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THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE E-LETTER
AUGUST 2016
 
 
 
 
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HIGH SCHOOL
SUMMER PROGRAM
MULTIMEDIA
 
     
Opening BBQ Slideshow:
Arrival
Day
 
     
Summer Program section Slideshow:
Section
Photos
 
     
Volleyball Slideshow:
Volleyball Tournament
 
     
firepit Slideshow:
by the
Campfire
 
     
Stations of the Cross Slideshow:
Stations of the Cross
 
     
Comedy of Errors Slideshow:
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Erros
 
     
Hike Slideshow:
Punch Bowls
Hike
 
     
Lourdes Grotto Slideshow: Procession to the Lourdes Grotto  
     
Slideshow:
Open-Mic
Night
 
     
Santa Barbara Slideshow: Excursion to Santa Barbara  
     
Beach Slideshow:
Beach
Trip
 
     
Slideshow: Basketball Tournament  
     
Hollywood Bowl Slideshow: Hollywood
Bowl
 
     
Dean Brian T. Kelly Slideshow:
Getty
Center
 
     
Slideshow: Watermelon
Water Polo
 
     
dance class Slideshow:
Dance
Class
 
     
basketball Slideshow: 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament  
     
farewell banquet Slideshow:
Farewell
Banquet
 
     
Dance Slideshow: Goodbye
Dance
 
     
Saying Goodbye Slideshow:
Saying
Goodbye
 
     
Summer Program 2016 video Video:
Summer Program Highlights
 
     
 
     
  UPCOMING EVENTS  
   
Feast of the Assumption
August 15
 
   
Retreat for Faculty & Staff
August 16
 
   
Retreat for Faculty/Staff Spouses
August 17
 
   
Residence Halls Open for Freshmen
August 18
 
   
Freshman Orientation
August 18-20
 
   
Residence Halls Open for Returning Students
August 20
 
   
Convocation
His Excellency Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, presiding
August 22
 
   
Opening Lecture
Dr. Michael Augros
Thomas Aquinas College
August 26
 
   
All-College Picnic
August 27
 
   
Canonization & Feast
of Bl. Mother Teresa

September 4-5
 
   
Fall Concert
“Bach and His Contemporaries”
J. Concert Artists, Los Angeles
September 9
 
   
Lecture
Dr. John Finley
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
September 23
 
   
Fall All-College Seminar
October 7
 
   
Columbus Day
October 10
 
   
Anniversary of the Death of Founding President Ronald P. McArthur
October 17
 
   
Don Rags
Evening classes only
October 18-20
 
   
Lecture
Dr. Stephen F. Shivone
Belmont Abbey College
October 21
 
   
Feast of All Saints
November 1
 
   
Anniversary of the Death of College Founder Marcus R. Berquist
November 2
 
   
Lecture
Dr. Marie I. George (’79)
St. John's University
November 4
 
   
Thanksgiving
November 24
 
   
Thanksgiving Recess
November 24-27
 
   
 
   
 IMEMORIAM  
   
Dr. Timothy Fangman
June 6,2015
Father of Ellen (’97)
 
 
 
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
 
 

Student demonstrates a Euclidean proposition
 
 
 
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 
 
 
 
The Most Rev. Robert Barron
The Most Rev. Robert Barron
 
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!
 
 

Br. Patrick Rooney (’15)
Br. Patrick Rooney (’15)

Edward Seeley (’16)
Edward Seeley (’16)

Ryan Truss (’16)
Ryan Truss (’16)
 

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

 

Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, and Patrick Mason (’03), state deputy of the Knight’s New Mexico state council
Patrick Mason (’03) with the Knights of Columbus’ Carl Anderson

Madeleine Lessard (’16)
Madeleine Lessard
(’16)


Patrick Cross (’14), self portrait
Patrick Cross (’14), self portrait
 

“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.”

Full story 

*Extraversion (E), Intuition (N), Thinking (T), Perception (P)

 

College Match Up
 
 
 
 
 
  Thomas Aquinas College