Mary Anne Wessels Brown — Class of 1948
In Le Mans: The fact that one could "fall out of bed", throw on some clothes, and attend daily morning Mass in "the blink of an eye"
June Mulvihill Williams — Class of 1949
Not my most memorable one, but a fun one: Mary Lou Kelly and I were roomates in Le Mans. A boy she dated gave her a bottle of beer to hold for him. She was kind and took it, and hid it in our room. At the end of the year, she found it and what should she do with it? I felt brave and said I would go to the trash chute at the end of the hall and pitch it. Just as I tossed it and closed the handle, Sister Rebecca came out a door. She was tall and stern and I was in awe of her. I almost had a heart attack. I felt the Blessed Mother saved me that day!
Mary T Depman — Class of 1950
Seeing it from The Avenue as an incoming freshman and being greeted by Sister Jude and then meeting Sister Consolata who “kept order” on our first floor at Holy Cross!! Happy memories!!
Betty Moore — Class of 1953
Too many wonderful moments, Too hard to pick out the most [memorable]. Was it meeting friends for life or just crowding into the “rec” for the few minutes of bridge, smoke or coke before bed. Lying in bed at night discussing the days events or pondering our future. Sharing was a wonderful learned experience.
MaryAnn Kramer Campbell — Class of 1954
I got in trouble with Sister Sophia, the dean of women. I was president of student council in our wing ordered a pizza delivery. It arrived after 10:30 p.m. when lights were supposed to be out. I went to the door at east wing to pick it up; she told me that was NOT appropriate behavior for a student council president!!!
Mary Jo Long Coulter — Class of 1957
One spring evening, up on fifth floor Le Mans, distressed noises came from a neighboring room. A bat had come to visit and was flying about. As the bat swooped from one side of the room to the other, the girls would duck under the covers and then come out to check its location then duck under as it came back her way. Using my tennis racquet, I managed to stun the bat knocking him right into the sink. The best shot with a tennis racquet I ever made! The resulting squeals brought Sister Maria Pieta out (sans halo which was another startling sight) to investigate and to quell the noise.
Patricia Kennedy Flock — Class of 1958
I had three different roommates at a Holy Cross Hall. My first roommate really wanted to be in the convent, second was opposite, looked Goth, in 1954? Wore white make up. Third during sophomore year was super. We had a goldfish and snail named Bruno, something green and growing, not mold , but plants and played classical records. Heaven! During exam time we would ride up and down in the elevator because you could see into the biology lab and maybe find out what would be on the test.
Jeane Knight — Class of 1959
After being in Louisville for pediatric and psychiatric nursing, we nursing majors returned to campus for our final semester. It was good to be back. I was placed in a room in Le Mans Hall that overlooked Lake Marian. The semester was busy for me with a lot of studying for my final courses, as well as preparations for comprehensive exams, and for the two days of State Board Exams in Indianapolis, required for a nursing license. What I remember most is that early every morning the sun came through my window. Sunbeams danced on the soft yellow walls of my room, waking me in time for morning Mass in Le Mans Chapel. I would get out of bed and immediately go look out the window to see Lake Marian sparkling; its surface covered with diamonds of sunlight. It was an exquisite closing to my college education at Saint Mary’s.
Joyce Lashmet Fearheiley — Class of 1959
My roommate mother had sent her a lamp and after throwing the box in incinerator she realized a piece was missing. So my other roommate and I tried lifting her down but couldn't hold her she was larger and taller than we were so she said drop her. That scared us so we went for help and got a chair and tied sheets on it and lowered it down it worked with the help of are next door friends we were able to reach her and recovered her. The problem was the maid kept coming by and closing the door The other problem was the sisters were having Mass right below us and her all the racket. Surprising the incident ended up in Notre Dame news paper.
