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THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE E-LETTER
MAY 2020
 
 
 
 
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Livestreamed Mass for the Graduates of 2020! Saturday, May 16 | 9:00 a.m. thomasaquinas.edu/mass  
   
CAMPUS LIFE 
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A student bent over a text book annotates with dedication. Video: A Day in the Life of a Locked-Down Student  
     
Fr. Sebastian Walshe Catholic Answers: Alumnus Priest on His New Book  
     
HSSP students pose in casual attire New High School Summer Program Video!  
     
A white-flowered tree blooms afront Gould Hall Slideshow: Spring on the New England Campus  
     
Venerable Fulton Sheen Ven. Fulton Sheen on Catholic Higher Education  
     
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  UPCOMING EVENTS  
   
Second Semester Examinations
May 9-15
 
   
Livestreamed Mass for 2020 Graduates
May 16
 
   
Memorial Day
May 25
 
   
Tutor Summer Program
June 1-26
 
   
30th Annual Alumni Association Dinner
June 1-26
 
   
High School Summer Program
California
July 12-25
 
   
Napa Institute Discussion Seminar
July 23
 
   
High School Summer Program
New England
July 26 - August 8
 
   
California Residence Halls Open for Freshmen
August 19
 
   
New England Residence Halls Open for Freshmen
August 20
 
   
New England Residence Halls Open for Returning Students
August 21
 
   
California Residence Halls Open for Returning Students
August 22
 
   
Convocation Day 2020 — New England
August 22
 
   
Convocation Day 2020 — California
August 24
 
   
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 IMEMORIAM  
   
Ronald D. Heveran
July 4, 2019
Benefactor

Anne Richardson
November, 2019
Benefactor

Elfriede Monuszko
April 20, 2020
Legacy Society member
   
Legacy Society ad  
 
“LET US RETURN 
President McLean: College Plans to Resume In-Person Classes in August

Dear Thomas Aquinas College families,

By God’s grace, we are nearing the end of our 49th academic year, albeit under far from ideal circumstances. With heavy hearts, we bade our students an early farewell, we postponed Commencement for our graduating seniors, and we made do with an online-learning platform which, while adequate, fell far short of the rich, in-person conversations that define our program of Catholic liberal education.

Still, it has been a time of great blessing. We are thankful to God, to so many benefactors, to our tutors, and to our students and their parents for making it possible for us to complete the academic year. We are relieved that the ravages of COVID-19 have not been as widespread as we had reason to fear, and that our community has remained safe. We are grateful for our leaders, both ecclesiastic and civil, who have had to make difficult decisions — often without recourse to conclusive data or guiding precedent — for the common good.

Naturally, our thoughts now turn to the next academic year, which is set to begin at the end of August. Every day I hear from our students, who cannot contain their eagerness to return to our campuses. They long to resume their study of the Great Books through vigorous conversations, surrounded by their friends and fellow scholars. Our faculty members, too, are likewise unanimous in their desire to get back to the classroom. This is the work of Thomas Aquinas College, the work to which our students have dedicated these four years; and our tutors, their lives.

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COMING TOGETHER IN TIMES OF CRISIS
Parents Rally as College Renews Financial Aid Commitment 

Ever since it opened its doors nearly 50 years ago, Thomas Aquinas College has upheld its founders’ commitment to never turn away any student — whether new or returning — on the basis of financial need. Despite the economic ravages of COVID-19, that commitment remains in effect for the upcoming year, even if fulfilling it will be significantly more challenging.

 “With so many families experiencing unemployment, loss of income, and financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus, many are understandably anxious that they won’t be able to afford the cost of tuition next year,” says President Michael F. McLean. “We want to relieve our families of this concern. The College’s Financial Aid Office is fully prepared to make our program of Catholic liberal education affordable for all of our students and their families in 2020-21.”

To meet the rising need, the College is grateful as ever for God’s providence, made manifest through the generosity of many benefactors, chief among them the parents and grandparents of its students and alumni. On May 1, the third annual Parent Day of Giving, TAC parents helped to raise $327,686 for student financial aid. Despite the current financial climate — or, perhaps, motivated by it — they gave $202,686, far exceeding a $125,000 matching-gift challenge.

“I was struck by the way our parents rallied, not only to support the College’s financial aid program, but to aid one another,” says Robert Bagdazian, coordinator of the Thomas Aquinas College Parents’ Association. “Parents were supporting other parents — both those who may not be able to make tuition payments and those who were unable to contribute financially to the Day of Giving.”

