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A Grand Reunion

Remembering, 40 Years Later

(Spring 2008 Newsletter)

On December 1, 2007, an intimate dinner for 16 was held in the parlor of the new faculty office building, St. Thomas Hall. In attendance were senior officials of the College and those who were present the evening Thomas Aquinas College was conceived. The reunion was held 40 years to the day that the idea of founding a new college, in an effort to help reestablish genuine Catholic liberal education, was proposed.

Mr. Peter DeLuca, Dr. Ron McArthur, and Dr. Angelo Codevilla were glad to have the oppurtunity to renew their friendships during dinner in the Richard Noble Parlor.

The evening began with a private Mass offered by the College's chaplain and Assistant Dean for Religious Affairs, Rev. Cornelius Buckley, S.J., in the Guadalupe Chapel of the Doheny Hacienda, President and Mrs. Dillon's home on the campus. A cocktail reception followed in the foyer of St. Thomas Hall, and dinner was served by a roaring fire in the Richard Noble Parlor nearby.

In attendance with their wives were: founding president, Dr. Ronald McArthur; founders, Dr. John Neumayr, Mr. Marcus Berquist, and Mr. Peter DeLuca; president, Dr. Thomas Dillon; dean, Dr. Michael McLean; and vice president for development, Mr. Quincy Masteller. Fr. Buckley was also among the attendees.

The evening's special guest was Dr. Angelo Codavilla, a prominent force in the conservative movement and a professor of international relations at Boston College. He was one of those present when Thomas Aquinas College was first conceived.

As Dr. McArthur recalls, "On December 1, 1967, I gave a talk at a dinner meeting of the Philadelphia Society at an airport hotel in Los Angeles. Afterwards, I met up with Angelo, his wife, Anne, and Doyle Swan, who at the time was a fundraiser for Pepperdine University. I was holding forth, I suppose, about the dismal state of Catholic higher education, and Doyle turned to me and said, 'Why don't you start your own College?' Bowled over by the thought, I told him, 'You can't start a college!' But Doyle, Angelo and, later in the evening, Peter DeLuca wouldn't let it go. They kept challenging me. So, lo and behold, the idea took hold, and Thomas Aquinas College opened its doors less than four years later."

Peter DeLuca, now Vice President for Administration and Finance, says of the evening of remembrance, "It was a very special night, to have this group of people gathered together, those who were intimately tied to the College's birth, along with those responsible for its continued well-being. Now, 40 years later, we thank God for the countless blessings He has showered on this noble endeavor."

After the sharing of many memories and much good fellowship, the evening concluded with champagne toasts all around.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Spring 2008