Wini Tennis Kristufek — Class of 1961
It's difficult to determine the most memorable moment. After 58 years, the memories which come to my mind are various: formal evening dining with a sister at the head of the table and "starvation corner" awaiting a latecomer; kneeling in a wing of the third floor of Holy Cross Hall saying the rosary with hall mates; slipping and sliding my way to the science suilding in a snow storm wearing my sensible charcoal jacket and skirt uniform and "holey" nylons; the stone-like unpadded kneelers in the Le Mans chapel;
Bette Jo Gorman — Class of 1961
Meeting Sister Madaleva on our arrival to Holy Cross Hall as a freshman. She was the first nun I saw, and didn't know who she was until we went to the convocation. And, I remember the carolers singing in Le Mans Hall every Christmas season. And, Singing in the "Rec". Smoking and playing bridge in the "pebble" and "Rec" and studying at night for exams in the Rec area. It was all good. We had meals with the nuns daily too in Madaleva dining room (I think that is the name) and had to be on our best behavior. We built strong life lasting friendships...
Sandy Bartlett — Class of 1961
Our room was located on the hallway leading to the Convent. One afternoon two nuns were literally sneaking in and appeared to be in great discomfort. They had been in regular bathing suits on the lake and one's father had a guest who just stayed and stayed talking. The sisters could not be seen in bathing suits so they got royally sunburned while waiting for them to leave!
Not specific to my hall but to SMC in general. Not only did we have to wear uniforms and dresses to dinner, we had curfews! The uniforms actually made life easy as we never had to decide what to wear. But to have two 5:30's and one 8:30 as well as I think 10 on Friday and Saturday nights except for proms and other dances was really restrictive. We also couldn't wear pants at any time on campus. We were going sledding and I was running late so I took a quick shortcut through the Main Hall. Who should enter from the other end? None other than Sister Madeleva who wasted no time before giving me an extensive lecture!
Judy Halter Enright — Class of 1961
Sophomore year I was in Queens Court in Le Mans. My roommate and I got"campused" for making popcorn in our room. Being young entrepreneurs we moved our popcorn skills to the tower of Le Mans.
Marianne Spalding Schiavone — Class of 1965
Having to rise early to drive to Mishawaka High School for Student Teaching I often went to bed in my undergarments for the next day. My roommates Helen Reichert and Jane Groskopf did laugh at the unconventional sleepwear.
Having eluded the campus security my beau David and his ND buddy arrived by car late one evening. David hung onto the shrubbery in front of our tower room and serenaded me with strains from "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte." Giggles were heard from multiple floors as girls explored the commotion below. Reaching our window, I hung out to discourage any more noise and asked the boys to depart quickly. Romeo loudly asked why I was wearing a slip at that hour. More giggles. David and I celebrated our 52nd anniversary this year.
Sandi Kudnowski Laconetti — Class of 1966
Dad surprised me with a going-away-to-college gift..........a AM/FM wooden console radio! It sat on that nice wide windowsill in Le Mans and brought the ND station to us in fine fashion! What a great way to relax after a shift in the dining hall working for Saga Food Service.
Kathy Wood — Class of 1967
Everyone baking cakes, making cookies or popcorn in the lounges on each floor in McCandless. We lived in the adjacent room so we always were given something. One friend would call her Mom in Kentucky and mention she would like to make cookies. Two days later she would receive fresh eggs, flour, butter, and everything needed for cookies or cakes. We were always amazed.
Virginia (Ginger Hasley) Connell — Class of 1968
Don't know that it is the most memorable moment but a memory that always puts a smile on my face is recalling Sister Rebecca ensconced in a chair directly across from the elevator on the fourth floor. My mom, class of 1929, remembered the first time she saw Sister Rebecca. She was evidently in charge of the trunk room in Le Mans. Mom was getting something out of her trunk and saw the black shoes and looked up, up, up until she saw Sister Rebecca's face. She was larger than life, especially when she was crowned with the crinkled paper plate as we used to call it in my family. Don't think mom was scared as Sister Rebecca liked to put on a bit of a gruff front but she was a pussycat underneath that habit.
