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On Wednesday, as members of the California Senior Class completed their last final examination, they exited St. Augustine Hall and greeted one another, with hugs and congratulations, on the academic quadrangle. After everyone arrived, they sprinted for the Pope St. John Paul II Athletic Center and collectively dove into its swimming pool!

After drying off and changing their clothes, the soon-to-be graduates met up over lunch in St. Joseph’s Commons for the Senior Boast. With as much fanfare and noise as possible, the seniors raucously announced how much work they have completed over the last four years — and how much remains for the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen — as measured in tutorial hours, seminar hours, final examinations, papers, and, of course, a Senior Thesis.

Both the seniors and members of the College’s faculty and staff returned to the Commons later that day for the President’s Dinner. The room filled with the sound of laughter and conversation as they enjoyed a formal meal together. 

When the last plates were cleared away, Dr. O’Reilly addressed the Class of 2026, exhorting its members, as they enter the larger world, to look back and appreciate all that they have learned. “What you have received here is not merely a formation,” he said. “You have learned to recognize what comes first. You have learned the nature of argument, the difference between rhetoric and demonstration, the order of learning, and the hierarchy of the sciences.” 

After the president’s words, members of the Senior Class and faculty took turns offering toasts, raising their glasses to beloved friends, students, and tutors, thanking each other for the last four years. At the close of the dinner, formal solemnity gave way to casual celebration as students and faculty left campus for a local bowling alley, where they spent the rest of the evening competing in high spirits.

More photos from the Senior Boast ...

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... and the President's Dinner!