Students at the University of St. Thomas will hold a farewell program and lunch Tuesday for Father Dennis Dease, who will retire in June after 22 years at university president.
More than 700 students have already signed up for the noon event on the St. Paul campus lower quadrangle. There will be a free lunch, with ice cream and cupcakes, and student leaders will present Dease with a plaque and a beech tree to be planted in the lower quadrangle, near the library.
Hundreds of students will wear T-shirts that say "Father Dease’s Farewell Crew" on the front and "Thank You Father Dease" on the back.