Traditions
Tradition defines many aspects of life at Notre Dame. The dorms are key parts of these traditions and, over the years, the Manor has established a few of its own. These traditions represent a key part of Morrissey Manor's identity.
Tomatina
The Manor Tomatina occurs annually in early September, prior to the first home football game, and is Morrissey's Signature Event. Based on “La Tomatina,” a renowned Spanish festival centered around a massive Tomato fight that attracts visitors from throughout Spain and the world, the Manor Tomatina recreates this experience at Notre Dame in a unique way. Manor residents unite with other students and members of the Notre Dame community for a fun afternoon of good-hearted tomato warfare, free food, music, and fundraising. In its Inaugural year, the Manor Tomatina raised $600 for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The concept for the Manor Tomatina was crafted in Fall 2004 and required nearly two years of planning to come to fruition. 2006 marked the ostensible beginning of a new Manor Tradition that will continue to grow and flourish.
Christmas SYR
The Manor holds two dances each school year, one having a Christmas theme, and the other having a Spring theme. The legendary Christmas SYR was forced to adapt to various on-campus rule changes, but remains one of the Manor's most entertaining, spirited, and unifying events. The excitement for the dance builds all semester, as it is typically the first Morrissey-sponsered dance of the school year. Santa Claus personally delivers invitations and candy canes to all of the lucky ladies (living on-campus) who have been asked to the dance. The day-long festivities take place on the Saturday before the final week of classes each Fall and culminate in a dance that is attended by nearly every Manorite. This dance is one of the highlights of the year in the Manor and it garnered honors for being the Best Men's Hall Dance in 2005.
Morrissey Fight Song
The story goes that “Fight On for Morrissey” was “created” just before the Interhall football semifinals against arch-rival Dillon in 1972 by Bill Murphy '74. In 1970, the Manor lost the Inter-Hall Football Championship to Dillon when the final game was tied and they were awarded the title based on amassing more first downs. In 1971, the Manor lost the title game to Dillon on a snow-covered Moose Krause Field in a tiebreaker format (ball on the 10, first team to score and stop the opponent from scoring). In 1972, the Manor needed an extra edge -- so a pep rally was held and a fight song created, using what Murphy thought was the tune to the second-greatest college fight song [USC]. It was huge and hundreds of people turned out to sing at the game as Morrissey beat Dillon in the semifinals and then beat Stanford in the Stadium for the title. The fight song was even more popular that winter as Manorites incessantly sang their way to the Interhall hockey title. The Morrissey Fight Song lives on today and is one of the first things that Freshmen Manorites learn.
The Breakfast Club
While this tradition shares its name with the Brat Pack 80's cult movie, the similarities end there. This tradition is very similar to the Polar Run in that it is a traditional run around campus in boxers. The difference? The Breakfast Club meets at 7:15am each Saturday of a home football game here at ND. The group of Manorites proceed to run around campus (in their boxers and “whitie-tighties”, of course) singing the Morrissey Fight Song as loud as they can in an attempt to wake up everyone in the other dorms. The Manor freshmen's first game day is always begun with this tradition, as the upperclassmen make sure to wake up all the young Manorites to make sure they join in on this game day fun.
Morrissey Manor Madness Week
Morrissey Manor Madness week is a week dedicated to celebrating dorm spirit. Events typically include a competitive eating contest, the Gallon Challenge, a Poker Night, Morrissey Unplugged, Manor Knockdowns, and the Morrissey Manor Mattreess Marathon recently. There is one Spirit Week each semester; the first is in October and the second takes place in March along with the March Madness basketball tournament.
Manor Knockdowns
Throughout the year, residents gather in the 3rd floor lobby to watch Morrissey warriors gut it out in a no-holds-barred wrestling battle between college brethren. Matches can be one-on-one or tag-team, but in the end, it doesn't matter who wins, only that everyone tried their best.
Manor Medallion Hunt
Each spring, the Manor Medallion Hunt sweeps the Notre Dame campus by storm. During a week long campus-wide search for a single three-inch medallion, daily riddles are printed in the Observer to help direct treasure hunters to the medallion. The lucky one who finds the medallion wins a prize of $300. Visit the Medallion Hunt home page for complete rules and to past riddles.