Catie Condran Geist — Class of 1968
I had a portable record player and I used to play my Henry Mancini album when my roommate and I were studying and my Beatles' albums when we were getting ready to go out.
Nancy Freeman — Class of 1968
I was dating my future husband. Instead of calling on the one telephone shared by the entire wing of Le Mans, he (gently) threw a snow ball at my second floor window (we were in 222 Le Mans). He didn't know that Sister Immaculata, who was the campus disciplinarian and was probably about 5' tall, was standing behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder to remind him that was no way to call on a Saint Mary's lady! He didn't repeat that mistake!
Jane Evans Schaffler — Class of 1968
McCandless was called "New Dorm." All freshman lived in Holy Cross. Each year we lived in different dorms. We had academic choosing for each dorm each year. The best grade average picked for herself and her roommate(s).
Janice Johnson — Class of 1970
I was a townie. I remember visiting the dorms one time and managed to set off the alarm when leaving. I was fined something and chose to fight the fine. The student group hearing me said they saw my reasoning, and said I only had to pay half the fine. I refused the findings. I was either guilty of not. I asked to move to the next step. The case was dropped.
Lynn M Novotny — Class of 1972
I think we were one of the first halls to allow parietal hours for guys at McCandless.
Colleen Monahan — Class of 1972
Our double room in Holy Cross Hall Freshman year is gone! We had the last room on the Second Floor, adjacent to the entrance to the Holy Cross Convent. That kept us looking sharp. Now it appears to be part of a quad. We joked that the room might have had more space if it were turned on its side... the ceilings were so high.
Because my roommate freshman year was such a brainiac, she had her pick of rooms for the following year, and got two of us into a triple in McCandless... then a Seniors only dorm. Big deal. But, we did live just a few doors away from the Dorm Mother. Made it tougher to sneak my brother and his friend in for an ND game weekend.
I remember hearing the screams of the senior women during the Military Service Draft. Scary times. Some were crying because their loved one got a low number (about to be drafted for service in Vietnam) and others for the opposite reason: gratitude for a high number. Sharing a room with a former Holy Cross novice (nun) Junior year was an experience. But I loved returning from a semester in Madrid to a single room in Le Mans, my favorite hall. I still envy that well designed room and the marble bathrooms. Such style. And of course, the tunnels. What a luxury in the winters.... and I came from Montana!
Margaret Rurak — Class of 1972
The most memorable moment of Le Mans Hall occurred the moment I opened the door to my assigned room as a freshman arriving at Saint Mary’s. My room was on the second floor in the South wing of Le Mans that had just been converted from classrooms to dorm rooms over the summer. Unbeknownst to us, the furniture for these huge rooms was sent to the wrong St. Mary’s College in southern Indiana. As we walked into very large rooms containing only 4 beds and 4 chairs, my mother turned to me and asked, “Did you sign up to join the convent “? By the evening of our first day at SMC, I had met most of the young women on my wing out in the hall, comparing the stories of the quads and quints, with blackboards still hanging on the walls. We heard the story of the missing furniture from our hall director and eagerly awaited the arrival of desks and dressers for most of the month. It was like Christmas in September when we returned from classes one day to see workers delivering wardrobes, dressers and desks to our dorm rooms, and we could finally unpack and settle into life as freshmen at St. Mary’s College. Many friendships were formed in those converted classrooms that lasted throughout our colleges years, and throughout our lives.
Mary Jo Anderson Coughlin — Class of 1972
When I arrived for my freshman year in 1968, I was assigned to a quintuple room in Le Mans which, until that fall, had been a classroom. It was bright and cheerful due to large windows along one wall. However, it was spartan! There were five iron cots and one teeny tiny closet— that’s all! It was pretty disappointing, to say the least. All of our nice new furniture— beds, dressers, wardrobes and desks, had been delivered mistakenly to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute! We lived out of our suitcases for a couple of weeks, but since our whole wing was in the same boat, it helped bond us and is now a favorite memory. Oh, did I mention that I arrived at SMC with the flu and spent my first few nights in the Le Mans Infirmary? That's where I met my roomies, because they were all kind enough to visit me there! Everything after that was an improvement!
