On March 3, the 33 residence halls at the University of Notre Dame elected their hall presidents for the 2026-27 academic year. Following several weeks of campaigning, Judicial Council announced the election results for the 32 dormitories who opted in to the council’s voting system, with Duncan Hall being the sole exception to opt out.
Throughout their campaigns, candidates addressed issues within the residential halls, the Notre Dame community and suggested changes that they hoped to implement for the betterment of their dorms in the future.
Several incoming dorm presidents spoke with The Observer following their election about their platforms and hopes for the upcoming year before they officially begin their terms this week.
Freshman Connor Pane was elected president of Siegfried Hall, alongside incoming vice president freshman Quinn Duhon. Pane described his main goals for Siegfried as improving the in-dorm experience, with hopes of creating a travel network where students within the dorm can coordinate rides with each other.
He looks to improve the existing ‘Conley Cup,’ a section tournament within the dorm, by creating individual incentives and rewards to participate, with the hopes of increasing participation in the overall event. He would also like for parents’ weekend to be improved with the creation of a father’s weekend in the fall and a mother’s weekend in the spring.
Pane wants to both continue Siegfried’s Day of Man while also creating a new fall signature event, known as Oktoberfest.
“We're really excited for the next year, making good connections with the incoming class of 2030,” said Pane. “We're most looking forward to just getting more opportunities to meet and connect with people around the dorm.”
Freshman Dalton Vaughn was elected president of Lyons Hall with freshman Guadalupe Perera Rondon and sophomore Mary Bridget Molony as her vice presidents. Molony currently serves as Lyons Hall president.
Vaughn noted that one of her main goals was to “keep the same spirit of Lyons, while we’re living in Zahm, because that’s going to be a very big transition for our dorm.” While noting that she is excited for the move and growth of the Lyons community, she hopes to maintain the community that Lyons has already built.
Regarding Molony’s previous experience, Vaughn said, “We’re very grateful to have her perspective, her knowledge to have someone on our team who’s done it before.”
Vaughn hopes to create greater community input on events, keeping events such as the Volley for Vets fundraiser, while also creating an in-dorm “Lyons Cafe,” which she believes can be very successful given Zahm’s proximity to North Quad and will hopefully be transferred back to Lyons when they return.
Being in Zahm for the upcoming year, Vaughn hopes to create greater outreach between dorms on North Quad due to their new proximity to each other.
Freshman Grace Rochelle, who was elected as president of Welsh Family Hall, said that the goals that she and her vice presidents, freshmen Natalia Ciura and Maggie Olah, plan to accomplish are related to increasing programming and growing dorm spirit.
Some of Rochelle’s policies include increasing transparency and communication between hall government and those who live in the dorm.
Rochelle hopes to reintroduce Whirl-Wars as an inter-section competition as well as increase feedback from the members of the dorm while continuing signature events such as Hoedown Throwdown and Audrey’s Art in order to instill greater community.
In regard to what Rochelle said she was most looking forward to, she said, “Just seeing the girls at our events and seeing them laugh and smile.”
Freshmen Kate Youngsman and Reese Hillman were elected as Johnson Family Hall’s president and vice president, respectively.
Youngsman hopes to establish various low-commitment events where residents can get to know each other. Within the hall, Youngsman hopes to continue JFAM family feud and the JFAM turkey trot.
“I’m so excited to collaborate with all the whole staff and our rector and the other students in leadership,” Youngsman said. “I just can’t wait to be able to use my skills and work to make our community better.”
Sophomore Kyle Ma was elected to serve as Carroll Hall’s president alongside vice presidents sophomore Trey Naese and freshman Jack Cipperman.
Ma’s biggest goal is to “continue cultivating a strong Carroll community,” especially as the hall nears its 50th anniversary this year. For this, Ma hopes to create a ‘Vermin’ fall event incorporating both current students and alumni.
Ma intends to also establish a spring signature event around Easter to match their annual Carroll Christmas in December. With the help of his vice presidents, he hopes to restart ‘rat packs’, Carroll’s big-little group, as well as putting a campfire out on far quad open to the greater Notre Dame community.
“I’m really looking forward to just working with the people at Carroll. It’s a great group of guys, I think we have some great ideas and I’m really looking forward to see how they turn out. I’m really, really excited for the 50th anniversary. We’ve already started talking to alumni a little bit, it’s promising and I’m really excited for that,” Ma said.
Sophomore Austin Marchand, the newly elected president of Dunne Hall, plans to work with his vice presidents, sophomores Braiden Tedesco and Will Higgins, “to make sure that everybody in Dunne feels like they belong and feel like they’re in love and accepted.”
Marchand aims to expanding the commissioner roles for greater involvement in hall government, introducing the role of inter-hall commissioner for interconnected programming in order to help freshman get involved early in hall programming.
Another important goal of Marchand is to give residents a greater ability to practice and engage with faith life, which he intends to accomplish through greater service programs as well as the option for a fall break backpacking trip.
Sophomore Mira Zamarro, along with freshmen Sissy Page and Alyssa Bascuas, was elected to serve as Breen-Phillips Hall’s government.
Zamarro hopes to foster the community within Breen-Phillips, sharing, “We really want to create a community that the girls here want to be a part of.”
She hopes to continue Breen-Phillips’ previous signature events, including the BP Barn Party in the fall and their annual meal auction in the spring. She plans to maintain the pattern set by the previous administration, with one difference being the addition of more commissioner roles.
Sophomore Haley Nieman was elected president of Walsh Hall, along with vice presidents sophomores Hannia Macias and Grace Loonan.
Nieman is hoping to maintain consistency throughout her term as the previous administration had done while also continuing to create collaborative relationships among residents.
“We have a really unique opportunity to foster collaboration within the dorm, so one way we plan to do that is through our houses in the house initiative that is a Harry Potter-style competition that will reward Green Dot training, participating in service through our service committee and helping at various events throughout campus and within the dorm,” Nieman said.
Nieman mentioned hopes to hold “exec hangouts” where she or her vice presidents will hold meetings to talk with residents for an hour each week. One additional platform that Nieman hopes to implement is a bi-weekly rector roll call for residents to bring concerns to the hall’s new rector when they arrive in the fall.
Sophomore Brady Eisenhart will be the new president for Keough Hall, along with sophomores Jack Rankin and Sean Utrie as vice presidents.
One of Eisenhart’s main objectives is to create a less section-oriented culture within the dorm. Eisenhart hoped to begin this by running with vice presidents who were in different sections in order to show unity among the hall government.
Eisenhart also intends to celebrate Keough’s 30th anniversary as a dorm this upcoming year, as well as implementing a parents’ weekend alongside a mom’s weekend.
