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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VICTORY!
California Amends “Gender Identity” Bill that Threatened Religious Colleges
According to the Los Angeles Times, State Senator Ricardo Lara, sponsor of Senate Bill 1146, has agreed to strip his controversial legislation of key provisions that threatened the religious liberty of California’s religious colleges and universities.
“We are grateful to all the interfaith leaders of religious schools and organizations in California and across the country who voiced their opposition to this bill, as well as to friends of the College who petitioned their legislators and prayed for a favorable outcome,” says Dr. McLean. “We are also grateful to Senator Lara for taking seriously the concerns of his constituents, and we hope that, moving forward, he and his fellow lawmakers will continue to respect the religious liberty of private colleges and universities.”
Thomas Aquinas College has rules of residence that accord with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, including a prohibition of dorm visitation by members of the opposite sex. If passed in its original form, however, SB 1146 would have compelled all colleges and universities — religious and secular — to provide housing to students on the basis of their gender “identity” or “expression,” regardless of biology, or else face the threat of crippling litigation.
The bill also would have penalized students at Thomas Aquinas College, or any other institution that holds to traditional religious views on marriage and sexuality, by barring them from participation in the Cal Grant program, which offers significant tuition assistance to members of low-income families.
Full story
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CONVOCATION 2016
Bishop Barron to Preside at Start of Academic Year
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.
As the Episcopal Vicar of the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region, His Excellency is responsible for overseeing the portion of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that includes the College’s Santa Paula campus. He is also the founder of the Word on Fire media ministry and the host of its award-winning documentary series, Catholicism.
“We look forward to seeing Bishop Barron again and benefiting from his words of wisdom as we begin our 42nd academic year,” says Dr. McLean.
Full story
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The Most Rev. Robert Barron
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ALUMNI SEMINARIANS
Four Ordinations & One Solemn Profession!
In the last few months the College has learned about three recent graduates who have entered the seminary:
• Among the College’s new alumni seminarians is Br. Patrick Rooney, O.P. (’15), who recently gave a vocations talk in Salt Lake City, Utah. “I wanted to become a monk,” he said, describing his time of discernment while at the College, “but I also wanted to be a philosopher.” How pleased he was, he added, when he “found out that I could be both in the Dominican Order.” Br. Patrick is now undergoing the first year of Dominican formation at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco, where he assists pastor and fellow alumnus Rev. Michael Hurley, O.P. (’99).
• On August 6 a member of the College’s most recent graduating class, Edward Seeley (’16), entered St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, to study for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “My time at the College, particularly reading St. Augustine, really enriched my spiritual life,” says Mr. Seeley, the third son of tutor Dr. Andrew Seeley (’87). “Knowing that all of God’s graces are a free gift, and not something we merit, has changed the way I pray. And living in community together, seeing God’s face in the people around us, has been something I couldn’t get anywhere else.”
• On August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, Ryan Truss (’16) will enter Kenrick-Glennon Seminary for his native Archdiocese of St. Louis. “Studying theology draws the students (at the College) into a closer friendship with God and helps us to prioritize what is important in life,” reflects Mr. Truss. As such, his time on campus “helped me to see the need for the priesthood, and how much priests are needed in the world to bring people the sacraments so that they can love God, grow closer to Him, and inherit eternal life.” At Kendrick-Glennon, Mr. Truss hopes to study under another alumnus, Dr. John Finley (’99), a professor of philosophy.
Please keep our alumni seminarians in your prayers!
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Br. Patrick Rooney (’15)
Edward Seeley (’16)
Ryan Truss (’16) |
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog
• In May Patrick Mason (’03) was elected state deputy for the Knights of Columbus in New Mexico, the highest state-level position within the Catholic fraternal organization. There are approximately 70 state deputies, or their foreign equivalents, in the world, and among those, Mr. Mason — a husband, father, and attorney in Gallup — may well be the youngest. At 35 years of age, he is also the youngest man ever to hold the position in New Mexico. In June, he traveled to Connecticut for a leadership orientation, during which he met with the Knights’ national Board of Directors as well as Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.
• New graduate Madeleine Lessard (’16) formally launched her career on August 1, when she started a position as an analyst for Economic Partners in Denver, Colorado. “The company values intangible assets of corporations,” Miss Lessard explains, such as patents, brand identity, and goodwill. As an analyst, she will be “taking in a lot of data and analyzing what’s most important, writing reports on it, and also editing reports from other people.” The position is “not what I thought my Thomas Aquinas College education was preparing me for,” Miss Lessard admits. “But then everything they asked me in my interview seemed perfect for a TACer.”
• A counselor in the College’s Admissions office, Patrick Cross (’14) has launched a career in editorial cartooning. He began publishing his cartoons on his website and a Facebook page in January, and they now appear regularly on CatholicVote.org and GlennBeck.com. Infusing his work is his lifelong patriotism, which, he says, deepened during his time at the College. “In reading the Federalist Papers, the founders, and Abraham Lincoln,” as well as Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics, he developed “a better understanding of why self-governance is good, why a government that promotes political prudence is such a gift, and also how we must not take it for granted.”
The Faith in Action Blog
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Patrick Mason (’03) with the Knights of Columbus’ Carl Anderson
Madeleine Lessard
(’16)
Patrick Cross (’14), self portrait |
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“THE DEBATERS”
Guide Names Thomas Aquinas College a
“Best College for ENTPs*”
CollegeMatchUp.net, which helps high school students choose a college based on their Myers–Briggs personality types, has ranked Thomas Aquinas College among the country’s “Best Colleges for ENTPs.” According to the site, ENTPs “see problems from many angles and choose the best possible solution for most any given situation,” making them “great governors, judges, statesmen and group leaders who are capable of reaching compromises that stay loyal to all parties involved in a decision-making process.”
As such, College Match Up.com concludes, ENTPs are a natural fit for the College, where all classes are conducted via the Discussion Method. “They will find Thomas Aquinas welcomes their inquiring mind with open arms,” the author observes. In choosing the 30 schools for its “ENTP” list, College Match Up focused on three criteria: the uniqueness of an institution’s educational mission, an emphasis on the liberal arts, and a low student-faculty ratio.
“We are confident that ‘ENTPs’ would be, and indeed, are, very happy with our unique program of Catholic liberal education,” says Director of Admissions Jon Daly. “But I hasten to add that students of all personality types do well here. In fact, the success of the Discussion Method requires the interplay of different kinds of thinking and thinkers. We have found that anyone who is willing and able to work hard in pursuit of the truth, regardless of their learning or interpersonal styles, will thrive at Thomas Aquinas College.”
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*Extraversion (E), Intuition (N), Thinking (T), Perception (P)
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