Cathy Hicks — Class of 1973
Freshman year I was in t- wing— a wide beautiful and communal hall on the first floor of Holy Cross. Being an only child I flipped out with all the sisters so close by. Never lonely!And bring from Arizona, I flipped out also for the ornate and historic sitting rooms!!
Kathi Paterno Knise — Class of 1975
One of many memories....but one of the best was during freshman year when one of our dorm mates threw the "sign in" parietal books in the lake. (When a student signed back into the dorm for the night, there was a little red "tab" next to your name that was removed. If the red tag was still there after hours --ooops! meant you hadn't come back by the assigned hour----- and there was some sort of punishment). My memory is that was the END of the sign in books!
Mary Mannion — Class of 1975
We had plenty on fifth floor Le Mans freshmen year...First of all I could not find it. The elevator only went to the fourth floor!!We used to play frisbee in our narrow hallway after dinner.. We loved St. Nicholas Eve..we all put out our shoes and in the [morning] we had treats..supplied by our RAs.
Junior year I was on the first ND crew team and I got up every morning Monday thru Thursday at 4 a.m., got dressed and walked down the stairs from my fourth floor room, out the door to the parking lot to get my car. It was soooo quiet..and a little spooky at the same time!!
Karen Zagrocki McDonald — Class of 1976
Living on fifth floor Le Mans freshman year - it was all freshman and a small corridor, so everyone got to know each other and developed lasting friendships. The most memorable moment(s) on that floor was sitting in the hallway with my buddies for late night studying and snacks (typically, our roommates were asleep). These ladies became future roommates and lifelong friends.
Mary Sheeran — Class of 1976
My mother went to Le Mans and my father came calling for her there. I loved walking the same ground she did.
Mary Pellicane — Class of 1980
I lived in a "quad", four roommates total. One of my roommates, Kathy, decided that she wanted highlights in her (long blonde) hair and we thought we could get one of those highlight kits and do it very cheaply ourselves, rather than her having to go to a salon. So that's what we did. She bought the box for highlights at the drug store, and I applied the highlights to her hair. We agreed that it would be better if she did not have darker roots, so based on this we decided that it would be best if we "doubled-up" on the highlight solution in her hair part, so that her roots would not be an issue. Big mistake. There was a sink in our dorm room, so after her highlights had been applied and we waited the appropriate time, I washed my roommate's hair out. I can still remember her excited question,..... "So, how do I look?" My heart sunk and I was speechless as I looked at the WHITE stripe in her hair part. She saw the look on my face and went running for a mirror! Well, there were a few tears shed in the next hour, until we realized she could part her hair on the side for a while, until those highlights faded. Which after awhile they did.....lesson learned, the salon gets my vote every time!
Carol Knych Stephens — Class of 1983
So many... the popcorn in the halls of Regina, bats in Holy Cross, security having fire drills at 2 a.m. , soft serve ice cream on crackers in the dining hall, the panty raid!!! The tunnels steam scaring you as you walked through. Checking out mailboxes
Ann Kaltenbach Hayes — Class of 1987
I lived in Holy Cross my junior year. I vividly remember the day in January 1986 when the Challenger exploded. I was an assistant news editor at The Observer and, in the mid-afternoon hours, I was headed to Notre Dame to run the news operation for that evening. On my way out of the building, I noticed a crowd gathered around the television in the main Holy Cross lounge. Everyone was in shock watching the news coverage of that event, and I knew I was in for a long evening in producing the newspaper that night. I went on to The Observer where we worked until the wee hours of the morning pasting up writethrough after writethrough of updates from the Associated Press on this tragic accident.
