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GUIDE SEASON
College Receives Top Ratings for Academics, Financial Aid & Quality of Life from Princeton Review, College Raptor
• Thomas Aquinas College provides one of the best undergraduate educations in the country, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the College in the 2021 edition of its annual guide, The Best 386 Colleges. Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the publication. Thomas Aquinas College is one of only three Catholic schools recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society to make The Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” list, with scores of 93 for academics, 97 for quality of life, and 93 for financial aid. Based on its student survey, The Princeton Review additionally reports that, at TAC, “classroom facilities are great,” “class discussions [are] encouraged,” “no one cheats,” and “dorms are like palaces.”
• College Raptor, an online consultancy, has included TAC among the “prestigious colleges and universities” in its 2021 “Top 25 Best Colleges” rankings. What distinguishes College Raptor from its various counterparts is that the service aspires to a more personalized approach, offering recommendations based on students’ particular interests and financial needs. Its college Top 25 lists rely entirely on publicly available data about American colleges and universities, including selectivity, first-year retention rates, standardized test scores, student-to-faculty ratios, and graduation rates. The College, the guide observes, “offers only one major: Liberal Arts” and “doesn’t accept direct funding from the government.” Furthermore, the College “boasts a 91 percent first-year retention rate” and “the student-to-faculty ratio is 11 to 1.”
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FIFTEEN YEARS LATER
Child Star of Long-Running TAC ad is now a Member of the Freshman Class
In 2005, Thomas Aquinas College first published an advertisement that has run many times in the 15 years since. The ad depicts three generations of a family walking across the College’s sunny California campus: The silver-haired grandfather offers sage advice to his son, a young man clasping the hand of his own child — an adorable redheaded boy of about three years, who gazes up admiringly at his forbears.
Hard though it may be to believe, that adorable redheaded boy now stands at close to six feet tall. He is also a member of the Thomas Aquinas College Class of 2024. “So far, I’m loving my freshman year,” says Brendan Daly. “I have been blessed to meet many amazing people, my section is awesome, all the readings are so interesting, and our discussions in class are excellent.”
In that now-iconic advertisement, which promotes the College’s Legacy Society, Brendan is holding the hand of his father, Admissions Director Jon Daly (’99), who is flanked by the College’s late publications manager, Don Boardman, standing in for Brendan’s grandfather. For Jon, who has served as the emcee at the College’s Matriculation ceremony every year since becoming admissions director in 2004, announcing Brendan’s name at this year’s event was especially rewarding. “To be able to announce my eldest son’s name in the freshman roll-call,” he says, “and to know that he will have the opportunity to benefit directly and personally in all the ways that we work for, is truly wonderful.”
► Full story
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Then:
Photo from a College ad that first appeared in 2005
Now:
Brendan Daly ('24) with his father,
Jon Daly ('99) |
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“SOMETHING TO SERVE THE LORD”
College Governor Robert W. Andrews Ordained to the Permanent Diaconate
On August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, Rev. Mr. Robert W. Andrews — a member of the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors — became a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, marking the culmination of a five-year program of formation. Deacon Andrews received the Sacrament of Holy Orders at St. Pius Catholic Church in Redwood City, at the hands of a dear friend of Thomas Aquinas College — the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco and the College’s 2016 Commencement Speaker.
“I have long envisioned that I would do something to serve the Lord once my working career ended,” Deacon Andrews, formerly the managing director of Cambridge Associates LLC, told Catholic San Francisco. “As a deacon, I can minister to others with the life-giving balm of the Gospel, and I will also be able to assist at holy Mass, weddings, baptisms, and funerals.”
Deacon Andrews and his wife, Lisa — who undertook much of the five-year theological education alongside her husband — live in Menlo Park. They are the parents of two adult children, and the couple has long been active in parish ministry. “A deacon is a minister of service and of God’s word,” he says. “This is an enormous grace and privilege. I am humbled by the call and eager to serve.”
► Full story
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Deacon Robert Andrews and Lisa Andrews |
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College's Alumni Blog
• More than a year after the groundbreaking, work continues on a forthcoming shrine to St. Kateri Tekakwitha just south of Gallup, New Mexico, designed by alumnus architect Erik Bootsma (’01). Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Southwest Indian Foundation, and the Diocese of Gallup, the shrine will include a chapel, a museum, and an outdoor Rosary walk consisting of 30 stations housed in adobe niches. Designing the shrine marks a professional change of pace for Mr. Bootsma, a classical architect who ordinarily specializes in church designs and renovations. “This is really unique because it is not necessarily purely liturgical, but devotional,” he observes. “It’s a good opportunity for creativity and to do something really great within [Native American] traditions.”
• “The whole world knows and loves St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross,” begins the online description of Diary of a Country Carmelite: A Year in the Garden of Carmel — the latest offering from alumna author Cynthia (Six ’77) Montanaro. “But what about the dozens of other Carmelite saints?” To these lesser-known holy men and women, Mrs. Montanaro dedicates her latest work, offering a heartfelt, extensive look into their lives. She “walks in the footsteps of those whose feasts brighten the Carmelites’ liturgical year,” the book’s description continues, following “a pathway straight to the Heart of God.”
• Three members of the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus made their first vows on Saturday, September 12, including two Thomas Aquinas College alumni: Br. Michael Thomas Cain (’18) and Br. Kevin Peter Cantu (’15). The Mass of First Profession took place in Oakland’s Priory of St. Albert the Great. “The world’s need for Christ is urgent,” says Br. Michael Thomas on the Friars’ website, and “the Dominican is called to bring the light of Christ to all nations.” As a member of the Order of Preachers, adds Br. Kevin Peter, he “desires to preach Christ crucified.” Please pray for these young men as they continue to discern their vocations!
► Faith in Action blog
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Erik Bootsma (’01)
Cynthia (Six ’77) Montanaro
Br. Michael Thomas Cain (’18) and Br. Kevin Peter Cantu (’15) |
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TRACY STUDENT CENTER
Alumni and Friends Help Re-open
New England Campus for Fall Semester
“It never ceases to amaze me how generous our friends and alumni are,” says Dr. Thomas Kaiser, Dean of Thomas Aquinas College, New England — “or how quickly they respond to our needs.”
Last month Dr. Kaiser sent an email to friends and alumni of the College, asking them to help re-open the New England campus by assisting with COVID-19 related expenses. “As part of our re-opening plan, we are renovating the antiquated Tracy Student Center so that it will be a fun, desirable spot for students to gather and socialize without leaving campus,” he explained. “With Convocation Day set for August 22, we must move quickly!”
Within minutes gifts began coming in from many of the College’s faithful supporters, as well as from many first-time benefactors. To date, the College’s friends and alumni have provided funding for 69 items identified on a gift registry of re-opening needs, from espresso machines to ping-pong tables, totaling more than $30,000 in value. Thanks to this outpouring of generosity, the beautiful Tracy Student Center, built in the 19th century, is well on its way to becoming the campus’ new coffee shop, recreation center, and dance hall.
► Continue reading
► Help Renovate Tracy Student Center
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