Thank you for visiting Keenan Hall. We are Fratres in Christo (Brothers in Christ). We are a resourceful, resilient, go-getter, authentic, funny, and often quirky group of guys. There is no “one way” to be a Keenan man: we come as we are because we know we will be seen, loved, supported, and challenged in kind to be better for each other and for Notre Dame.
Keenan Hall is located on Notre Dame’s North Quad, just west of North Dining Hall. Built in 1957, it is a prime example of classic 1950s-type architecture, in which form quite clearly follows function. Once you can get over the fact that Keenan Hall looks and feels a bit like a bomb shelter, though, you can look at the awesome people inside and all the cool stuff we do. This also helps divert your attention from our friendly (in a little brother is friendly to big brother with more muscle kind of way) neighbors, who also think they’re awesome and way cool. Our little brother dorm, Stanford, even shares our building; they like us that much. (We’re not honored.)
Time and time again in recent memory, Keenan has often been recognized as Men’s Hall of the Year (’00-’01, ’03-’04, ’05-’06, ’10-’11) and Hall of the Year (’01-’02, and ’13-’14). During the 2023 – 2024 Academic Year, Keenan was recognized as the Inaugural Golden Hall of the Year. In Keenan, even more than events and notable traditions detailed below, authenticity and balance matter most. This is evidenced by annual Hall Life Survey data collected in November of 2024, revealing that, of 154 respondents (70% response rate), only two residents disagreed that they feel comfortable being themselves in Keenan. 125 (81%) strongly agreed and 27 (18%) agreed: some of the best metrics on campus!!
Perhaps the another factor in our success is our wide variety of cool traditions. These range from the ever-popular Keenan Revue, to our community service activities like our weekly volunteering at the Dismas House, our organizing the Great Pumpkin. Athletic traditions are also strong in Keenan, from Interhall football to volleyball (especially Muddy Sunday), Keenan teams make success their past and present. Section sports are also very important for the Knights, and there continues to be the building of tremendous legacies with healthy section competition.
Inside our walls, one can easily find more reasons for Keenan’s utter awesomeness. Our basement, the Keenan Kommons, is one basement to rule them all. We have a GIGANTIC projection screen movie room, a big-screen TV/game room, a weight room, music rehearsal space, a study lounge or two, and of course our very popular student-run gourmet restaurant, Zaland (home of the “Best Pizza In Za-Land”). Our basement alone provides a number of handy services to the permanently overworked men of Keenan when they need a break, but our proximity to LaFortune and North Dining Hall are not to be ignored, as they come in handy quite often.
We are the Knights. We are Keenan Hall! Welcome.