Hall
Portrait: Pangborn
Year Built: 1955
Male or Female? Female since 1992
They Call Themselves: Phoxes ("Violence" when
males lived there)
Named For: Thomas and John Pangborn of Hagerstown,
Maryland, who underwrote construction of the hall, Notre Dame's
15th. The Pangborns made their money manufacturing sand-blasting-type
equipment. They also supported numerous educational, religious,
scientific and charitable endeavors. Pope Pius XII named Thomas
Pangborn a Knight of Malta. Pope John XXIII dubbed him a Knight
of Saint Gregory the Great, and in 1964 Pope Paul VI awarded the
philanthropist the title of papal count. He was the only American
to hold the honor at the time.
Distinguishing Features: The two concrete lions
guarding the front entrance to Pangborn are a nod to the hall's
ornate collegiate-gothic-style neighbors on the southwest part
of the South Quad, the South Dining Hall and Dillon and Alumni
halls. Pangborn and three other buildings dedicated in 1955 represented
a modernist step away from collegiate gothic. The building was
designed by architects Holabird, Root and Burgee of Chicago, who
did the similarly spare Morris Inn and Fisher Hall, Pangborn's
neighbor to the east. Pangborn's Chapel of the Annunciation of
Our Lady, renovated in 1995, features carved-wood Stations of
the Cross imported from northern Italy. The stained-glass windows
honor eight saints canonized the year prior to the hall's dedication.
History Made There: Pangborn and other dorms
built in the 1950s were meant to be temporary housing to accommodate
a spike in enrollment caused by the G.I. Bill. (A 2002 renovation
actually reduced the hall's capacity by creating larger rooms.)
At the time of the hall's dedication Pope Pius XII took the unusual
step of imparting an Apostolic Blessing on the Pangborn brothers
and the University. Pangborn filled the last vacant lot on the
South Quad, plugging the hole between the Rockne Memorial and
Fisher Hall in front of the original campus golf course. Pangborn
was among the first halls to have a lay woman rector (as opposed
to a nun) and that has continued to be the case 11 of the past
13 years.
They Lived There: John Paxson '83 former NBA
basketball player for the Chicago Bulls and now the team's general
manager; William Shaw '67, president and CEO of Marriott International
Inc.; the late Michael Wadsworth '66, athletic director at Notre
Dame and Canadian ambassador to Ireland. Ajax, the cocker spaniel
of Heather Rakoczy, hall rector since 1997, is the dorm's unofficial
mascot.
Lore: At one time during Pangborn's days as
a men's hall, a curfew existed on campus. Any men not back in
their rooms by the appointed hour were locked out. Because Pangborn
was on the outskirts of campus, residents of the basement rooms
graciously began leaving the back door open for stragglers. On
some nights the hallway would fill with curfew violators sleeping
on the floor. The corridor acquired the nickname "skid row." When
the hall became a women's dorm in 1992, the University asked for
volunteers to move into the nondescript building, but none came
forward. The hall was set aside for freshmen and transfer students.
After a fire broke out and several windows were smashed at the
first dance of the year, administrators decided it might not be
such a great idea to have so high a concentration of freshmen
in one building. Since then all residence halls have been multi-class-year.
Traditions: The Phox Phire is an annual bonfire
on Holy Cross Hill (above Saint Mary's Lake) the weekend of a
big football game. Each dorm creates a representation of the mascot
of a team on the current year's schedule. The mascots are then
burned in effigy. Every year since 2000 the hall has hosted an
annual trivia contest, Phoxy Phacts, that raises money for charity.
Another charity event involves a three-on-three sand volleyball
tournament. Every spring Pangborn holds a spirit week leading
up to the Fisher Regatta, the signature event of its next-door-neighbor
men's hall. A tent is set up in the courtyard between the dorms
and a dance follows the boat race. Another long-running tradition
is Pangborn's Twentieth Century Phox Dance.
(July 2005)
