The annual Thomas Aquinas College pilgrimage to the Walk for Life West Coast got off to a slow start this weekend, when the buses that were supposed to help bring some 260 students to San Francisco were massively delayed. Although scheduled to depart campus after the close of classes on Friday (4:00 p.m.), three of the buses did not arrive until 7:00 p.m., and the fourth came at 6:00 a.m. the next morning!

Some much-needed rain fell in Southern California today — a blessing for the region, but a minor obstacle for some 260 Thomas Aquinas College students who will be heading to San Francisco tonight for the Walk for Life West Coast. Due to the weather and rush-hour traffic, the four buses that were supposed to pick up students at 3:45 this afternoon have been delayed until sometime later this evening.

Thomas Aquinas College is one of the most popular liberal arts colleges in the United States, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report. In its survey of college enrollment for the 2015-16 academic year, the newsweekly found that 66.4 percent of the applicants admitted to Thomas Aquinas College go on to enroll as freshmen in the fall — the fifth-highest “yield” rate in the country.

Each year, when seniors read Russian novels as part of the seminar curriculum, Thomas Aquinas College’s Lithuanian librarian, Viltis Jatulis, hosts a soirée, like those portrayed in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. The centerpiece for these gatherings, which take place in the Library, is an elegant vessel — a century-old Russian samovar.

A website dedicated to providing “students with a wide range of information regarding every aspect of college,” CollegeRank.net has placed Thomas Aquinas College at No. 7 on its list of The 50 Most Beautiful Campus Quads.

Throughout the year, Thomas Aquinas College’s tutors and distinguished guests present lectures and talks on campus, many of which are available via the College’s website.

An Opportunity Missed, and an Opportunity Taken

by Ray Walshe

“It was around the time that our oldest, Madeline (Freer ’12), was applying to colleges, and I met with a TAC Admissions counselor,” recalls Joe Flanders of Muscatine, Iowa. “I told him that the school was exactly what my wife and I were looking for — faithful to the Magisterium, outstanding program. There was only one problem: With raising nine children, there was no way we could afford it.”

“A Stranger in a Land Far Away”

Dear Daddy and Mummy,

Growing up in our home in Nigeria, I witnessed your generosity to strangers. When you admonished me to welcome the stranger, little did we know that I would be a stranger someday in a land far away. As you know, I have been welcomed here with grace and love.