Gratitude Mass and Lunch 2025

On Tuesday, November 12, Aquinas College once again expressed its deep appreciation for its benefactors at the Gratitude Mass and Lunch. The annual event, which brings together benefactors, Board members, and friends of Aquinas, has become a cherished tradition at the College. 

This year’s gathering commenced with a votive Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Father John Sims Baker in the College’s St. Jude Chapel. The Mass, dedicated to the intentions of the benefactors and friends of the College, set a tone of gratitude and reflection for the day’s events.

After Mass, attendees gathered for lunch in the main lobby of the Siena Hall Conference Center, enabling benefactors to eat and socialize with some of the students who benefit from their generosity. The program during the lunch included remarks from Sister Cecilia Anne, O.P., President of Aquinas College, who conveyed her thankfulness for our benefactors and their generous support of the mission of the College. Current Aquinas student Sister Naomi Grace, O.P., later shared a firsthand account of the impact of the College on her educational formation, reflecting, “This is the gift of education in the Dominican tradition, so that we can be sent to those whom we will serve, who are thirsting to know God, to help them to know this personal love that Jesus has for them. In this, we live the mission of Aquinas College.”

One of the highlights of this year’s gathering was recognizing the newest members of the Dominican Campus Heritage Club, Alice Bolster and Deb & Vince Phillips. The Heritage Club recognizes and honors those who have included Aquinas College in their estate plans and/or have made a gift of $25,000 or more to the endowment of the College. Explaining his motivation to become a member of the Heritage Club, Vince Phillips observed, “There is not a finer place you can support with the financial gifts that God has given us than Aquinas College.”

Events like the Gratitude Mass and Lunch serve as a worthy reminder of the vital role that the College’s benefactors play in enabling our institution to carry out its mission of forming educators to witness to Truth and Charity for the salvation of souls and the transformation of culture.