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CLASS OF 2020
Celebrating the College’s Newest Graduates
May 16 marked the originally scheduled date of Thomas Aquinas College’s 2020 Commencement exercises, which have been postponed until a time when all can gather together once more. Nonetheless, the College has already awarded diplomas (via mail) to its 95 newest graduates, whose accomplishments were celebrated both on campus and in homes across the country.
To commemorate the occasion, the College released a celebratory video, in which President Michael F. McLean, Dean John Goyette, several tutors, and this year’s scheduled Commencement Speaker — the Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois — extended their best wishes and congratulations to the Class of 2020. The College’s chaplains, meanwhile, offered a livestreamed Mass for the Graduates in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. And led by Abby Hidley (’20), the graduates produced a Class of 2020 video slideshow — in addition to an epic Senior Boast — in honor of their achievements.
To bless the Class of 2020 on its way, members of the College community offered up a spiritual bouquet consisting of 310 Rosaries, 131 Divine Mercy Chaplets, 471 Memorares, 21 holy hours, 50 Masses, and 61 Holy Communions. Now all look forward to Commencement Day 2020, when we can “tell each other with joy and gladness all that has happened,” as Alyosha says in the graduates’ Class Quotation from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Class of 2020, pray for us!
► News & photos of the Class of 2020
► Class of 2020 & Senior Thesis Titles
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Class of 2020
Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki
President Michael F. McLean
Dean John Goyette |
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A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING …
… for the First Year of TAC, New England
The tutors and staff of Thomas Aquinas College, New England, celebrated the end of their campus’ first year on May 20 with a small gathering at Wilson House, the home of Associate Dean Thomas Kaiser. “By that time all grades were in and recorded; report cards were made and in envelopes,” says Dr. Kaiser. “All students in Northfield passed. Deo Gratias!”
In honor of the occasion, Chaplain Rev. Greg Markey wrote and read a prayer thanking God for the campus’ inaugural year, which —pandemic and early departure notwithstanding — was an auspicious beginning for Thomas Aquinas College on the East Coast.
“Lord Jesus, the first Apostles were busy working, and You said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men’ (Mark 1:17). We thank You for having called to us to leave our jobs, to take our families and all that we hold dear, and to follow You to Northfield, so as to make new disciples for Your church.”
► Continue reading
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EDUCATIONAL MILESTONE
Tutors Quackenbush and Nieto Teach Every Class in College’s Curriculum
At the close of the academic year, two members of the Thomas Aquinas College teaching faculty — David J. Quackenbush (’88) and John F. Nieto (’89) — joined a select group of Thomas Aquinas College faculty: those who have taught all 23 courses in the College’s classical curriculum.
“Both tutors had already completed the program once as students, but completing it again as tutors requires a level of mastery that is a remarkable achievement,” says Dean John Goyette. Only two other members of the teaching faculty have previously achieved this milestone: Associate Dean Thomas Kaiser and Senior Tutor Dr. Glen Coughlin.
Because Thomas Aquinas College offers a fully integrated curriculum, it is unique among American colleges and universities in requiring its faculty members to teach not only in their areas of expertise, but in a wide variety of disciplines — language, logic, mathematics, music, natural science, literature, economics, history, philosophy, and theology. “Our founders recognized that tutors who teach across the disciplines are better equipped to answer students’ questions and help them see how the disciplines build upon one another,” adds Dr. Goyette. “The requirement demands much from our faculty, but they rise to the occasion, and our students are the ultimate beneficiaries.”
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David J. Quackenbush ('88)
John F. Nieto ('89) |
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College's Alumni Blog
• Tom Brittain (’96), a legendary high school football coach in the Phoenix area, is taking the reins at Chandler Prep charter school this fall, and joining him as co-coach will be his son and fellow TAC alumnus Joshua Brittain (’15). The younger Brittain, a star in the College’s intramural program during his student days, previously served as the head coach at nearby Tempe Prep. Chandler Prep’s athletic director, Shawn Lytle, praised the father-son coaching tandem for their commitment to developing “men of virtue and character,” adding that they “will bring and demand passion, discipline and courage.”
• New graduate Meg Downes (’20) has wasted no time answering her vocation. The day after she completed her last examination, she married Patrick Nazeck (’19) at St. Mary Parish in Kalamazoo, Michigan. “Even though we had to change a lot of the plans we’d made because of COVID travel restrictions, and after being apart for a year, we were able to have a small ceremony with my family and Pat’s parents, about a day after Pat graduated from Combat Engineer School in North Carolina,” writes Mrs. Nazeck. The couple is next headed to Southern California, where Mr. Nazeck will be stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
• We have received the joyful news of another alumnus’ ordination to the transitional diaconate — the fourth of the year. On May 17, the Most Rev. Gino Reali, Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina (Italy) conferred Holy Orders upon Br. Matthew Maxwell (’08) at St. Phillip Neri Parish, Castel Giuliano, Bracciano in Rome. Br. Matthew also took perpetual vows as a member of Miles Christi, an order of priests dedicated to helping the laity grow in holiness through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He is now finishing his theology studies at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in preparation for — God willing — his priestly ordination in 2021!
► Faith in Action blog
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Tom Brittain ('96)
Joshua Brittain ('15)
Meg (Downes '20) and Patrick Nazeck ('19)
The Most Rev. Gino Reali ordains Br. Matthew Maxwell ('08) |
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HOLDING OUT HOPE
College Still Working to Host 2020 High School Summer Program
“We are, alas, still unsure whether we will be able to hold this year’s High School Summer Program on both campuses,” says Director of Admissions Jon Daly. “Our medical advisory board has formulated a plan which, we are confident, would allow us to preserve the key elements of the program while keeping students, staff, and the surrounding communities safe, but we are still working on getting through some logistical obstacles which remain.”
In California, Ventura County has yet to reach the necessary stage on the state’s re-opening timeline to make hosting a program possible. The program is scheduled to begin on July 12, and the College has set June 22 as the date by which it will make a final decision. Prospects for the New England Summer Program, which is scheduled to begin on July 26, are more hopeful. Admissions officials expect to have a clearer picture as of June 8.
As soon as more information is available for either location, it will be posted on the Summer Program blog. In the event that the College is able to host the program only on the New England campus, would-be California students are encouraged to make the trip out east. The New England campus is very spacious and also quite beautiful. There are still slots available in that program, and, should it become necessary, the College will do everything possible to expand capacity as needed.
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