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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.
A mudslide has shut down both lanes on Highway 150 between the College’s California campus and Santa Paula. Although the California Department of Transportation has begun preparations for clearing the roadway, officials do not expect to finish the work before sometime this summer. Therefore, if you will be traveling to campus from points south, please be sure to give yourself enough time to navigate the detour route, which will take you along Highways 126, 101, and 33. Directions to campus
A mudslide has shut down both lanes on Highway 150 between the College’s California campus and Santa Paula. Although the California Department of Transportation has begun preparations for clearing the roadway, officials do not expect to finish the work before sometime this summer. Therefore, if you will be traveling to campus from points south, please be sure to give yourself enough time to navigate the detour route, which will take you along Highways 126, 101, and 33. Directions to campus
Meet the Summer Program Prefects: Thomas Kelsey (’23)
The latest entry in our ongoing series about the prefects on the 2022 California High School Great Books Program is Thomas Kelsey (’23).
Thomas comes from South Bend, Indiana, where his father teaches philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, but his family’s roots are intertwined with Thomas Aquinas College. “My dad and my mom both went to TAC, as well as an aunt and uncle on one side,” he explains. All the same, that tangle of roots did not draw Thomas’s four older siblings back West for college. “I had two siblings go to Notre Dame, one to the Naval Academy, and one to St. John’s. In fact,” Thomas tells us, “I was planning on going to Notre Dame myself.”
But one of Thomas’ brothers prompted him to consider TAC more closely. Thomas was set to attend the Summer Program, and as his brother drove him to the airport they had a frank conversation. “He asked me if I was seriously considering TAC,” Thomas recounts. “I said, no; the Summer Program should be fun, but I’m definitely going to Notre Dame.” Thomas lets out a laugh and then proceeds: “My brother was very blunt. He told me that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard, and that I’d be wasting two weeks if I approached it with that mindset. ‘You have to go into it with an open mind,’ he told me.”
Accompanied by that well-intentioned, if rather direct, valediction, Thomas flew to Los Angeles and stepped onto TAC’s California campus for the 2019 Summer Program with his eyes and ears open. He found himself at first intrigued, and soon wholly invested, in the program. “It's a very condensed form of social interaction. You and a bunch of people you've never met before talk about the same profound readings and become lifelong friends in a week,” he says, before adding with a chuckle, “And then you become lifelong friends with different people the second week!”
One factor in that swift burgeoning of friendships is the Discussion Method, which affords students the chance to shine on wavelengths undetectable in conventional classrooms. “You look at some of your fellow attendees and think, there’s no way that guy has anything going on upstairs,” Thomas admits. “But then you talk to him, and he’s got big ideas about whatever he’s reading!” When the program ended, Thomas’s perspective had flipped: “I was convinced that I wanted to come to TAC.” As he was in a position to graduate high school early, Thomas got cracking on his application as soon as he returned to Indiana. “I turned it in within a few weeks, and then I started packing for freshman year!” Since then, Thomas has returned to the Summer Program as a prefect in 2021, and is honored to do so again.
As a junior, Thomas has the future on his mind. He spent a high school semester in France, where he acquired both a moderate fluency in French as well as a deep fascination with language itself. “I’m thinking of doing linguistics,” he says. “In particular, I want to study Basque. Their language has no shared roots with any other.” Whether it’s the philosophy of language or tales of France and its surroundings, Thomas is a ready conversationalist, and looks forward to many discussions with the attendees of the 2022 Summer Program.