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Addressing the timely and contentious issue of how Catholic colleges and universities choose their honorees and Commencement speakers, a new Cardinal Newman Society highlights Thomas Aquinas ������ý as one of a few institutions that “protect religious identity when bestowing honors.”

The story, which appears on the Society’s website, quotes the ������ý’s director of college relations, Anne S. Forsyth, about how Thomas Aquinas ������ý designates its honorees. “We look for speakers who are to be admired, particularly for their adherence to the teachings of the Church and in the witness to the Faith that they give with their very lives,” Mrs. Forsyth explains. The ������ý would never intentionally honor an individual who publicly dissents from the Church’s teachings, she adds, as doing so “could give scandal not only to our own students but to the public at large.”

Throughout the academic year, the ������ý offers the St. Vincent DePaul Lecture and Concert Series, which includes speakers on a wide array of subjects. When friends of the ������ý Barbara and Paul Henkels endowed the series in 2007, they made only one stipulation, which, they noted, “should be easy for Thomas Aquinas ������ý to meet.” The Henkels insisted, and ������ý officials readily agreed, that “lectures shall clearly show that the ������ý supports the official Church of Rome and abides by its teaching. They should serve to sharpen the clear image that Thomas Aquinas ������ý is truly and responsibly Catholic. Whatever the topic and whoever the speaker, it is hoped that they will be the kind of people who will bring honor to our Church and the ������ý.”

Given the prominence and importance of Commencement, the ������ý makes a special effort to choose speakers for this occasion who are well-known for their fidelity to the teachings of the Church. Indeed, a good number of past Commencement speakers have also been recipients of the ������ý’s highest honor, the Saint Thomas Aquinas ������ý Medallion, which recognizes “Catholics who have demonstrated by their lives and work an extraordinary dedication to God and His Holy Catholic Church.” Among those so honored are Bl. Mother Teresa, M.C., Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J., John Cardinal O’Connor, Francis Cardinal Arinze, and Raymond Cardinal Burke, D.D., J.C.D.