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THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE E-LETTER
DECEMBER 2020
 
 
 
 
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CAMPUS LIFE 
MULTIMEDIA
 
   
Dr. McLean addresses the students at Thanksgiving 2020 Thanksgiving Address to TAC Students  
     
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  UPCOMING EVENTS  
   
Christmas Vacation
December 12 - January 10
 
   
Residence Halls Close
December 12
 
   
Christmas Eve
December 24
Office holiday
 
   
Christmas
December 25
Office holiday
 
   
New Year’s Eve
December 31
Office holiday
 
   
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
January 1
Office holiday
 
   
Residence Halls Re-open
January 9, 12:00pm
 
   
Second Semester Classes Begin
January 11
 
   
Legatus Summit East Seminar:
Knowing Your Faith

January 14
 
   
Feast of St. Thomas
January 28
 
   
President's Day
February 15
 
   
Anniversary of the Death of Rev. Thomas A. McGovern, S.J.
February 19
 
   
The Perfect Gift: A Christmas Novena of Masses  
   
 IMEMORIAM  
   
Mary Daly
November 21
Mother of Admissions Director Jon (’99), Ruth (Slack ’02), and Becky (Pfundstein ’05); grandmother of Brendan (’24)


Bob Turicchi
November 23
Father of Board of Governors Chairman Scott, grandfather of Kristina (’23)

Michelle (Firmin ’97) Halpin

December 5
Alumna, wife of Philip (’97)

 
   
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RELIEF FOR FAMILIES
College Freezes Tuition, Room & Board Fees for 2021-22

To help ease the financial burden that the coronavirus and its attendant lockdowns have inflicted on students and their families, the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors has voted to freeze the cost of tuition and room & board for the 2021-2022 academic year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing governmental countermeasures have rendered the global economy highly volatile,” says President Michael F. McLean. “By helping to keep our students’ education costs stable, we hope to do our part to support their families, many of whom are suffering from unemployment or reduced income during these difficult times.”

Tuition at both the California and New England campuses will remain at $26,000, and room & board fees at $9,400. Thus the total cost of attendance, including books and all fees, will be $35,400 — well below the national average of $53,102 for private, nonprofit institutions. For the 68 percent of students who receive institutional financial aid, that amount will be significantly lower still.

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Our Mother of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel
 

“CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC GOOD
Washington Monthly Ranks TAC Among Nation’s Top Colleges for 2020


Complementing its high rankings in the latest editions of various college guides, Thomas Aquinas College has earned a spot among the nation’s top colleges and universities, according to Washington Monthly.

The magazine, which rates schools “based on what they are doing for the country,” considered some 1,558 colleges and universities nationwide for its 2020 list. Thomas Aquinas College ranks in the top 100 of the magazine’s list of liberal arts colleges, at no. 77. The College also rates within the magazine’s Top 50 schools that offer the “Best Bang for the Buck” in the Western United States.

Whereas most college guides rely on “crude and easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity, and prestige,” Washington Monthly’s editors argue that theirs aims for a more noble measure: “contribution to the public good.” To that end, the guide considers three equally weighted criteria in compiling its rankings: social mobility (advancing the financial prospects of economically disadvantaged students), service (encouraging students to contribute meaningfully to their communities), and research (professors’ scholarly contributions to their academic fields).

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Washington Monthly logo
 
 

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES
American Catholic Philosophical Association Honors Tutor Dr. Michael Rubin

When the American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA) gathered virtually for its 2020 conference last month, it honored a member of the Thomas Aquinas College teaching faculty, Dr. Michael Rubin.

A tutor on the New England campus, Dr. Rubin received the Association’s Karen Chan Young Scholar Award, recently renamed for the young mother and onetime academic dean of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, who, along with her unborn child, was tragically killed in an automobile accident last year. The award honors the scholar under the age of 35 who submitted the best paper for this year’s conference.

As part of the conference, Dr. Rubin presented his prize-winning paper, “Aquinas on Bodily or Sensible Beauty. ” He then received the Chan Award from a Thomas Aquinas College alumnus, Dr. Thomas A. Cavanaugh (’85), a professor of philosophy at the University of San Francisco who serves as the ACPA’s president. Notably, last year’s award winner was another alumnus, Dr. John G. Brungardt (’08), an assistant professor of medieval philosophy at Newman University.

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Dr. Michael Rubin
Dr. Michael Rubin
 
 

FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College's Alumni Blog

• Alumna author Samantha (McCall ’06) Cohoe has published her first novel, A Golden Fury (Wednesday Books). Aimed at the young-adult market, the historical fantasy follows the perilous adventure of a young protagonist in an always brave, sometimes foolhardy, and occasionally terrifying pursuit of alchemy’s greatest prize: the Philosopher’s Stone. “To write historical fantasy, you have to do a lot of research,” notes Mrs. Cohoe, who credits the College’s Great Books curriculum with helping her to better understand history’s would-be alchemists as well as the characters she brings to life. “Reading primary sources and really getting into the minds of the writers in that time — and seeing the coherence of their world views, rather than just judging them from a modern perspective — helps me to write better historical fiction.”

Rev. Peter Sharpe (’04) recently became the pastor of three parishes in the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota: St. Mary’s, St. Paul’s, and St. Francis de Sales. He also was the subject of a profile in a local newspaper. “As a priest, I have found I can’t fix people, nor is it my job, but the Lord can and does change lives,” the story quotes Fr. Sharpe as saying. “If we’re patient enough, we’ll see what good plans God has in store for us.” In addition to his pastoral duties, he wrote an article earlier this year for the diocesan website, “Why are non-Catholic but baptized Christians not to receive the Eucharist?” — a topic he later took up in a diocesan podcast.

• The Diocese of Manchester, N.H., has presented its annual St. Joseph Award for teaching excellence to a graduate of the College who couples his extraordinary devotion to his students with service to his family and country: Mark Forrester (’12). A husband, new father, and teacher, Mr. Forrester not only transitioned his school to online learning in just four days, he then taught classes from a COVID-19 testing station as a member of the New Hampshire National Guard. “If witness of Christian discipleship is the most powerful form of education,” writes Mark Gillis, head of school at Manchester’s Holy Family Academy, where Mr. Forrester teaches math and theology, “then Mark Forrester is a master teacher.”

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Samantha (McCall ’06) Cohoe
Samantha
(McCall ’06) Cohoe


Rev. Peter Sharpe (’04)
Rev. Peter Sharpe (’04)

Mark Forrester ('12)
Mark Forrester (’12)
 
 

END-OF-THE-YEAR GIVING 
Special 2020 Tax Savings for TAC Benefactors!

“It doesn’t matter if you take the standard deduction, or if you itemize your tax returns,” says Matthew Plaisted, Thomas Aquinas College’s Annual Fund director. “If you give to TAC in calendar year 2020, you stand to achieve significant tax savings.”

In response to the economic fallout of COVID-19, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act earlier this year. Among the act’s provisions are measures designed to encourage gifts to non-profit organizations, such as Thomas Aquinas College, which have incurred higher costs due to the pandemic.

“The CARES Act includes incentives for both those taxpayers who itemize their returns and those who do not,” says Mr. Plaisted. With the year’s end fast approaching, the College’s friends and alumni may want to take advantage of this tax-saving opportunity. “Many of our benefactors choose to make generous gifts during the Advent and Christmas seasons,” says Mr. Plaisted. “If you are one of them, be sure to make yours by December 31!”

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Matthew Plaisted
Matthew Plaisted, Director of the Annual Fund 




 

 
 
 
 
 
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