Denise Kilway Peterson — Class of 1987
My senior year I had a single up on the fourth floor over looking the Avenue in Holly Cross Hall. We would always have a snack and watch LA Law on Thursdays. The camaraderie and the support from other Belles. I was also so thankful that I shared Saint Mary's experience with my older sister, Kathleen Kilway, for the first two years. She really helped me feel welcome and included me on many activities even though I was a Freshman!
Sherry — Class of 1988
Sophomore year in the first floor T, you'd hear the call go out. "NAUGLING!" and immediately, there would be three or four heads poking out of dorm rooms with an add on to the greasiest mexican junk food delivered anywhere. Why? Because unlike Dominos, they took checks.
Christy Wolfe — Class of 1989
We lived in a two-room suite right at the center of the floor. I think we were on the second or maybe the third floor. One night, the fire alarm went off at 2:00 a.m. The whole dorm emptied and the fire department showed up. (It turned out someone had actually lit a door decoration on fire down one of the halls.) However...we slept through it. Our sleeping quarters were in the back of the suite and we didn't hear any notices or door knocking. The next day, all our friends accused us of hiding in our room so we didn't have to go outside at 2 in the morning. We swore--and I still swear to this day--we did not hear a thing. When we tried to argue back that, if the fire had been real, we could have DIED, no one felt sorry for us.
Christy Wolfe — Class of 1989
We were juniors and the triple across the hall was freshwomen. We had an ongoing back-and-forth with them, mostly in good fun...until we took their door. I'm not sure why or even how we did it but we took their door off the hinges and hid it. I remember our RA, Christine (who was from the South — maybe Georgia?), coming to our room and saying, "Give the girls their door back." I still feel sorry for our RA that year.
Donna Ryan Coffey — Class of 1990
Le Mans hall was my home for Sophomore and Junior year.... I loved walking thru the halls there, rich with tradition..... and my dads photo on the wall as a board member.... it just felt like home ❣️
Denise Frantonius Carozza — Class of 1994
Do the rooms in Holy Cross still come with curtains? If so- I know that they are missing from one room because the Quint-mates made outfits from the curtains a-la the Von Trapp family in The Sound of Music for the Halloween of 1992! (That was pre-Smartphone, so — no — I don't have a photo.)
Kelly Kilmer-Mullagh — Class of 1996
If my room in Queen's Court could talk, I am pretty sure they would tell my roommate and I not to use the ornate crown molding as storage because whatever we put up there would fall down (and break my roommate's nose, causing her to fall off a chair and break her arm). I'm also pretty sure they would tell us stop eating Papa John's breadsticks.
Sara (Levandusky) Reinthaler — Class of 1999
I’ll never forget moving out day freshman year. I was in the doorway of my room in disbelief it was over. It went way too fast.
Desiree Hollis Dewey — Class of 2001
I remember hearing my roommate Jennifer Griffith on the computer late into the night. She was always on IM and Napster! Our other roommate, Jennifer Bradburn, slept long hours during the day due to late nights in the library. Our triple was huge! We each had lofts and a created a little common area for watching TV on my TV/VCR combo. Our tall windows were the best.
Kelly Koslow Dilling — Class of 2002
Just all the laughter and shenanigans my friends and I would get into. Ooh and walking the tunnels. Creepy. The ghost stories up in the tower room in Le Mans around Halloween.
Sarah Chaudoir Alden — Class of 2002
One of my favorite memories was telling ghost stories in the Le Mans bell tower in 2000. I lived in second library and had my own ghostly encounter that convinced me Le Mans is full of spirits. Hearing about others' similar experiences left no doubt! I also remember that year, a planned production of "The Vagina Monologues" on campus was nixed, so a few of us staged a reading of the play in the Stapleton Lounge. No matter what our parents' politics were, we felt empowered to discover ourselves and our own minds.
