Monsignor Terrence Murphy
Monsignor Terrence Murphy, chancellor of the University of St. Thomas, is portrayed in his ceremonial doctoral robe. Murphy was president of St. Thomas from 1966 to 1991. In his hands he holds the gothic "Arches," the landmark entrance and recognizable feature of the university's St. Paul campus. They symbolize that the same ideals of the university are encompassed in the Minneapolis campus. Murphy appears to be offering the arches to the two students in the foreground. He invites them to take hold of the gift of knowledge.
A student in the foreground holds the book, Summa Theologiae (Summary of Theology), in which St. Thomas Aquinas, its author, discussed the Seven Virtues.