Hello Class of 2024!
Greetings from the halls of Cavanaugh, a 200+ women’s hall in the North Quad of the University of Notre Dame! Congratulations on your admission to the University!
My name is Jo Cecilio and I am one of the 32 Rectors who will be here to greet you the day you finally arrive on our beautiful campus!
What is a rector? In short, I am your pastoral leader, community builder, University resource, and chief administrator. Yup! All of those things wrapped into one five-foot-tall (I’m being generous) woman!
I am an adult professional living among my women in the hall. I lead a team of nine women: seven resident assistants (RAs) and two assistant rectors (ARs). We are here to walk with you through your college experience.
Rectors come from all walks of life: we are lay women, lay men, and religious sisters and priests. We are coaches, teachers, administrators, social workers, pastors, ministers, and our staff run the gamut of higher ed professions.
Here at Notre Dame, you will be known, seen, and loved. Your rector will know you by name when you walk through the doors of your new home under the Dome. You and I will SHARE LIFE with one another. This means the good and the bad. I will celebrate your victories (think, first college ‘A’), be with you through your hardships, and everything in between (Disney+ binge watch anyone?). We will play and pray together. We will laugh, sing, and cry together. Together, you and I will do a lot of the heart work it takes to #adult.
As an incoming student, you will be randomly placed within one of our 31 residence halls. If you’re lucky enough to be with me and the Chaos (our mascot), you will be centrally located and just steps away from the on-campus Starbucks (YAY!). Every hall has its history and personality and YOU get to be part of a loving, safe, close-knit community.
As Christy Pratt said in our first newsletter, “The world needs people like you.” I, for one, am so excited to witness the grace and the gifts you will bring to a world in need!
In Chaos,
Jo Cecilio
Rector of Cavanaugh Hall
Learn More
The Notre Dame housing application for first-year students will be available by late May 2020.
In the meantime, learn more about our residence halls and check out our answers to common residential life questions via our Admitted Student Question of the Day playlist.