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Remarks at the 2017 West Coast Alumni Dinner

Note: Shane O’Reilly (’95), the staff vice president for corporate sourcing at Anthem, Inc., was the honored speaker at the College’s West Coast Alumni Dinner on June 3, 2017. The text below is adapted from his remarks.

Although the College’s next building, the St. Cecilia Lecture and Concert Hall, is not due to open its doors until the fall, it has already hosted its first performance.

Photographs of the Class of 2017 and this year’s Commencement exercises are now available, for viewing and for purchase, at the Thomas Aquinas College Gallery Page of Timothy Teague, an Ojai-based photographer who has been capturing key College events for more than 20 years. The images include portraits of this year’s graduates, both individually and as a group, as well as candids from the May 14 Commencement exercises.

On the eve of Commencement 2017, Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean hosted a late-afternoon reception for members of the Senior Class and their parents at the Doheny Hacienda.

Note: At its 2017 Commencement exercises, Thomas Aquinas College awarded its highest honor, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion, to Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, Superior General of the Sisters of Life.

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Note: Each year the graduating class elects one of its members to present the Senior Address at Commencement. Upon graduation, this year’s speaker, Joseph Rivera of Kendall Park, New Jersey, plans to pursue graduate studies in philosophy at The Catholic University of America.

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Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV
Superior General, Sisters of Life 
Commencement Address to the Class of 2017
Transcript
May 13, 2017
Dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima

It is an honor to be with you, dear graduates. And Joseph, you are a bit intimidating to follow! That was a beautiful address, and I thank you for it.

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“Only the Childlike Attain True Wisdom and Learning”

by Rev. Paul Scalia
Episcopal Vicar for Clergy, Diocese of Arlington, Virginia
Transcript, Homily from the Baccalaureate Mass
May 13, 2017

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

On May 16, Thomas Aquinas College celebrated its 43rd Commencement Exercises, honoring the 91 members of the Class of 2017. The day began with the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. Rev. Paul Scalia, Episcopal Vicar for Clergy in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, served as the principal celebrant and homilist:

Note: Each year the president of Thomas Aquinas College hosts a dinner on the Wednesday before Commencement as a chance for members of the faculty and staff to bid farewell to the graduating class. The president, dean, and assistant dean all speak to the Seniors and, customarily, the Seniors present a gift to the College. Below are text and audio of President Michael F. McLean’s remarks and a photographic slideshow from this year’s dinner.