Parents

Inspired by their reading of Darwin’s Origins of the Species, the students in Dr. John Nieto’s two sections of Senior Natural Science organized a somewhat spontaneous trip this past weekend to the La Brea Tar Pits — a world-famous fossil-excavation site in the Hancock Park portion of in Los Angeles. There they examined the preserved remains of woolly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, and other Ice Age creatures.

In an effort to foster friendships among the College’s students, Resident Assistant Sarah Dufresne (’14) hosted a pancake breakfast for freshmen and sophomores on Saturday morning:

The event began early in the kitcehn of St. Ignatius Hall, where several women joined Miss Dufresne to prepare several hundred pancakes. The breakfast then followed outside, with as many as 100 students coming by for a relaxing start to the weekend.

Marking the midpoint of the semester, not long after the completion of Don Rags, members of the Class of 2018 took to the Ventura beach on Saturday for an event they dubbed “Rejuniorate.” Organizers define the term, originally coined by the Class of 2014, as “a renewal of spirits that are wearied due to two weekly seminars and an overload of Newton” and “a time to relax and reminisce with one’s classmates of the last 2½ years.” The event included a sunset barbeque, sports, and seaside fellowship.

On Saturday, March 4, the St. Genesius Players treated Thomas Aquinas College students, faculty, and families to a production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Each year, starting in the fall and continuing well into the spring, the seniors of Thomas Aquinas College labor to create what will be the culmination of their four years of academic effort — the Senior Thesis. Based on a subject of each student’s own choosing, and drawing from the College’s classical curriculum, the thesis represents its author’s effort to apply his or her education to a matter of scholarly and personal importance.

This year’s celebration of St. Thomas Day ended, as always, with a beloved College tradition — Trivial and Quadrivial Pursuits, a campus-wide game famous for its extravagant costumes and over-the-top displays of creative gamesmanship. Three teams, each drawn from members of all four classes, vied in a competition to answer questions drawn from the College’s classical curriculum. A panel of tutors devised and posed the questions.

The Superior General of the Sisters of Life in New York, Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, has accepted President Michael F. McLean’s invitation to serve as Thomas Aquinas College’s 2017 Commencement Speaker.

“We are honored and grateful that Mother Agnes Mary has agreed to join us for Commencement and to share her words of wisdom with our students,” says Dr. McLean. “For more than 25 years she has been a tireless servant of mothers and their babies — a true testament to the Culture of Life.”

by Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P.
Head Chaplain
Thomas Aquinas College
Homily from St. Thomas Day 2017
Streaming / downloadable audio

There is a great ignorance these days of Christ’s doctrine, and Our Lord, as we hear in this Gospel passage, has handed over to us the crucial work of making this doctrine known. We are the ones He is depending on to pass on His divine teaching. You are the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.

Four seasoned members of Thomas Aquinas College’s teaching faculty, an Admissions counselor, and their families have agreed to be among the “pioneers” who will settle the College’s forthcoming New England campus.

On Tuesday evening students gathered for “Open-Mic Night,” a semi-annual, informal showcase of musical talents.

Due to unusually cold weather, this semester’s event took place in St. Joseph Commons, rather than under the stars. Students had such a good time, however, that the women of St. Monica’s continued the festivities back in their residence hall after curfew.