50Th Anniversary with Year-Long Celebration

quinas A C s o a l m l Thomas Aquinas College Newsletter e o g h e T Spring 2021 F id m es tu Q llec Volume 49 Issue 1 uaerens Inte A Half Century of Catholic Liberal Education College to Mark 50th Anniversary with Year-Long Celebration ifty years ago, a Catholic liberal arts fine dining and dancing will be an address Fcollege with just 33 students was set from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel to open its doors on a rented campus in Alito, who has graciously agreed to serve Southern California. This new institu- as the keynote speaker. From there, more tion would be animated by a spirit of celebrations will follow throughout the faith seeking understanding, dedicated country, with events in the works for Chi- to timeless truths and a time-tested peda- cago, Washington, D.C., and New York. gogy. Great Books and Socratic discus- Finally, the year of celebration will con- sions, rather than textbooks and lecturing, th clude in the fall of 2022 on the College’s would guide students in pursuit of truth 5 Anniversary new campus in Northfield, Massachu- under the light of the Catholic intellectual 0 setts, with aMass of Thanksgiving and tradition. both coasts, with a growing student body A Year of Celebrations formal reception. This vision, both ancient in its prac- of some 500 students, and with a hard- To mark the 50th Anniversary of “We are trying to hold many events, in tice and revolutionary in its time, defied earned reputation for academic excel- Thomas Aquinas College, no less than a wide range of locations, so that we can all conventional wisdom about what con- lence — will commence its 50th academic a full year of celebrations — held on include as many friends as possible,” says stituted education and what was required year. Having survived early brushes with both campuses and at various points in Dr. McLean. “We have so many people for a school to thrive. insolvency, having overcome challenges between — will do. to thank, from our founders and faculty, “In the early 1970s the all-but-uni- from regulators and bureaucracies, The festivities will begin, fittingly, with to our governors and benefactors, to the versally held opinion in academia was and having withstood natural disaster, a Mass of Thanksgiving, offered in Our parents who have entrusted their children that liberal education was dead, that Thomas Aquinas College has emerged Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, to us, to the alumni who have demon- intellectual inquiry was incompatible stronger and more vibrant than ever, followed by a luncheon on the California strated through their lives the goodness with Catholic fidelity, and that truth was inspiring the numerous other faithfully campus. Set for September 26, the Col- and durability of this education. Most of unknowable and not worth pursuing,” Catholic schools that have sprung up in lege’s two West Coast ordinaries — the all, though, we are grateful to God, Who recalls Dr. Michael F. McLean, president its wake. Most Rev. José H. Gomez, Archbishop has deigned to make Thomas Aquinas of Thomas Aquinas College. “Our found- “We know that God has been at work of Los Angeles, and the Most Rev. Rob- College possible, and to let us all play our ers left good, tenured positions elsewhere in the life of the College because the ert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop for the Santa small roles in its great story.” to do something that most of their peers extraordinary successes of these 50 years Barbara pastoral region — will serve as would have thought fanciful, if not pre- could never have been achieved through presiding prelates. To sign up for updates about 50th Anniver- posterous, and certainly destined for merely human effort,” says Dr. McLean. Less than a month later, the College sary events as they become available, please failure.” “This glorious gift of Divine Providence will host its 50th Anniversary Gala at the see thomasaquinas.edu/50. Yet this fall, that same college — now must be celebrated properly — which is Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills operating with beautiful campuses on to say, extensively.” on October 16. Highlighting this night of Michael F. McLean to Step Down as President in 2022 Tenure Included Defeating the HHS Mandate & Launching TAC, New England fter 11 years as president of Thomas Aquinas Col- both a new buffer and student recreation areas. Alege, Dr. Michael F. McLean has announced that Yet most notable of Dr. McLean’s accomplishments he will retire in 2022, with plans to return fulltime to the was the 2017 acquisition of a second campus — for free, classroom. thanks to the generosity of the National Christian Foun- “I have been blessed to serve as president during a tre- dation — in