Year
Built: 1931
Capacity:342, largest on campus
Male or female? Always male
They Call Themselves: The Big Red, for the color
they traditionally wear in interhall sports.
Named for: Irish-born Father Patrick Dillon,
CSC. He was a Notre Dame graduate and only 33 years old in 1865
when he was named the University's second president. The same
year he supervised plans for construction of the University's
second, white-domed administration building, which would be destroyed
by fire 14 years later. His leniency in disciplinary matters made
him popular with students, but Dillon served only one year before
the CSCs sent him to France to serve in the congregation's central
administration. In 1868, after learning that his widowed mother,
his grandmother and several younger siblings were drowning in
debt, he and his younger brother, Father James Dillon, CSC, left
the order to support their loved ones. Both died in less than
a year, James of tuberculosis, Patrick of an illness which records
do not identify.
Distinguishing Features: Designed by architects
Charles Maginnis and Timothy Walsh of Boston, who also designed
the law building and Alumni Hall, Dillon is another of the campus's
abundantly adorned collegiate gothic halls. Its exterior features
include likenesses of Saint Jerome, the Latin scholar known for
translating the Bible and, in legend, for pulling the thorn out
of a lion's paw, and a Viking ship carrying Saint Olaf, the Norwegian
king credited with bringing Christianity to Norway. A side altar
in the hall's chapel includes a shrine to Saint Olaf and is dedicated
to the memory of Knute Rockne, a native of Norway. Rockne died
just months before Dillon Hall opened in October 1931. The hall's
exterior also features images of athletes in tennis, basketball,
football and running gear as well as students studying and even
sleeping.
History Made There: During World War II, Dillon,
along with Alumni, Zahm, Cavanaugh and Breen-Phillips halls, hosted
Navy and Marine officers training at Notre Dame.
They Lived There as Students: Regis Philbin
'53, television personality; Quin Denvir '62, public defender
who represented Unabomber Ted Kaczynski; Bill Laimbeer '79, former
pro basketball player; Tony Rice '90, quarterback of 1988 national
championship team; Jim Flanigan '94, pro football player; Matt
Carroll '03, former Irish basketball star.
Lore: A persistent legend had it that a poster
of a beer-swilling Shakespearian gentleman was put up on a wall
in a first-floor room by Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung '57,
when he lived in Dillon. It remained a fixture from some point
through the early 1990s, but Hornung says he knows nothing about
it. The Big Red have been known to pull fire alarms at dances
and other events of their next-door-neighbor and rival, Alumni
Hall. Dillon's familiar "Go Big Red" banner was a gift to Father
David Tyson, CSC, '70, '74M.A., the Holy Cross congregation's
Indiana provincial superior and former Dillon resident, from a
friend at Indiana University-Bloomington (IU's school colors are
cream and crimson). In 1977 Grace Hall residents stole the banner,
beginning a near-riot. When Dillonites marched across campus to
reclaim it, residents of Grace threw Roman candles and firecrackers
from the tower. The Dillon men returned fire with rocks, breaking
some of the hall's windows. Dillonites then kidnaped Grace's dorm
president from a Hall Presidents Council meeting and ransomed
him for return of the banner. Dillon ultimately recovered the
banner, though it had been damaged by Grace residents who tried
to burn it.
Traditions: Each year for more than 30 years
hall residents have hosted the Dillon Pep Rally on the dorm's
front lawn the Thursday before the first home football game. The
Big Red entertain students and fans with skits, songs and chants,
and it has become customary for speakers and performers -- usually
a few players show up -- to leap off the stage and crowd-surf.
Even Dillon's rector, Father Paul Doyle, CSC, '65, '75M.Div.,
takes a dive. Also in the fall, residents participating in Dillon
Day work with the South Bend Heritage Foundation to clean up a
building in a low-income area of South Bend. The hall crowns Mr.
Dillon and his date at Dillon's Christmas dance after a week-long
academic and athletic competition. In the spring Dillon hosts
Opening Day, featuring a variety of baseball-oriented activities
such as Wiffle Ball and a home- run derby. Female students can
bid on their favorite residents at the Dillon Dude Auction. The
highest bidder attends the Opening Day Dance with her auction
buy. Proceeds from the auction go to charity.
(January 2004)
