There is new life in Morrissey Manor. The past two years in Manor history — since our 90th anniversary — has seen echoes awakened and spirits lifted. When Zack Imfeld was appointed the new rector, youth and a sense of welcoming entered the Manor. For once in my four years, I saw in others — and experienced personally — a sense of anticipation to return to the dorm in August.
In a previous letter to the editor entitled “Screw it, we’re ranking the halls,” my dorm was ranked as the last of all Notre Dame male dorms and third from last overall. I cannot defend our facilities, even the University recognizes Morrissey needs a major facelift and is scheduled to be renovated beginning next year. I also will not re-rank the dorms here. Each dorm is unique and special to its residents, and ranking them is reductive. I simply hope to expose the larger Notre Dame community to everything great about Morrissey Manor and the men within.
My past four years in the Manor have seen two rectors and great things under both. The first two years saw Morrissey crowned as back-to-back interhall football champions, truly taking the Black and Gold to victory. We celebrated 90 years of being in community with Notre Dame and received an alumni donation to renovate the Chapel of the Little Flower, under the protection of Saint Andrew and Saint Therese of Lisieux. Morrissey has always had a thriving religious community, and the new chapel only increased the spirituality of the dorm. The implementation of S’Morrissey Mass (every Wednesday night a 10 p.m. followed by s’mores — come through) has opened up this vibrant religious experience in the best chapel on campus to all students.
More recently, Morrissey has seen its own community open up and flourish as residents more and more keep doors open and engage with neighbors of all classes. Gone are all-first-year sections, replaced by inclusive and intermingled sections. Seniors are staying in Morrissey and have bought into the new culture of the Manor. Signature events are being added in an effort to bring in a larger campus community to our part of Notre Dame, including the upcoming Michigan State game watch — an outdoor event that will feature free food trucks and a screen the size of a semi-truck (Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., South Quad). Yaz’s restaurant has the best prices on campus too — $1 on all food items and $2 for milkshakes of many flavors. Another of the great new events is frequent grill-outs on brand-new grills bought for the dorm and used to feed any and all passersby. Quality grills manned by quality chefs means quality food. It’s no question why people are saying Morrissey now has the best meat on campus.
Morrissey has arrived. Yes we’re young in our revival and still finding our way in the larger dorm community, but Morrissey is a great Notre Dame dorm. By no means is it “the worst” nor does it “suck.” I’d invite anyone who disagrees to come by the Manor and join us in community any day of the week.
Julio Salazar
class of 2018
Sept. 4
Screw the rankings, Morrissey is great
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.