► More: Financial Aid Commitment
► More: Parent Day of Giving

 

Parent Day of Giving

Parent Day of Giving
 

“A GREAT CONVERSATION
Members of the Class of 2020 Defend Their Senior Theses — Online

For 45 years students at Thomas Aquinas College have capped off their four years’ studies by writing a senior thesis, then defending it before a faculty panel. In 2020, for the first time, they defended their theses virtually, meeting with the panels via Zoom video conferencing rather than across an oak table.

For students, who have been conducting their classes via Zoom ever since being sent home in March, the online defenses were less disorienting than some had feared. “It felt like what I imagine an in-person defense would be like — same nerves beforehand and a great conversation,” says Monica Konizeski, who successfully defended her thesis, “Can Beauty Save the World? An Analysis of the Role of Moral Virtue in the Experience of Beauty.” The conversations have continued more or less as usual. “The faculty members on my defense board asked excellent and informed questions, and we carried on a great conversation,” adds Miss Konizeski. “The time flew by and I was shocked to find we had been discussing for a full 45 minutes when it was over.”

Missing from the online defenses, however, were the festivities that ordinarily follow. Nonetheless, members of the Class of 2020 had little difficulty finding ways to rejoice in their accomplishments, even amidst the Great Quarantine. “When I found out that I had passed,” notes Miss Konizeski, “my family helped me to celebrate all of the hard work that I had done.”

► Full story

 

Online Defense

Online Defense

Online Defense

Online Defense
 

FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College's Alumni Blog

• Three alumnae — Katie Ellefson, RN, BSN (’16), Joanna Kaiser, RN, BSN (’15), and Annamaria Masteller, RN, BSN (’16) — all recent nursing-school graduates, accepted positions at the same hospital in Virginia only weeks before the coronavirus upended American medicine. Now it consumes their days. “I got hired onto a medical floor where normally we see a wide variety of patients,” reflects Miss Ellefson. “Three weeks after I started, our entire floor was turned into a COVID unit.” Yet such moments are what drew them into medicine in the first place. “I am confident that God has me where He wants me,” says Miss Kaiser. “I am focusing on learning as much as I can during my orientation, so that I can provide the best care I am able.”

• The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis was largely empty of worshipers on Saturday, May 2 — but it was overflowing with grace. That morning, the Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis, ordained Rev. Mr. Ryan Truss (’16) and five other young men to the transitional diaconate. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ordinandi were allowed to bring no guests but their parents and had to wear masks throughout much of the ceremony. “My ordination day was very blessed indeed,” writes Rev. Mr. Truss (’16). “To receive ordination at a time like this convinces me that God is never outdone in generosity, even in times of pandemic.”

• “Good teachers prove daily that they would give their lives for their students,” observes Grace Kelly (’12). “This time of pandemic has made this principle that much clearer.” As principal of St. Sebastian School in Santa Paula, California, Miss Kelly was charged, in the face of COVID-19, with swiftly transitioning some 150 students and nine teachers to distance learning. “As soon as word of our imminent closure came out, we hit the ground running,” she writes for the Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles. “This path has not been easy … but we are excited for the nuggets of gold we are uncovering, which will enhance our learning goals when we are blessed enough to be able to go back to our campus.”

► Faith in Action blog
 
 

Katie Ellefson, RN, BSN (’16), Joanna Kaiser, RN, BSN (’15), and Annamaria Masteller, RN, BSN (’16)
Katie Ellefson, RN, BSN (’16), Joanna Kaiser, RN, BSN (’15), and Annamaria Masteller, RN, BSN (’16)

Deacon Ryan Truss is ordinated by an N95-masked bishop
 The Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson and Rev. Mr. Ryan Truss (’16)

Grace Kelly ('12)
Grace Kelly (’12)
 

HONOR YOUR FATHER
College Offers Annual Novena of Masses for Father's Day

“For many of us, the joys of Father’s Day will be diminished this year as social distancing separates us from our extended families, the Mass, or both,” says President Michael F. McLean. “In these difficult times, our need for prayer becomes all the more evident, as does the communion we can experience by participating, even if only spiritually, in private Masses offered throughout the world.”

With that in mind, the College’s annual Father’s Day Novena takes on a special importance this year. Beginning on Father’s Day (June 21), the College’s chaplains will pray for all enrolled fathers over the course of nine Masses, offered in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel on the California campus. 

Enrolling fathers, grandfathers, and godfathers — living or deceased — in the novenas is a wonderful way to include them in the prayers of the College and the Church. And because each enrollee will receive a beautiful, personalized card from the College, it is also a good way to express to them your loving and prayerful gratitude. To enroll your loved ones, please complete our online form by June 19. The cost is $5 per enrollee to cover shipping and handling costs.

► Enroll

 

St. Joseph and infant Jesus
Father’s Day Novena card image


 

 
 
 
 
 
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