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ST. CECILIA HALL
College Delights in Completion of
New Lecture & Concert Building
Quietly, and with little fanfare, the College’s newest building — the St. Cecilia Lecture and Concert Hall — opened its doors at the start of the semester.
The building’s first event came on January 19, a lecture by Assistant Dean and Tutor Dr. Christopher A. Decaen. Since then St. Cecilia’s has hosted the Presidents’ and St. Thomas Day lectures, as well as several tutor talks and vocations visits. The building is also the new venue for student dances, the first of which was the February 10 Mardi Gras celebration.
The inaugural concert to be played in St. Cecilia Hall took place on the afternoon of Sunday, February 25, and it was spectacular. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the Board of Governors and President’s Council were treated to a virtuoso performance by Peter Serkin, a Grammy Award–winning pianist. Then, on March 3, the St. Genesius Players presented the building’s first theatrical production, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Made possible through a generous grant from the Fritz B. Burns’ Foundation in Los Angeles, St. Cecilia Hall is the 14th building to be constructed on the College’s Santa Paula, California, campus. “We plan to give St. Cecilia Hall a proper dedication ceremony later this year,” says President Michael F. McLean. “But in the meantime we did not want to deprive our students of the use of this wonderful facility. In these first two months of the second semester, St. Cecilia’s has already become a treasured part of our campus, for which we are profoundly grateful.”
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THE BISHOP DROPS BY …
A Visit from the Most Rev. Robert Barron
Thomas Aquinas College’s regional auxiliary bishop, the Most Rev. Robert Barron, paid an informal visit to its Santa Paula campus on the evening of February 28, where he met, dined with, and offered Mass for the College’s students.
Noting that he has been named one of four American delegates to this fall’s Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, His Excellency said he was eager to hear the impressions and thoughts of the College’s students. “What’s on your mind? What’s on your hearts?” he asked. “I’ll be [in Rome] for a month, and have a chance to share insights with the other bishops, with the Pope himself. So, with that in mind, especially, let me hear what’s on your mind, Thomas Aquinas College!”
Over the course of the ensuing discussion, His Excellency took a wide variety of questions. Among his advice was that students dig deep into the great works they study as part of the College’s classical curriculum. “You’re studying here these ancient texts. Never let people say to you, ‘Oh come on, you’re wasting your time with these old dusty [books].’ Oh, no, that’s where the wisdom of the race is found! These mystagogical programs are embedded in those texts, and the culture needs that like mad.”
Full story
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Bishop Barron with student acolytes
Bishop Barron answers students’ questions |
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ALUMNI DAY OF GIVING
Alumni, Neals Raise $38,500 in Single Day
On Wednesday, March 7, the alumni of Thomas Aquinas College — aided by the generosity of College Governor Berni Neal and her husband, Rob — helped to raise $38,500 for their alma mater.
The day marked the College’s first annual Alumni Day of Giving, held on the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, according to the Church’s extraordinary calendar. To help get the occasion under way, Mr. and Mrs. Neal had pledged to match all alumni donations made to the College on that day, up to $10,000.
“Given the small size of our alumni base, and that this was our first Alumni Day of Giving, we would have been quite pleased to have merely matched the Neals’ initial pledge,” says Director of Alumni Relations Aaron Dunkel (’06). “But the alumni responded generously and sacrificially, contributing over 200 gifts totaling $28,500. Add that to the Neals’ gift, and that’s $38,500 in a single day” — enough to cover the financial aid needs of at least three students for a single year.
Continue reading
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Berni and Rob Neal
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog
• How do you confront the Culture of Death — a materialistic, secular, godless culture — when you’re immersed in it?” asks Rev. Jerome Zeiler, O.P. (’00), parochial vicar of St. Patrick’s Church in Columbus, Ohio. “You have to do more than go to Mass on Sunday. You need a Catholic culture that is more powerful for you than the worldly culture that surrounds you.” To help provide young Catholics with that powerful, supportive culture, Fr. Zeiler serves as chaplain for the Columbus Frassati Society, named for Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, a Third Order Dominican who, through his great love, drew many of his peers to Christ.
• The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington, recently named its list of six reader-columnists who will grace its pages for the upcoming year. Among those so honored is Angela (Andersen ’87) Connelly, an alumna of the College, a member of its Board of Governors, and the president of the Washington Women’s Network. The first of her columns deals with teen homelessness. “As a mom,” she writes, “I am begging everyone — every leader, non-profit, church, business, concerned citizen — to come sit at the table and wrap these kids and our community in love, support, and shelter.”
• Who is Marcel Van? If you don’t already know the answer to that question — and, for that matter, even if you do — you would do well to visit the new blog of alumna author Suzie Andres (’87). The blog is dedicated to telling the world about Marcel — the late, Vietnamese Redemptorist brother who now bears the title Servant of God and who is the spiritual little brother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. (Or, as Mrs. Andres calls him, “the Little Brother of the Little Flower.”) “If I could make the whole world love Marcel Van, I would,” adds Mrs. Andres, and she is already well on her way!
Faith in Action blog
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Rev. Jerome
Zeiler, O.P. (’00)
Angela
(Andersen ’87) Connelly
Suzie Andres (’87) |
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“TIME TO LIVE IT OUT”
Our Sunday Visitor Profiles TAC Junior
Jose Guardiola
By Jim Graves
Jose Guardiola, 21, is a junior at Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) in Santa Paula, California. He has volunteered in a variety of areas and is currently running the youth group at St. Sebastian’s, a Santa Paula parish. He leads a Bible study and presents on different aspects of the Faith using the formation he’s received at TAC; he also organizes social activities.
“I believe this is how God is calling me to live my faith,” Jose said, noting that he’d never sought out volunteer opportunities, but that they always come to him. He continued, “God is calling me to be a servant, and this is one way I can serve.”
Jose is originally from the small northern Mexican town of Cuauhtemoc in Chihuahua. He was born into a culturally Catholic family: his mother nominally Catholic and his father an atheist. His father agreed to have Jose baptized, Jose said, because while he didn’t believe in any dogmas, he saw church as “a good place to learn morals.”
Read full story in Our Sunday Visitor
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Jose Guardiola (’19) |
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