About Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California:
We don’t list many colleges among the travel destinations for Catholics…but perhaps we should list more. Certainly there are many institutions of higher learning that claim to be Catholic….some of them are truly Catholic but some are Catholic in name only (CINO). Here in Santa Paula we find a college that is truly Catholic…and certainly no name is more synonymous with knowledge than Thomas Aquinas, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition.
Thomas Aquinas College is known for its dedication to the Socratic method style of teaching, so much so that professors are actually called tutors. Other than the monthly lectures, the classes consist of in-classroom discussions in which tutors lead with a question and guide the conversation. Given the small student-to-faculty ratio (11:1), tutors are described as “part of the community” and “are always available to talk, whether during meals in the cafeteria or in their office”. Students describe an environment that challenges them and supports their growth.
Their website quotes one student saying “You have to show up every day prepared and ready to engage constructively and kindly with your peers, and that takes some serious discipline.”
There teaching model is an antidote to the modern-day criticism of college education that aims to teach you what to think rather than how to think. You certainly can thank their namesake, Saint Thoma Aquinas, for that.
Note: Thomas Aquinas College has a sister campus in Northfield, Massachusetts.
About Holy Trinity Chapel at Thomas Aquinas College:
A focal point for students and visitors is Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, where Masses are held. Holy Trinity Chapel is the fruit of a dozen years of planning, thousands of contributions from generous benefactors, and more than three years of construction, the Chapel was dedicated on the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, March 7, 2009 — the anniversary of which is observed as a solemnity on the campus.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel was designed by University of Notre Dame architect Duncan Stroik in collaboration with late Thomas Aquinas College president Thomas E. Dillon. Like the College’s classical curriculum, it is drawn from the greatest sources of the Western tradition. Its dome is representative of the College’s fidelity to Rome; its bell tower evokes California’s Mission history. Together, they announce the essential role of the Catholic faith in the life of the College.
Adorned with original statues, sacred artwork, and Biblical inscriptions, the Chapel is, as Dr. Dillon intended, a church that teaches. Through its every detail and its very design, which has garnered widespread acclaim, the building invites visitors to contemplate the greatest truths of the Faith.
As stated on their website, “The Chapel is named for Our Lady, our model in all human endeavors because of her unique relationship with the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, the study of which is the culmination of students’ work at the College”.
Traveling to Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California:
Santa Paula is located in southern California, about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 14 miles east of the city of Ventura.
Address: 10000 Ojai Rd, Santa Paula, CA 93060