SANTA PAULA : College to Graduate Record Class of 41
A record 41 seniors will graduate from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula on Saturday at an outdoor commencement ceremony that is scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m., school officials announced.
The 1993 graduates make up the largest class yet to finish the classic liberal arts curriculum at the private Catholic school, which was founded in 1971 and awarded degrees for the first time in 1974.
Based on the educational philosophy developed by Mortimer Adler at the University of Chicago, Thomas Aquinas College assigns readings exclusively from what Adler viewed as the great books of Western Civilization, said school spokesman John A. Holecek.
At Saturday’s ceremony, the school will bestow its St. Thomas Aquinas Medallion on Sir Daniel J. Donohue, the commencement speaker, for his dedication to the Catholic Church. Previous recipients have included Mother Teresa, U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde and Cardinal John O’Connor.
Donohue is the president of the Dan Murphy Foundation, one of the largest Catholic charities in the country, which most recently donated $1 million in seed money to the school for construction of a new library.
The Most Reverend John J. Myers, bishop of Peoria, will celebrate a baccalaureate Mass before the commencement exercise.
The school is located at 10000 N. Ojai Road, Santa Paula.
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