page_title: University of Notre Dame residence halls
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: University of Notre Dame residence halls / Duncan Hall / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Duncan Hall - Front
context_page_description: There are currently 31 undergraduate residence halls at the University of Notre Dame. Several of the halls are historic buildings which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Each residence hall is single-sex, with 17 all-male residence halls and 14 all-female residence halls. Notre Dame residence halls feature a mixed residential college and house system, where residence halls are the center of the student life and some academic teaching; most students stay at the same hall for most of their undergraduate studies. Each hall has its own traditions, events, mascot, sports teams, shield, motto, and dorm pride. The university also hosts Old College, an undergraduate residence for students preparing for the priesthood.
  Notre Dame has an undergraduate hall system which blends the residential college system and the house system. All first-year students are placed in one of the 31 halls upon enrollment, and students rarely switch halls. Each hall has its own spirit, tradition, mascot, sport teams, events, dances and reputation.
context_section_description: Duncan was built as the first of four new dorms built by the university to alleviate overcrowding in the existing residence halls. It was the first built since the completion of the original four West Quad dorms (Welsh Family, Keough, O'Neill, and McGlinn) in 1996/1997. It fills the space of former volleyball courts west of McGlinn Hall, filling the quad out to its western limit at Holy Cross Drive.
  Duncan Hall is named for its benefactor Raymond T. Duncan, Notre Dame class of 1952, a personal friend of Joe O'Neill, benefactor of O'Neill Hall (also on West Quad). The Duncan family has strong family ties to the University, including Duncan's father Walter (class of 1912), two of his brothers and two of his sons.
  The dorm broke ground in March 2007 and was completed in 17 months, on schedule, to be opened for its first residents during ordinary move-in in August 2008. Mackey Mitchell Architects was the designer of this project.
  The dorm incorporates features such as super-quads, which include private bathrooms, and super-doubles with bay windows, as well as a study lounge and social space in every section, 24-hour space with a large kitchen that hosts a food-service business called the Highlander Grille, and a basement with an exercise room. The rooms are larger than typical on-campus dorm rooms, and the dorm is generally viewed as relatively luxurious.
  The inaugural freshman class was filled, as with any other dorm, by the random process of the Office of Residence Life and Housing. Residents from other three classes, however, were selected through a random lottery process six months prior to move-in, choosing 150 students from a voluntary applicant pool.
  On Friday, October 3, 2008, Duncan Hall was formally dedicated, an event marked by a Mass in the chapel presided over by Fr. John Jenkins, University president, and attended by the Duncan family and distinguished guests as well as the dorm's residents and hall staff.
caption: Duncan Hall
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