President McLean’s Remarks at TAC’s 50th Anniversary Gala

“Joyfully Celebrating 50 Years”

by Michael F. McLean, Ph.D.
President, Thomas Aquinas College
50th Anniversary Gala
October 16, 2021

Tonight we are joyfully celebrating 50 years of:

• Fidelity to our mission of Catholic liberal education, as articulated by our founders in their Proposal for the Fulfillment of Catholic Liberal Education, a mission best described as “faith seeking understanding,” conducted in complete conformity to the teachings of the Catholic Church and under the guidance of the Universal Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas
• Implementing successfully our coherent and comprehensive curriculum of liberal education, culminating in the beginning of philosophical and theological wisdom
• Introducing undergraduates to the best that has been thought and written — the Great Books of our civilization
• Employing the pedagogy of classroom discussion which actively engages our students in their own education, helps them penetrate deeply into the works they are studying, and  helps them perfect their analytical, critical thinking, and conversational skills
• Sustaining a community which strengthens our students in the moral virtues and in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity
• Leasing a campus and then designing and developing a campus of our own, humbly beginning with a tiny kitchen we acquired from a carnival and using cardboard-covered pathways in the midst of a very wet winter, a campus which is now among the most beautiful in America and whose master plan is nearly complete
• Attracting qualified students and faculty to the point where we have acquired and opened a second campus of the College in Northfield, Massachusetts, where we will gradually increase the enrollment to around 375 students — 375 students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to pursue our education or benefit from the spiritual and moral formation we provide.
• Finally, 50 years of sending forth alumni, some of whom are with us this evening, and many of whom are serving the Church as priests and religious, raising strong families, and making substantial contributions to their communities, country, and church in a wide variety of professions and vocations — truly renewing the face of the earth.

Tonight we not only look back at the College’s accomplishments but, confident in God’s abiding providence, we look forward with great anticipation to another 50 years of Thomas Aquinas College playing a leading role in Catholic education, witnessing to the Gospel, remaining faithful to the teachings of the Church, and preparing students for responsible citizenship.

Thank you.

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