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Rising high school seniors are invited to experience Thomas Aquinas College this summer at the Great Books Program for High School Students, offered on both the ����ӰԺ and New England campuses. Throughout the programs, students will get to partake in the College’s unique classroom experience, its rich spiritual life, and the deep friendships forged within this community of faith and fellowship. 

Leading the way throughout the two weeks are the prefects, a team of current students and recent graduates who share their love of the College with the visiting “programmers.” In the weeks ahead, the Summer Program blog will introduce all of this summer’s prefects for both campuses. For today, though, we begin with the head prefects for this summer’s two-week program in ����ӰԺ, set for July 6-19.

A few spots still remain for the various programs, so it’s not too late to apply!

Anthony Santine (CA’25)

A new graduate and his class’s chosen student graduation speaker, Anthony Santine (CA’25) is returning to serve as head men’s prefect for the ����ӰԺ two-week High School Summer Program, after which he will head off to Northfield, Massachusetts, to serve as a residential director on the New England campus. He is eager for another opportunity to share his experience with TAC’s visiting high schoolers.

“I want to talk with them and get them excited about the kind of thing that we do here,” Anthony says. “I especially want to talk about the readings with them, which are a great sampling of the books we read in the curriculum. These books can have a huge impact on your life!” A resident of Macomb, Michigan, Anthony is also an accomplished violinist and vocalist. For the last three years, he directed Chrysostomos, a student choral group.

Rising High School Seniors:
Apply to the Summer Program!

Elena Walz (CA’26)

Lifelong ����ӰԺn Elena Walz (CA’26) will serve as the head women’s prefect at the two-week Summer Program in July. Having had no prior connection to the College, she now regards learning about the Summer Program — just days before it commenced in 2021 — as an act of Providence. Her sudden encounter with the Great Books was as transformative as it was unexpected. “I pushed myself in high school, but I wasn’t fulfilled by that,” she says. “There was this shared goal of learning at TAC that I found, and I loved the type of people I found here. Their authenticity was lifechanging.”

Elena was honored to serve as a prefect on the two last year’s Summer Programs, paying forward the gift she received in 2021. “It was so special to watch the students fall in love with the parts of TAC they found,” she recalls. “The Summer Program marked a real change in my life. It’s such an honor to be set out as a leader.” In addition to her love of the curriculum, Elena looks forward to the long afternoons of recreation under the sun, ready to go head-to-head on the volleyball court.