Zahm Pledge to Withhold Donations to the University of Notre Dame

cmon nd, really?

Zahm House has been the single most inclusive and welcoming aspect of my experience at Notre Dame, right from the beginning. That community helped me adjust to college life better than any other part of campus, specifically because I was able to spend time with the guys that I lived along side in the pressure-free and entertaining environment that existed in the common rooms of Zahm House.

We take pride in the personality we give to our common rooms and value the community that they help to promote. Introducing these "university lounges" will make these spaces less conducive to such a community by creating a sterile "cookie cutter" room that will feel more like the university's space than our own.

Zahm common rooms lie at the center of Zahm community life. If they are eliminated, community with Zahm will be affected negatively. I urge the University to push for their own principles of family and community. Please retain the Zahm common rooms.

Every dorm on campus has its own unique identity and it is not right to try to control what that identity is. Zahm House is a family and should be allowed to live like one.

House4Lyfe

To me, Zahm's common rooms exemplify the tradition and community Notre Dame claims to strive for. If the university compromises its residential mission in the name of "standardization", I promise I will never donate after graduation.

To me, Notre Dame means Zahm. Taking away the community in Zahm is taking away from my Notre Dame community, and for that, I will not be able to support the university.

Notre Dame is mistakenly attempting to take away one of the most precious and unique aspects about its existence, the community of each and every residence hall, especially Zahm. Should this plan be enacted, I will not hesitate to withhold all donations to the University.

Notre Dame is mistakenly attempting to take away one of the most precious and unique aspects about its existence, the community of each and every residence hall, especially Zahm. Should this plan be enacted, I will not hesitate to withhold all donations to the University.

I am completely against the principle. The fact that our dorm culture may not be the best is not what is being addressed. The fact of the matter remains that housing decided to change our rooms without letting us know with ample time to explain our side.

I do not understand the timing nor the motivation behind this move. In this past year, Zahm has had 3 rectors, including one who was placed as a temporary rector in addition to his existing job. This has created an environment where men have not been able to turn to the rector for pastoral needs such as depression, academic issues, and advising. In addition to this, the residents and staff have been forced to deal with a difficult year of transition on top of other commitments. Instead of addressing the obvious pastoral needs the dorm faces, a decision has been made to remove common rooms, spaces where many residents who did not adjust well to this difficult year often sought comfort from their brothers in Zahm. Despite explicitly stating these things and 98% of Zahm residents finding the sense of community and the quality of liturgical and spiritual life as either excellent or good based on a survey from Notre Dame's Office of Housing in 2013, changes have been made that upset what helps make Zahm such a strong community.

pposite of If it's not broke don't fix it'

Sad that they don't engage the residents in a dialogue first. Poor leadership.

Common rooms help create long lasting friends into the future. Do the right thing ND Administration! Keep the common rooms.

I am proud to say that I have had a part, alongside other men of Zahm, in building the best dorm community on campus. As the heartbeat of this brotherhood, the administration is attempting to rip away something that they should truly value and encourage. I hope that this petition at least begins a conversation because, up until this point, such a discussion has not happened. The administration has put its faith in a rector that has no understanding of what Zahm is about; they must talk to the residents to help rectify this situation. If they do not, they are showing to all students, not just members of Zahm, that they possess very little regard for student opinion. As such, until the administration takes these steps, I refuse to donate any money in the future to my alma mater.

A serious injustice.

We'd like to see some consistency and to be treated like a group of adults. Not bullied on a whim.

Zahm house students are passionate .. To the admin : have a conversation

The university didn't even pretend to listen. Why should I donate to them?