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Some 200 old friends and classmates braved the long drive and the mudslide to reunite in ����ӰԺ Saturday night for Thomas Aquinas College’s annual Alumni Weekend festivities, with guests traveling from across the country to take part. The Alumni Association additionally used the evening to celebrate three graduating classes that were marking milestone reunions: the Class of 1984, the Class of 2004, and the Class of 2014.

As twilight fell on the Santa Paula campus, alumni gathered on the academic quadrangle for dinner and a reception. With Alumni Association Vice President Pete LaFave (’13) serving as emcee, the evening’s program unfolded. On hand to celebrate his 20^th reunion, Rev. John Winkowitsch, O.P. (’04) offered the invocation, after which President Paul J. O’Reilly (’84) delivered remarks about the College, its past, and its future.

“We’re in a different stage now. We have Peter and Kay DeLuca here tonight. Peter is the last of our founders,” Dr. O’Reilly reflected. “He’s still active, though he’s retired from teaching, and we still rely heavily on his prudence, but we are, in effect, in a post-founders era. And what does that mean for us? It means the alumni have to step up. We have to step up in leadership, both with our faculty and staff, and in your support of the College.”

A highlight of the evening was the annual raffle: This year’s prizes included selections from alumni-owned businesses — such as assorted and , courtesy of Anna (Dunlap) and Dom O’Reilly (both ’12), and grill tongs from , courtesy of Dorianne (Drogin ’11) Hull — as well as autographed works by alumni authors Christy (Tittmann ’89) Wall and Suzie (Zeiter ’87) Andres. Per usual, the grand prize was a complete hardbound set of St. Thomas’s Summa Theologiae.

Fr. Winkowitsch offered a final benediction to conclude the reception, but alumni lingered deep into the night, making the most of each other’s company.