Thomas Aquinas College welcomed its first students to class 30 years ago. Now, at last, the construction of its campus is nearing completion.

If, that is, all goes according to plan — and prayer.

Originally, the founders of the Catholic liberal-arts school in Santa Paula, Calif., planned to erect 15 buildings.

As of today, nine are in service. Now, they hope, a newly launched $75 million capital campaign will enable them to finish what they started.

Set on a 131-acre former ranch, Thomas Aquinas is known for its use of a “great-books” curriculum: Instead of education textbooks, students study the works of history's leading thinkers, from Aristotle to Augustine, Euclid to Einstein. It also has a rightly deserved reputation for high fidelity to the Pope and magisterium.

“In August of 1968, we formed the corporation and received our first donation of $10,000 from oil magnate Henry Salvatori,” explains Peter DeLuca III, one of the college's incorporators and its first employee.

In the spring of 1970, the college held its first fund-raising dinner in San Francisco.

It was attended by 450 people; Bishop Fulton Sheen was the featured speaker. The day the school opened its doors in September of 1971, just 33 students were enrolled. For seven years, the college operated in facilities owned by the Claretian order near Calabasas, Calif.

In 1975, thanks to the generosity of another private donor, the college obtained the property upon which it now sits. The first of 15 planned buildings, St. Joseph's Commons, was dedicated four years later.

Lessons for Life

Aside from the campus, little has changed since the early '70s. Now, as then, all students must take a common curriculum — four years of theology, philosophy, math, science and literature; two years of Latin; and one year of music theory.

“The goal of the program isn't necessarily to prepare students for a job; it's to form their minds so they can lead a more fully human life,” said Glen Coughlin, the college's dean. “We're devoted to doing that one thing, and doing it well.”

The present student body seems to be made up of individuals who were sold on the concept before they ever got here.

“My brother has always been able to outsmart me,” says Judith Stachyra, a senior from Essex, Ill. “I came to Thomas Aquinas because I wanted my thinking to be clear. It was the only college I applied to.”

Veronica Rioux, a freshman from Lewiston, Maine, says she enjoys being with peers of like mind. “The college is a good teacher of virtue,” she says. “It's also an encouragement to see others succeed in the pursuit of virtue. It makes it easier to live out your faith.”

Not a few incoming freshmen arrive with an undergraduate degree already in hand, some from the most prestigious schools in the country, says Tom Dillon, president of the college. The SAT scores of those arriving straight from high school rank in the top 15th to 20th percentile in the entire country, he adds.

Half of Aquinas' graduates go on to graduate school, and the National Review College Guide placed the school on its list of the top 50 liberal-arts schools in America.

The student body, some 301 students strong, is at 86% of the campus' total capacity, but making do on half a campus, Dillon explains.

Thus the prayers for the success of the capital campaign. The jewel of the campaign, Dillon says, will be a new chapel modeled in the Spanish mission style that predominates on campus. A temporary chapel, adjacent to the dining room, has served the campus since 1979.

Yet, even with their desire to expand the campus, the administrators and board of governors are adamant about limiting growth; they believe the small-community environment enhances the open, interactive, dialogue-rich learning experience that is the heart of the great-books approach. Dillon says Thomas Aquinas will aim for a maximum of about 350 students.

“This school started with nothing but a great idea,” says President Thomas Dillon. “It's had extraordinary success since then.”

Here's hoping the school's success will prove contagious.