College Announces 2025 Commencement Speakers

California Thanks Dr. Michael F. McLean, New England Welcomes Dr. Kevin D. Roberts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

For more information, please contact:
Chris Weinkopf, Executive Director of College Relations
805-421-5926 | pr@thomasaquinas.edu

For its 2025 Commencement exercises, Thomas Aquinas College will welcome two speakers with a lifelong commitment to the restoration of American education and, in particular, a devotion to Catholic liberal education: Dr. Michael F. McLean, the College’s fourth president, and Dr. Kevin D. Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America.

California: May 17

Dr. McLean, who will serve as the 51st Commencement Speaker at the California campus, joined the teaching faculty of Thomas Aquinas College in 1978. In addition to teaching throughout that time, he has also served myriad administrative roles: assistant dean for student affairs, vice president for development, dean, and, from 2010 to 2022, president. A graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California, where he studied under Thomas Aquinas College’s founding president, Dr. Ronald P. McArthur, he holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.

“We see this year’s California Commencement as a way to thank Mike publicly for his nearly five decades of service to and leadership of the College,” says President Paul J. O’Reilly. “He holds a special place in the hearts of our soon-to-be graduates, as he has taught two sections of Senior Theology this year. We have no doubt that the seniors will lead us all in showing our extraordinary gratitude for his commitment to the College, to its students, and to its mission.”

Joining Dr. McLean for Commencement will be Rev. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem (’94), who will offer the morning’s Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. Fr. Walshe is a professor of philosophy at St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California.

New England: May 24

One week later, Dr. Roberts will serve as the 4th Commencement Speaker on the College’s New England campus. Dr. Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a master’s in history from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Texas at Austin before becoming an assistant professor of history at New Mexico State University. He went on to found John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana, then served for three years as president of Wyoming Catholic College. Before joining the Heritage Foundation in 2021, he was CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.

“Kevin is a longtime friend of the College, dating back to his days at Wyoming Catholic, and his wife, Michelle, is also well known within our community, as she serves as an educational consultant for Mother of Divine Grace School, founded by our own Laura Berquist (’75),” says Dr. O’Reilly. “Following a distinguished career in education, Kevin has become one of the preeminent voices in American public policy and leads the country’s most prominent and influential think tank. We are eager to welcome him for the first time to our New England campus, and we look forward to hearing the words of wisdom he will share with our graduates and their families.”

Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D., a canon lawyer and the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in New York City, will serve as the principal celebrant and homilist at the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, immediately preceding the Commencement ceremony.

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About Thomas Aquinas College

With campuses in California and Massachusetts, Thomas Aquinas College has developed over the last half century a solid reputation for academic excellence in the United States and abroad. It is highly ranked by secular organizations, such as The Princeton Review and U. S. News, as well as Catholic guides, including the Cardinal Newman Society and the National Catholic Register. The college offers one, four-year, classical curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences. Instead of reading textbooks, students study the original works of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization — the Great Books — in all the major disciplines. Rather than listen to lectures, they work through these texts in small, rigorous classroom discussions. The academic life of the college is conducted under the light of the Catholic faith and flourishes within a close-knit community, supported by a vibrant spiritual life. Alumni consistently excel in the many world-class institutions at which they pursue graduate degrees in fields such as law, medicine, business, theology, and education.