On December 20, two Commencement newsletters arrived from Thomas Aquinas College to those on the college mailing list. One described the graduation of the 2020 class on May 29, 2021 – delayed a year because of Covid. The other in the normal time frame contained articles about the 2021 commencement on May 15, 2021.

Bishop Michael Barber of Oakland presided over the delayed commencement of the 2020 class; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois was the honored guest of the 2021 class.

The printed remarks of the bishops were included in each newsletters, plus testimonies from certain graduating seniors.

But the most striking parts of the Thomas Aquinas commencement newsletters are the gallery of student photos accompanied by the title of their senior theses. One could only imagine such a list from graduating seniors from USD, Loyola-Marymount, USF, St. Mary’s in Moraga.

A sample from the 95 members of the 2020 class:

Samuel Joseph Gerrard, Laguna Hills, California, “On the Demonstrability of the Existence of Atoms”

Joseph Alexander Blewett, Santa Paula, California, “The Infinite Glory of Mary”

Calista Amy Marie Bowman, Camarillo, California, “The role of the peasants in Anna Karinina”

Caroline Helene Guinee, North Andover, Massachusetts, “On the Power of a Woman’s Beauty: a Comparison between Judith and the Wife of Bath”

Kezia Ruth Kirchner, Littleton, Colorado, “This Dead Butcher and His Fiendlike Queen: On the Unity of Lord and Lady MacBeth in the Assassination of King Duncan.”

According to the newsletters, more information available here and here.