Vanessa Bejec Silverio — Class of 2005
I enjoyed our dance parties in our room! My room my freshman year was an open space, had three roommates. We all enjoyed different music; Danelle loved Country, Alison loved hip hop and I loved techno music. We occasionally would take breaks from studying to dance and play a game to guess whose dance moves we were imitating.
Elizabeth Elsbach — Class of 2013
Sitting in Le Mans chapel at midnight. The calm and quiet was a welcome respite from the chaos of the rest of college life.
Grace Urankar Teichert — Class of 2014
I loved the majestic pillars and porch of Holy Cross. I remember on a campus visit day as a high schooler, a Saint Mary's senior talked about gazing down The Avenue and seeing her home -- she was right! The slightly longer walk was well worth it to me for bountiful common areas, beautiful staircases, and the amazing ceilings and windows.
Shannon Glazier — Class of 2014
Most of our 2-North hallway basically binged watched Rent repeatedly for weeks.
Kelly Courington — Class of 2014
One time, the service door to the elevator was left open in Le Mans, so we snuck up to the bell tower at night!
Nicole O'Toole — Class of 2015
My most memorable moment of dorm life was on January 28, 2014, my twenty-first birthday, which happened to fall on Saint Mary's first snow day in years. This seemed like the blessing because classes were cancelled for two days, but, in South Bend, Indiana where they shut down the roads during winter blizzards, it meant no going out for a legal drink on my twenty-first birthday. W made the most of it and we crammed twenty girls in our tiny Le Mans triple for a pajama birthday party and all took the tunnel to the dining hall where they were serving breakfast for dinner (my personal favorite)... I wouldn't have had it any other way!
Jackie Werner — Class of 2016
Sophomore Year in Le Mans; class had been canceled due to freezing temperatures and the whole gang rushed back to our cozy quad to watch movies and enjoy the day off.
Lauren Zyber — Class of 2017
I loved drinking tea with Sister Eva in Holy Cross! And I loved telling ghost stories in Le Mans. I lived in Queens Court my junior year and it was an experience. I loved it. It was a close contender for my "most memorable moment," since three of my best friends lived in that hall with me. I also loved going to Mass in Le Mans. That was always a special dorm experience.
Mary Brophy — Class of 2018
We lived on the second floor and had a window that was right over the front door, so traffic and noise were common. However, we also got a lot of wind and our door across from the window would sometimes slam shut on its own from the wind. After a long time of handling that and listening to the howling wind by our door, we decided that we were going to name the "wind spirit/ghost" Howl and whenever the wind howled or the door slammed shut we'd joke that our ghost friend was upset that we weren't paying attention to him. This came to head during midterms when the wind was particularly strong and wailing at the window, and my roommate pulled off her headphones angrily and yelled "HOWL, I'M TRYING TO STUDY!"
Stephanie Johnson — Class of 2019
Belle Tower Tours!
Breda Moran — Class of 2019
I distinctly remember my best friend Catherine and I had just random costume pieces in our rooms, and one night while watching an ND away game in her room, she recovered her Leprechaun costume and we both started giggling. I put on the costume and we decided I should just ride the McCandless elevator and spook people while they came onto the elevator. I put on my phone with Halloween music while I rode the elevator up and down without saying a word to anyone. It was honestly one of my funniest memories of dorm life because nobody got on the elevator for the entire hour I was riding it up and down. Purely innocent and harmless fun and giggles.
Kristina Keenan — Class of 2019
Living in Le Mans was my favorite time. Each morning I would wake up and from my bed, I could see Blessed Mother atop the Dome and know it was going to be a good day. The fountain in Lake Marian would always be on and the peaceful sound that came from it kept me sane in my times of overwhelming stress. Being able to walk from our rooms to the dining hall without stepping outside was the best. Walking into the dining hall with all of my friends in the dead of winter wearing pajamas and slippers always made me laugh. The other girls would be in their parkas and snow boots and we didn't even have to leave our building to get our Sunday brunch.