Although Notre Dame has no shortage of long-held traditions, Farley Hall intends on renewing one long forgotten. Farley's Finest are bringing back the Men of ND calendar, a former hall fundraiser, to benefit the Sex Offense Services Rape Crisis Center of St. Joseph County.
KelsieCorriston, Farley Hall secretary, said the idea to reinstitute the calendar came from former rector Sr. Carrine Etheridge in 2011, although organizers were given few details.
"We didn't have any old copies or information to go on initially, so we revamped it ourselves," she said. "It's been an awesome learning process."
The search for student-models was an extensive process, Corriston said.
"We tried to get the word out as much as possible," she said. "We created a Facebook event, emailed clubs, talked to hall councils and wrote a letter to The Observer."
Students either applied themselves or were nominated by friends, Corriston said. After reviewing the submissions, 20 men were brought in for interviews.
"We chose students based on their involvement on campus and the uniqueness of their stories," she said. "We tried our best to represent the diversity of Notre Dame given our applicant pool."
Corriston and her co-organizers used the interviews to seek out students from dynamic backgrounds.
"From the engineer who spends time modifying toys for disabled children to an Eagle Scout whose dream is to fight hunger ... we were really impressed by each man's engagement in service, dedication to academics and love for the University," she said. "It was cool to discover so many different experiences that were still quintessentially Notre Dame."
12 models were selected from the group interviewed, but the decisions did not end there. Corriston said the committee gave thorough consideration to determining which student best represented each month.
"We tried to match months to their activities," she said. "Mr. October is one of the band majors, so we wanted to make sure he was [pictured for] a month during football season."
Initial reactions to the calendar were mixed, but Corriston said the charitable cause swayed many critics.
"A lot of people initially think we're doing something similar to a firemen's calendar that objectifies men," she said. "However, once they hear our intentions they think it's an awesome idea," she said.
