Parents

On Thursday, August 11, California’s Assembly Appropriations Committee will vote on Senate Bill 1146, which would incorporate “gender identity” into the state’s non-discrimination policies, in particular those that regulate institutions of higher education. If passed, SB 1146 would undermine the free exercise of religion in California, particularly at religious schools such as Thomas Aquinas College, while also depriving low-income students of much-needed tuition assistance.

On August 22 some 102 freshmen from across the United States and abroad — the Class of 2020 — will mark the beginning of their four years of study at Thomas Aquinas College. Welcoming the students for the start of the academic year will be the Most Rev. Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, who will offer the Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit and preside over the matriculation ceremony.

On Friday nights throughout the 2016-17 academic year, the students of Thomas Aquinas College will have the privilege of attending lectures from some of the nation’s most distinguished scholars — covering a wide range of topics — through the St. Vincent de Paul Lecture and Concert Series.

After several weeks of delay, due to the need to sort and remove rock, workers were able to complete rough grading for the College’s newest building, St. Cecilia Hall, at the end of June. They then commenced on building retaining walls around what will be the building’s lower level, site of a future coffee shop and student recreation room. This past week they poured the concrete foundation for the first of these walls.

In assembling its annual list of America’s Top Colleges, Forbes magazine distinguishes itself from other guides by its emphasis on students’ Return on Investment from their four (or more) years’ time and tuition payments. “ROI matters most,” the magazine proclaims. Thus it focuses not on selectivity metrics — such as acceptance rates and SAT scores — but on five measures of achievement: student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rates, and academic success.

By Dr. Brian T. Kelly (’88)

Note: The following remarks are adapted from Dean Brian T. Kelly’s report to the Board of Governors at its November 14, 2015, meeting. They are part of an ongoing series of talks about why the College includes certain texts in its curriculum.

Members of the Thomas Aquinas College community gathered Sunday for a family picnic in honor of Lucinda Anderson, who has managed the College’s food services for the last 20 years.

“When his fellow founders chose Dr. Ronald P. McArthur as the College’s first president, they made him and his wife, Marilyn, intellectual and spiritual parents to the students of Thomas Aquinas College,” says current President Michael F. McLean. “Ron and Marilyn believed that the Faith must be handed on through more than just books: it must be lived in a community. They sought not only to form students’ minds, but also to foster deep and genuine friendships based on the love of truth.”

In the 2016-2017 edition of The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College, the Cardinal Newman Society once again recommends Thomas Aquinas College as one of 29 Catholic institutions nationwide with a strong Catholic identity, lauding it for its “impressive intellectual rigor that is matched by a commitment to orthodox Catholicism.”

Audio:

[audio=Brian Kelly on Celtic Connections 05-28-2016]