Northfield, Massachusetts, and the launch mendous period in the history of the College, complete of TAC, New England, in 2019. with hardships as well as triumphs,” says Dr. McLean. “When Mike was elected President 11 years ago, life “After my second six-year term draws to a close, I would at TAC and in our culture was so much simpler,” says like to focus once more on what led me to become an Chairman of the Board of Governors R. Scott Turicchi. educator and brought me to Thomas Aquinas College in “He has brought his great administrative skills to the the first place — and that is a love of teaching. I look for- challenges of fundraising, battling the federal govern- ward to sitting at the classroom table and discussing the ment over the HHS mandate, overcoming natural disas- Great Books with our students, free from any administra- ters, and launching a second campus. On behalf of the tive responsibilities.” board, we are very grateful for his friendship, service, and Dr. McLean assumed the presidency at a trying time dedication to the College.” for the College, shortly after the tragic death of Presi- “I am indebted to many people who have been of dent Thomas E. Dillon, who was killed in an automobile the 2017 Thomas Fire, memorably spending the night on invaluable assistance to me and the College throughout accident in 2009. As a longtime tutor, former dean, and the California campus even as flames swirled around it. my presidency,” says Dr. McLean. “First and foremost, to onetime vice president for development, he was able to And for the last year he has navigated the ever-changing my wife, Lynda, but also to Peter DeLuca, who served as provide a much-needed sense of continuity and leader- regulatory landscape of COVID-19, enabling the Col- president between Tom Dillon’s death and my appoint- ship, uniting the College’s faculty and Board of Governors lege to safely maintain in-person education at a time ment; to Paul O’Reilly, our vice president for advance- to adapt to changing circumstances and press forward when most schools retreated to online learning. ment, who was a driving force behind the expansion into with the important work of Catholic liberal education. Meanwhile, Dr. McLean has overseen the completion New England; to Brian Kelly, John Goyette, and Tom Kai- During his presidency, Dr. McLean successfully led of the California campus with the addition of St. Gladys ser, who have served as deans; to Chairman Scott Turic- the College in a four-year legal effort that went all the way Hall (classrooms), the St. Cecilia Lecture and Concert chi and the entire Board of Governors; as well as to the to the U.S. Supreme Court, securing an exemption from Hall, and the Pope St. John Paul II Athletic Center. In faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, and many bene- a federal mandate that compelled employers to provide 2018, he facilitated the purchase of more than 700 acres factors of Thomas Aquinas College. It has been an honor free contraceptive, abortifacient, and sterilization cover- on the surrounding Ferndale Ranch property, effectively to serve as president, and I look forward to continuing to age to their employees. He also saw the College through expanding the size of the campus six-fold, and creating serve the College in other ways moving forward.” thomasaquinas.edu | 800–634–9797 “A Mission and Vision Worth Preserving” President McLean’s Address at the 2020 Thanksgiving Dinner any colleges and universities up and down the Rosen also mentions the University of Florida, the Roch- MWest Coast and across the country have shut ester Institute of Technology, UCLA, and Princeton Uni- down in-person education; thanks be to God, we, on the versity, among others. More colleges and universities will contrary, soldier on. no doubt follow in their footsteps. Even in the midst of a pandemic, we have so much to Now to come to the point of this talk: I’ve called your be thankful for. Near the top of my list are you students. attention to examples of miseducation from the Blue Deans Goyette and Kaiser, Assistant Deans Kuebler and Book, and of re-education from Rosen’s Commentary Gardner, and I, along with all of our faculty, staff, and article, as a way to highlight our College’s commitment to chaplains, are deeply grateful for the many ways in which genuine education and its opposition to education which you have rallied behind our COVID protocols, for the is little more than political indoctrination. This commit- myriad sacrifices you have made and continue to make, ment and this opposition render the College uniquely fit and for your continued and steadfast dedication to the to help nurture the Church and restore American society. mission and well-being of Thomas Aquinas College.

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