas College’s new campus in the fall paid a quick visit to their future home. Joined by two members of the California faculty who are also making the move, as well as two of next year’s resident advisers, some 27 members of the first class set foot, for the very first time, on the campus of Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

For more than 20 years, summers at Thomas Aquinas College’s California campus have been highlighted by the Great Books Summer Seminar Weekends for friends and benefactors. This summer the event will be offered — for the first time — on the College’s new campus in Northfield, Massachusetts.