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About
Fidelity & ExcellenceThomas Aquinas College is unique among American colleges and universities, offering a faithfully Catholic education comprised entirely of the Great Books and classroom discussions.
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A Liberating Education
Truth MattersTruth, and nothing less, sets men free; and because truth is both natural and supernatural, the College’s curriculum aims at both natural and divine wisdom.
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A Catholic Life
Under the Light of FaithThe intellectual tradition and moral teachings of the Catholic Church infuse the whole life of Thomas Aquinas College, illuminating the curriculum and the community alike.
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Admission & Aid
Is TAC Right for You?Do you enjoy grappling with complex questions? Are you willing to engage in discussions about difficult concepts, with the truth as your ultimate goal?
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Students & Parents
Mind, Body & SpiritThere is always something to do at TAC — something worthwhile, something fulfilling, and something geared toward ever-greater spiritual and intellectual growth.
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Alumni & Careers
What Can You Do with a Liberal Education?Nothing speaks more to the versatility of the College’s academic program than the good that our alumni are doing throughout the Church and the world.
Meet the Summer Program Prefects: Patricia Doyle (’25)
We continue to meet the prefects for the this summer’s High School Great Books Program in California! Next up is Patricia Doyle, who is just finishing her freshman year.
A happy resident of Des Moines, Iowa, Patricia is also an accomplished globetrotter. She has found her way to — and through — some of the most picturesque countries and cities in the world. “Whenever I travel with my dad and it’s just us two, he has me navigate,” she tells us with a laugh. “He says, ‘OK, you know where we’re going to end up, but you have to get us there.’” As a result of this process of trial and error, Patricia has earned her traveling stripes as very few have.
It was on a comparatively less glamorous trip, however, that Patricia first encountered Thomas Aquinas College.
“TAC was never really on my radar,” she explains. But then one of her family friends enrolled at the College, and was eager to share her discovery. She implored Patricia to come see her on the California campus. “I was just starting my college visit tour,” Patricia says, “so my family and I decided we would start by touring here and visiting my friend.”
That visit would make all the difference. Seeing the campus shimmering in the California sunshine, spending time in the cool silence of the Chapel, and meeting the enthusiastic students provided a captivating snapshot of the spiritual and intellectual life at TAC. As that visit progressed she found herself thinking, “No matter what I wind up doing in life, this is going to be an excellent foundation for whatever God throws at me. I kind of have to go here at this point!”
While touring TAC, Patricia heard about the Summer Program, which seemed just the follow-up she needed to flesh out what her snapshot could only suggest. She applied and in July of 2020 ventured West once again. “It was awesome!” Patricia says with a grin. “If my heart wasn’t set on TAC already, the Summer Program convinced me completely.”
While she had experience of discussion-style classes from high school, studying Euclid’s geometry in that style came as a pleasant surprise. “It was an entirely different approach to math, and it really appealed to me,” Patricia says. “Math isn’t my first subject, but having to prove everything in order to use it really cemented it in my brain.”
But it was her fellow attendees that elevated those two weeks from an academically exciting time to an all-around transformative experience. “I met some really, really great people there,” Patricia says. “A lot of my current classmates were on the Summer Program with me — even my current roommate was my roommate at the Summer Program!” Patricia was hooked, in other words, and in the fall of 2021 she found her way to California again, this time as a freshman at the College.
Understandably, therefore, Patricia is thrilled to be returning so soon to the Summer Program as a prefect. She looks forward to working with her fellow prefects to making the 2022 program as academically illuminating and socially refreshing for the attendees as hers was — and probably has many a tale to tell of her travels!