March 11, 2016
10,000 Ojai Road
Santa Paula CA 93060
Contact: Anne Forsyth, Director of College Relations
(805) 525-4417      

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thomas Aquinas College Plans
Day of Prayer and Fasting
for Supreme Court Hearing March 11

SANTA PAULA, CA—When the eight justices of the United States Supreme Court begin hearing oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell at 10:00 a.m. on March 23, students, faculty, and staff at Thomas Aquinas College, one of 35 plaintiffs in the case, will just be starting their day — a day that will be dedicated to prayer and fasting for their college, for the justices, and for the future of religious liberty in the United States. Joining with them will be thousands of the school’s alumni, friends, and benefactors from New York to California.

When the mandate was introduced more than four years ago, the 4-year, Catholic college made known its deeply held religious objection to complying with it, and in 2013, it filed suit against the government. Ever since then, the college community has recited the Prayer to St. Michael at every Mass on campus, asking for protection from the crushing penalties that non-compliance with the contraceptive mandate would bring — as much as $3 million annually. Now that the battle is nearing its legal conclusion, the school felt the need to intensify its spiritual efforts.

Says college president Dr. Michael F. McLean, “We are hopeful that Thomas Aquinas College and our co-plaintiffs will win this case, and that all employers will be able to continue to offer healthcare coverage that is in keeping with their deeply held religious beliefs.” He also invited fellow Catholics and Christians to take part in his school’s initiative, saying, “We have total confidence that our lawyers will do their part. Now we must do ours. Please join with us in this Day of Prayer and Fasting on March 23.”

About Thomas Aquinas College

Thomas Aquinas College has developed a solid reputation for academic excellence in the United States and abroad. At Thomas Aquinas College, there are no majors, no minors, or electives because all students acquire a broad and fully integrated liberal education. The College offers one 4-year, classical curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences. Instead of reading textbooks, students read the original works of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization — the Great Books — in all the major disciplines: mathematics, natural science, literature, philosophy, and theology. Rather than listening to lectures, they engage in rigorous Socratic discussions about these works in classes of 15-18 students. 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. Genuinely committed to upholding civic virtue and leading lives dedicated to the good of others, Thomas Aquinas College graduates enter a wide array of fields where they are a powerful force for good in the Church and in the culture. Well-versed in rational discourse, they become leaders in education, law, medicine, journalism, public policy, military service, and business. In addition, a steady 10% of alumni go on to the priesthood or religious life.