Commencement Set

 Villanova Preparatory School Commencement Set

Celebrations for graduation at Villanova Preparatory School begin with a Baccalaureate Mass at 7 pm on Friday, May 25, at St Thomas Aquinas Parish, located at 185 St. Thomas Drive in Ojai. Commencement exercises are set for 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 26, in front of the Villanova Grotto. The ceremony will be presided over by the Very Rev. Gary Sanders, O.S.A., Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Augustine.

The commencement address will be delivered by Dr. Michael McLean,
President of Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, California.
Michael F. McLean holds a BA in philosophy from Saint Mary's College of California and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. McLean was appointed to the faculty of Thomas Aquinas College in 1978 and served in various roles until his appointment as president in October, 2009.
After graduating from St. Mary's College, Dr. McLean served one year as a Peace Corps Volunteer in St. Vincent, British West Indies. He then served another three years as an officer in the United States Coast Guard, with responsibilities for shipboard operations and rescue coordination.
A long-time resident of Santa Paula, California, Dr. McLean has been active in the local community and at his parish church, St. Sebastian. He is a co-founder of the Great Books Seminars in Ojai, California, and has been a member and president of the board of directors of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, California.
2012 Student Profile:

• 82 graduating seniors
• 32 female seniors, 50 male seniors
• 53 day seniors, 29 resident seniors
• Seniors come from six different countries (China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, & United States) with over twelve different ethnic backgrounds who can speak several different languages.
• Day seniors have come from over 25 different feeder schools
• Day seniors live as close to Villanova as 3 minutes (Ojai) and as far as 33 minutes (Santa Paula, Port Hueneme)
• Resident students have traveled over 8,000 miles to attend school
• Religious affiliation: 35% Catholic, 30% Christian, 4% Buddhist, 17% No Religion
• Seniors participate in inter-scholastic athletics, clubs, Student Government (ASB), all school Mass, Christian service programs, Class Retreats, Drama Productions, Wildcat Day, International Day, Beach day and the Talent Show
• Major schools that seniors have been accepted or applied: Boston College, Boston University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Claremont McKenna, Fordham University, Georgia Tech, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Lewis & Clark College, Middlebury College, New York University, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Reed, Santa Clara, University of California: Los Angeles, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Irvine, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas, Austin, Villanova University, Stanford, Thomas Aquinas College, etc.
• Students have received more than $4 million in college scholarships.