Notre Dame’s Hall Presidents Council (HPC) recently announced the recipients of the Hall of the Year award for the 2024–25 academic year. According to the HPC website, the award is given to the residence halls that “best [exemplify] the ideal of Notre Dame residence life as a system which is inclusive of all individuals and grounded in the Catholic character of the University.”
This year, Lewis Hall, Farley Hall and Dunne Hall were granted this honor, with Dunne being deemed the “Golden Hall of the Year.”
Lewis Hall outgoing president Cecilia Farrell said her goal was improving the culture of her hall.
“Coming into our presidency, we really just noticed a lack of put-together culture,” Farrell said. “And so we thought that this is something we could really work on. We ended up going through old Hall of the Year presentations and saw this Lewis culture that we thought we really could achieve. There was so much potential.”
Farley Hall outgoing president Meghan Lang shared similar thoughts, explaining that Farley leadership wanted new students to “feel like they were Farley” and thought about how they could “enhance the experience that is living in Farley Hall.”
Lang reflected on the year, highlighting several of Farley’s signature events and noting some changes she believed elevated dorm spirit and propelled them to Hall of the Year status.
“We redefined both of our signature events. So, in the fall, we usually have Fall Fest, and we kind of changed the model for that. We got a dunk tank, which really got people more involved,” Lang said. “And then in the spring, we had a potato fest ... and people got really into it, which was super awesome to see. Honestly, just building that excitement and sense of pride in Farley was a huge thing for us.”
Hall spirit was also at the forefront of the mind of Dunne Hall outgoing president Ben Romenesko. In particular, Romenesko considered the Dunne retreat the most important event for building this strong sense of culture, describing the retreat as “foundational for who we are as a dorm.”
“We have the longest and largest retreat on campus. So the weekend before we come back for second semester, we all come back for a retreat for a few days … and while it’s definitely still a spiritual retreat, brotherhood is also a main focus,” Romenesko explained. “To come back after winter break with no homework and you’re just with the guys, talking about break, playing fun games together, playing basketball, playing board games through the night, that retreat unites us and bonds us in a way I don’t think happens very much else on this campus.”
All three hall presidents expressed optimism for the future of their halls. Lang recalled the large number of incoming residents to Farley Hall in the past year, noting the challenge but also the success of their integration into dorm life and culture.
“Our freshman class was particularly large. We had 80 plus freshmen, which was kind of overwhelming at first,” Lang said. “But they really took it, ran with it and made it their own. And on days it was really challenging, we were able to walk through our hallways and see the support from them. And that was really inspiring for us, for what our goal was and what we were doing. It was a really special freshman class, and they were awesome.”
Romenesko shared Lang’s sentiment and hoped that the work of his leadership team would motivate future Dunne residents to pick up on the high point his team left off.
“Our goal is to continue to inspire guys in the dorm to put the time and the energy in and keep the culture going,” Romenesko said. “I think the guys that are coming up next year are super excited and going to do a great job. We think that the culture of buy-in and love for the dorm will continue for years to come.”
