St. Thomas Aquinas College history

The first students in the fall of 1961 included 50 nursing students from St Thomas School of Nursing, 13 sisters, and five lay women.

1963 The Notre Dame convent was built and dedicated in September 1963.

1964 The first Commencement at St Thomas Aquinas High School was June 10, 1964, graduating 219 from the charter class.

From the very beginning, the College would rely on the generosity of many friends and benefactors Among the first were oil magnate and philanthropist Henry Salvatori, whose initial $10,000 grant funded the College’s incorporation on October 14, 1968.

1971 Bishop Primeau announced that due to declining enrollment and rising expenses, St Thomas Aquinas High School was to close unless a viable solution could be found.

In 1975, the California Department of Education gave the College power to grant degrees, and on June 7 of that year, the College graduated its first class.

In October 1977 those plans had to be accelerated when the Claretians informed College officials that the Claretville property had been sold.

Work proceeded at a frantic pace throughout that summer, but in September of 1978, when school was to open, the modular dormitories had not yet arrived.

1980 St Thomas Aquinas High School celebrated 20 years! Enrollment continued to climb during the 1980s.

1985 The St Thomas Aquinas Fund was created, giving alumni, parents and friends the opportunity to invest in the future of Catholic education.

1991 More than 470 students attended class on the first day of school.

In 1996 President Dillon commenced efforts to design, fund, and build a permanent chapel to replace the small, temporary one in St Joseph Commons.

In 1997 the College launched its Summer Great Books Program for High School Students which, by giving prospective students a taste of the life of the College, prompted many to apply.

2004 Outside under a big tent and blue skies, St Thomas Aquinas High School held its first outdoor Graduation.

With the College having reached its maximum enrollment in 2005, waiting lists were growing longer each year.

Through his leadership and with a lead gift of $10 million from the Dan Murphy Foundation, on March 7, 2009, the College dedicated Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel the crown jewel of the campus.

Not long after the fall semester began in 2010, founder and senior tutor Mark Berquist was diagnosed with lymphoma.

“The story of Thomas Aquinas College is one of Divine Providence,” said Founding President Doctor Ronald P. McArthur in 2011. “What this College has become, what it has achieved, in just four decades is far greater than the sum of our human labors.

On May 27, 2012, the HHS Mandate, as it came to be known, was issued.

On February 7, 2017, the NCF informed Doctor McLean that of the 153 applications it had received, Thomas Aquinas College’s had been accepted.

Students returned to campus in August of 2020, overjoyed to be with their friends and classmates again and committed to abiding by the restrictions necessary to keep the College open.