A Commencement of Firsts

With a New Chapel, Board Chairman, and President, College Welcomes 69 New Alumni

(Summer 2009 Newsletter)

Over the past four years, members of the Thomas Aquinas College Class of 2009 have been able to mark the passage of time on campus by the construction of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. As freshmen they watched excavators and bulldozers grade the land for the project. As sophomores they saw the building's masonry walls take shape. As juniors they witnessed the raising of the dome and bell tower. And as seniors they marveled as the finishing touches were put in place - the altar, the baldacchino, the statue of the Blessed Mother that stands atop the Chapel's pediment.

So it was fitting that the Class of 2009's Commencement exercises, the 35th in the College's history, would begin with the first Baccalaureate Mass to be offered in the recently dedicated chapel. Over the course of four years of study and spiritual growth, these young scholars were fortified and refined alongside this Domus Dei, and now, as it is employed for its sacred purpose, they likewise commence the pursuit of their own vocations.

Members of the Class 2009 file past Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel on Commencement Day.

On the morning of May 16, the 69 graduates, followed by members of the faculty and Board of Governors - all dressed in academic regalia - processed into the Chapel. Vested in red for this annual Mass of the Holy Spirit were the principal celebrant and homilist, His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, as well as the College's three chaplains: Rev. Cornelius Buckley, S.J.; Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P.; and Rev. Charles Willingham, O.Praem. Assisting the priests at the altar was Deacon Kenneth Noster of Derwent, Alberta, the father of Senior Class Speaker Simon Noster.

Following the Mass was the Commencement ceremony, which was held just outside the Chapel on the academic quadrangle. The ceremony marked a number of firsts for the College. It was the first presided over by the College's interim president, Peter L. DeLuca, and its newly appointed chairman of the Board of Governors, R. James Wensley. It was also, poignantly, the first in nearly three decades without President Thomas E. Dillon, who died in an auto accident in April.

Nonetheless, Dr. Dillon was still very much present in the prayers and memories of those gathered. Reflecting on the twin virtues of sacrifice and solidarity, Senior Class Speaker Simon Noster observed, "It would be impossible to speak about servants of the community without remembering this great man." Cardinal Ouellet, the 2009 Commencement Speaker, publicly thanked God "for His gift to the Church of this outstanding layman who dedicated himself totally, and with outstanding success, to the mission of Catholic education in the United States of America." And Chairman Wensley told the graduates that Dr. Dillon's "greatest legacy to Thomas Aquinas College is you, the seniors, your predecessors, and those who follow you."

In keeping with a 35-year tradition, President DeLuca concluded the program by delivering the College's "Charge to the Graduates." "You are charged," he began, "with maintaining, defending, and protecting your Catholic heritage, its faith, its hope, its charity, and all its learning and culture." The members of the Class of 2009 then joined in thanksgiving to sing Non nobis, Domine, Domine non nobis, Domine, sed nomini, sed nomini, tuo da gloriam - "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory."

After Fr. Buckley offered the final benediction, the graduates, along with the rest of the academic procession, exited as they had entered - confidently facing forward, walking in the shadow of the Chapel that has in many ways represented their time on campus, and in loving memory of the president who built it.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Summer 2009

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