Rectors discuss their role in dorm life

 

The position of rector is one of the most important and influential in the Notre Dame community, and it is an essential part of what makes the Notre Dame dorm experience so unique.  In the past year alone, 10 new rectors joined the university’s staff, which meant a change in hall leadership for a third of the dorms on campus.

Father Pete McCormick, CSC, after serving for 6 years as the rector of Keough Hall, worked during the 2013-2014 school year as Program Director for Rector Recruiting.  He told the Rover about what is involved in the university’s hiring process for new rectors.

“The recruitment process is a year-round effort, and includes the constant development of relationships with both internal and external partners,” he said.  “Some of our internal partners are the Congregation of Holy Cross, Alumni Association, ACE, ECHO and Masters of Divinity.  A good recruitment effort also requires that we work to establish relationships with key groups outside of the Notre Dame family.  There are many programs, graduate and otherwise, as well as professional experiences that produce the type of pastorally-minded people that we hope to have serving as a rector.”

Despite the recent high influx of new rectors in dorms across campus, Fr. McCormick remained confident that this will not be a continuing trend.

“Last year we had 10 rectors depart, but I do not believe that we will see that high of a number in the years to come, due to our increased focus on recruitment.  It’s important to note that the rector position has had a consistent rate of turnover, but also provided strong candidates to continue [the university’s] mission,” he explained to the Rover.

Father McCormick also communicated the university’s strong desire for rectors who keep students at the center: “We are looking for candidates who have an unbridled passion for students … Our halls are places where dynamic men and women come to learn more fully about themselves, and grow in community.  We hope to recruit people who not only desire to make an impact in the lives of students, but to do so rooted in the rich Catholic character of the University.”

Another notable phenomenon regarding the rectors in the residence halls is that many clergy  have been replaced with lay rectors, though Father McCormick remains confident that this shift keeps intact the heart of the Notre Dame resident hall experience.

He told the Rover, “Universities, like all organizations, must adapt over time.  In the past the Division of Student Affairs had the benefit of higher numbers of religious to serve as rectors.  In our current climate we are blessed with higher numbers of lay men and women who are equally passionate about the residential mission.  They bring with them different long-term desires and perhaps a shorter period of time that they can commit to the position.  Yet, I’m confident that attracting people who believe in the importance of providing meaningful experiences, rooted in the tradition of Holy Cross, will provide a transformative experience for students today and long into the future.”

Kyle McCaffery, a junior resident of O’Neill Family Hall, served during the 2013-2014 school year on the Campus Life Council, a university committee dedicated to making recommendations related to student life directly to the Vice President for Student Affairs.  Throughout the year, the committee discussed the high rector turnover and the effects it may have on life in the dorms.  While talking with the Rover, McCaffery emphasized the need to maintain a certain level of continuity in the dorm when a new rector replaces an old one.

“A big potential problem is the high turnover.  It doesn’t have to be if it’s a smooth transition, though,” McCaffery said.  “I’m sure there have been some really great transitions, and part of that comes with the rectors knowing each other.  If the rectors know each other and communicate beforehand and have a relationship, that vastly improves [the transition].”

McCaffery spoke highly of his own dorm’s rector, Chris Tarnacki, who is beginning his second year at the helm of O’Neill: “He has been extraordinarily successful, in my opinion.”

Tarnacki graduated from Notre Dame in 2007 and was a four-year resident of O’Neill under previous rector Ed Mack.  He served as Hall President his junior year and as an RA his senior year.  McCaffery cited this personal experience with the dorm as a main factor of Tarnacki’s success.

“He just knew the culture of O’Neill and the way O’Neill works.  The community’s been very continuous, because he’s basically just picked up where Ed left off,” McCaffery said.

Father Ronald Vierling, MFC, has served as rector of Morrissey Manor since 2005.   He shared his own observations with the Rover: “The turnover rate has actually been consistent for the ten years I have served as a Rector.  There was a slight bump this past year, but that was more an exception than the rule, and I believe due only to a confluence of unique circumstances.  I admire the younger Rectors who embrace this role for a period of time because it is very sacrificial in terms of one’s personal life, some aspects of which one must put on hold during the academic year or during one’s Rector tenure.”

Father Vierling continued, “The most life-giving dimension and its most important is the formation of young people in terms of calling them to the best part of themselves and helping them to discern who God is calling them to be—from which flows what they are to do with their life.  Being a Rector is a privileged position because you are invited to walk with students and share both the vitality and the messiness of life.”

Michael Infantine, a junior PLS major, has recently joined forces with Victoria Velasquez as R&E co-editors.  Email suggestions for super-cool team names at minfanti@nd.edu or vvelasq2@nd.edu.