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“ACADEMIC PROGRAM SETS US APART”
Cardinal Newman Society Features Interview with Dean Goyette
The Cardinal Newman Society, which publishes an annual guide recommending faithfully Catholic colleges, has published an interview with Thomas Aquinas College Dean John J. Goyette. The interview touches on a wide range of subjects but comes back repeatedly to the meaning of the College’s recently adopted motto, Fides Quaerens Intellectum, or “Faith Seeking Understanding.”
“That short phrase tells you a great deal about Thomas Aquinas College,” says Dr. Goyette. “It tells you that our program is rooted in a desire to understand more perfectly, to see, as much as possible, what is first believed. It tells you that we have complete confidence in the compatibility of faith and reason, that we see natural science and mathematics not as threats to the Faith, but as ways to come to know and love God more deeply.”
Asked what it is about the College that attracts Catholic families, Dr. Goyette cites the College’s unique program of Catholic liberal education. “There are several colleges and universities today that offer a wholesome, faithful environment for Catholic students, as do both our California and New England campuses. But what sets Thomas Aquinas College apart, I believe, is our academic program, precisely because it is predicated on the notion of faith seeking understanding,” he says. “Not only does the College receive the endorsement of faithful Catholic programs such as The Newman Guide, it also consistently gets top rankings from secular publications, such as U.S. News and The Princeton Review, in recognition of our record of academic achievement.”
►Read the complete interview
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Dean John J. Goyette
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PARENTAL GUIDANCE
College Welcomes John J. Guinee
to Board of Governors
“Based on the witness of several TAC graduates, and a strong belief in the vision of the College’s founders, we sent our oldest son, John (’18), to Thomas Aquinas College, sight unseen,” says John J. Guinee, the newest member of the College’s Board of Governors. “Soon, three more of our 10 children — Caroline (’20), Joseph (’21), and Michael (’23) — followed. The results have been nothing short of transformational for both them and our family.”
A managing partner and founder of Constitution Capital Partners, a full-service alternative asset manager focusing on the North American middle-market sector, Mr. Guinee has nearly three decades of experience in finance. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Babson College and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, and he serves on boards of directors for eight companies comprising more than $2 billion in revenue and more than 3,500 employees.
“When I tell the people in my industry that, rather than going to conventional colleges or business schools, my four oldest children have chosen to study the liberal arts, they are shocked,” he says. “But when I tell them about TAC and its curriculum, they say, ‘Wow, I would love to go to a school like that.’ They can see the value of this program.”
► Continue reading
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John J. Guinee |
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HAND OF PROVIDENCE
Stations of the Cross for New England Chapel Arrive in Time for Lent
For the first time, on February 28 the students of Thomas Aquinas College, New England, participated in the Lenten practice of praying the Stations of the Cross in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel. Their devotion was made possible thanks to the last-minute installation of 14 hand-painted stations — scenes depicting the passion and death of Christ — that now line the Chapel walls. Like their counterparts on the California campus, the New England stations have a noble history and reflect the role of Providence in the life of Thomas Aquinas College.
“The stations come from a church that was closed in the Pittsburgh area,” says New England Chaplain Rev. Greg Markey. “They match the Chapel amazingly well, both by the size and the color,” even though they were designed for another building. In this regard, they share something in common with the indoor Stations of the Cross on the California campus. The 14 travertine stations that hang in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel were likewise more than 100 years old and salvaged from a shuttered church, yet providentially seem to match perfectly the style of their new home.
The stations are a reflection of the tremendous generosity of Thomas Aquinas College’s benefactors, many of whom stepped forward in response to Fr. Markey’s request last fall to help furnish the Chapel. “I am especially grateful to the benefactors who sponsored the stations,” the chaplain says. “It would not have been possible without their generosity, and now the whole community is enjoying them.”
► Full story
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog
• Alumna Maggie Tuttle (’10), who works as a Senior Customer Success Manager for Talent Solutions at LinkedIn, recently returned to her alma mater to present a workshop about how students can use the professional-networking site in their career searches. “Many people who come from Thomas Aquinas College, because of the things that we study, the way that we study, the way that we are expected to show up in the classroom and with our friends — you just bring something unique to the table,” she said. “Keep that in mind.” Her 45-minute talk, held on the California campus but made available, via simulcast, to students in New England, focused on how to use LinkedIn to discern a career, land a job, and stay abreast of developments in one’s career field.
• This Lent alumnus attorney David A. Shaneyfelt (’81) — a regular honoree on the list of California “Super Lawyers” — has once more turned his attention to the most significant criminal proceeding in the history of jurisprudence: the trial of Jesus Christ. Last year the Ventura County attorney posted a series of free podcasts in which he investigated Our Lord’s trial, beginning with His arrest, and continuing all the way through the Crucifixion. This year he is making the podcasts available once more, now with a notable addendum: a reflection on the ‘Two Thieves.” The eight hour-long podcasts have generated downloads in more than a dozen countries to date.
• What does it mean to witness for Christ? How does one discern God’s call? What role does celibacy play in the life of a priest? These questions and more were the topics of a recent vocations talk on the California campus presented by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, featuring two alumni seminarians: Jorge Moncada Hernandez (’18) and Paul Collins (’14). “This place was really foundational to discover my calling,” said Mr. Moncada, who urged students to see their time on campus as an opportunity to seek God’s will for their lives. “The priesthood is for a guy who wants to give his whole life to witness for Christ and save souls,” added Mr. Collins. “That’s the whole point of our spirituality: to give our lives for Christ.”
► Faith in Action blog
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Maggie Tuttle ('10)
David A. Shaneyfelt (’81)
L.A. Alumni Seminarians |
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“CLASSICISM AND DECORATIVE BEAUTY”
George Weigel Calls California Chapel “Most Important U.S. Catholic Building yet Erected in the 21st Century”
Writing in First Things, George Weigel — biographer of Pope Saint John Paul II and a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center — laments the current state of architecture, while praising a building which, he says, represents a hopeful countertrend. That building? Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel on the California campus of Thomas Aquinas College:
“The modernist curse afflicted Catholic church architecture in the U.S. for a while, but that unhappy period is now passing. Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist-inspired abbey church at St. John’s in Minnesota was often considered the most important U.S. Catholic building of the mid-20th century. Compare it to Duncan Stroik’s chapel at Thomas Aquinas College in California, which I’d suggest is the most important U.S. Catholic building yet erected in the 21st century. Stroik, not Breuer, is the future, because the TAC chapel’s classicism and decorative beauty call us out of ourselves and into the Kingdom; the Breuer church depresses the spirit.”
More than a decade after its completion, Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel continues to be a blessing to Thomas Aquinas College and the Church at large. The College remains grateful as ever to the two men most responsible for its design: Mr. Stroik (the building’s architect) and the College’s late president, Dr. Thomas E. Dillon, whom Mr. Stroik once dubbed the building’s “visionary patron.” April 15 will mark the 11th anniversary of Dr. Dillon’s tragic death. In gratitude, please remember to keep him in your prayers.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, pray for us!
► Read George Weigel’s article in full
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George Weigel
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel
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