Hall
Portrait: Alumni
Year Built: 1931
Capacity: 269
Male or Female? Always male.
THEY CALL THEMSELVES: Dawgs, in homage to Clashmore
Mike, the original Irish terrier mascot of the Irish who is depicted
in bas-relief on the east side of the hall. The first Clashmore
Mike arrived on campus in 1930, a gift to Knute Rockne. He was
so popular that most later dogs were given the same name. The
terrier was the official mascot until the leprechaun was introduced
in 1965.
NAMED FOR: Notre Dame's generous alumni, to
honor their loyalty and financial support. The name broke the
tradition of christening dorms for prominent Notre Dame figures
and deceased presidents. Alumni is the only dorm on campus not
named for a person or family.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Boston architects Charles
Maginnis and Timothy Walsh are responsible for Alumni's Gothic
Revival style. Besides Clashmore Mike, bas-reliefs of Rockne and
a student with an hourglass (a reminder that study time is precious)
adorn the east face. Crowning the southeast corner tower are gargoyles
rumored to be modeled after those of the Notre Dame Cathedral
in Paris. A cap-and-gown wearing niche statue nicknamed Joe College
(more formally "The Graduate") faces south. On the west side,
in a courtyard shared with Dillon Hall, Alumni's rival, a gable
below a chimney serves as a sundial. The sundial marks the afternoon
and early evening hours. A counterpart on Dillon clocks the morning.
The Alumni half of the courtyard also features niche figures of
Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure. On the South-Quad-facing north
side, a reader and writer flank the building's main entrance.
The door to the Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo (patron saint
of Father Charles O'Donnell, CSC, president at the time of Alumni's
construction) is guarded by a bas-relief of the Madonna and Child.
HISTORY MADE THERE:. Alumni boasted the campus's
first electric elevator and the only medicine cabinets with slots
in which to deposit used razor blades. Dillon and Alumni were
the most expensive halls to live in until the 1940s, when Navy
trainees took over the residence. In a patriotic gesture, Alumni's
residents squeezed in with one another, turning all singles into
doubles. The space became so cramped, Dave Condon '49, later a
sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune, wrote in Scholastic
that "when someone entered by the front door, it necessitated
someone else leaving by the rear egress."
THEY LIVED THERE AS STUDENTS: James Berges '69,
president of Emerson Electric; James Creagan '62, president of
John Cabot University and former U.S. ambassador to Honduras;
the late Richard Lyng '40, secretary of agriculture under President
Reagan; Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers running back.
LORE: In the days of the midnight curfew, Alumni's
location adjacent to the Main Circle offered a distinct social
advantage. According to the 1949 Dome, Dawgs were "happily
aware" that if they reached the circle by the first stroke of
midnight they could be in safely before the last stroke. In the
1970s and '80s, residents instigated the "Window Wars" by blasting
golf balls from the courtyard at Dillon's windows at 3 in the
morning.
TRADITIONS: Alumni residents are known for their
semiannual finals week Bun Runs, during which they streak through
the library to break up the monotony of studying. Another of the
hall's infamous traditions is the Alumni Wake. Contrary to popular
belief, this event was not begun as a way to mourn the death of
keg parities in Notre Dame residence halls after 1978. Rather,
the Wake started in 1980, when Jim King '81, CSC, '87MDiv., now
director of Holy Cross Vocations Office, had a brainstorm that
combined his Irish roots with his campaign for the Alumni Hall
presidency. The Wake was to be a hall party in the spirit of a
traditional Irish wake, with partying late into the night. The
first Wake involved a handmade wooden coffin, flowers raided from
a cemetery trash heap, and an in-hall procession. ("If we'd gone
outside," says King, "there would have been a full-scale war with
Dillon.") It was intended to be a "classy event," he says, with
decorations that turned sections of the dorm into Dublin streets.
In subsequent years the Wake became a rowdy and alcohol-infused
celebration surrounded by bizarre traditions, one of which involved
Rector George Rozum, CSC, '61, '80MSA, being carried into the
hall's dance inside a coffin. With changes in campus alcohol polices,
the event was replaced last year by a tamer one titled The Funeral.
During both Wake week and freshman orientation, the Greek letters
delta, omega and gamma are displayed outside the dorm to celebrate
its fraternal spirit. They spell out "dog" in honor of Alumni's
mascot.
* * *
(October 2003)
