Know why Sorin Hall residents call their building Sorin College? What do residents of Welsh Hall call themselves? What
's significant about the campus's primary telephone prefix, "631"? How about the proper name of that jig the Irish Guard does after every touchdown?The answers to those questions, along with lots more information and dozens of photographs and sketches of campus landmarks, can be found in Notre Dame, the Official Campus Guide (University of Notre Dame Press).
The first true travel-guide-style companion to campus, the 228-page, pocket-width book leads readers on a tour of every quad and major ND building plus offers tips on where to park, eat, find lodging and snap photographs. There are concise explanations about everything from major historical events like the Great Fire of 1879 to lesser-known traditions like the annual Breen-Phillips Bathrobe Breakfast the first football weekend.
Almost all of the illustrations were provided by University architect Robert F. Ringel. The book was researched and written over several years by Damaine Vonada of Xenia, Ohio, a regional writer whose work has appeared in such publications as Smithsonian, the Washington Post and Ohio magazine. She says she got the idea when she visited campus for the first time with her daughter, Monica Vonada (who graduated in 1995), and discovered that no such guidebook existed.
What are the author
's favorite places on campus? The 13th floor of Hesburgh Library ("I love the silent views of campus out the windows"), walking the wooded, secluded path around Saint Joseph's Lake, and the South Quad on a football Saturday ("It's a synthesis of a religious pilgrimage, a family reunion and an athletic event").The book
's answers to the aforementioned questions:C
In 1969 a group of Sorin Hall residents decided to protest the Vietnam War by seceding from the University. A small wooden sign was hung over the porch announcing the establishment of "Sorin College." The rebellion fizzled, but the sign is still there.C
Residents of Welsh Family Hall, one of the two new women's dorms on the West Quad, are called the "Welsh Whirlwind."C
The numbers 631 correspond to "ND1."C
The Irish Guard's victory jig is actually a clog called Damsha Bua.--
Ed Cohen