Stanford Hall was built in 1957 and is home to the Griffins. It shares a lobby with Keenan Hall, but Stanford is officially the older brother as it was dedicated in October of that year, while Keenan was dedicated one month later in November. These two halls are the only ones on campus constructed this way. They share a main entrance, lobby, and Chapel. However, one must then swipe in through a second door to truly be in Stanford Hall.
Stanford has a prime location on North Quad, just opposite North Dining Hall, which is great during the cold winters. Saint Liam's Hall, the University’s health center, is also right behind the dorm.
As for the floor plans, they are pretty standard. There are eight sections, two on each floor, and each floor also has two bathrooms, one in each section. There are single, double, quad, and 6-man rooms on every floor, totaling 109 rooms with the capacity to hold about 250 residents. The dorm also has a large space with multiple study rooms. There is even a small weight room in the basement with a treadmill cycling and leg press machine. The basement is connected to Keenan’s weight room, making it easy for friends from both residence halls to work out together.
The main lounge in Stanford’s basement includes a large flat screen TV where students can congregate for game play. Mario Smash Bros is a favorite. The lounge is also home to a pool table board game shelf and an indoor basketball arcade-style game. The basement also has a separate study room with desks that have barriers on each side, designed to ensure focus. The kitchen, a storage room, and several smaller study areas are scattered throughout the underground lair.
There's never a dull moment in Stanford Hall. The dorm hosts a variety of events. Its Pirate themed SYR is well-known. And recently, the men of Stanford Hall started hosting an Interhall Trivia event, where members of different dorms come together to compete with one another, to determine who has the most random amount of knowledge. This is the newest signature event on campus.
Stanford also hosts smaller dorm events like TED talks, where a Hall resident delivers a speech on a chosen topic, Section Olympics, where the men compete against one another in a variety of mildly athletic events, various cookouts, and their Men of Virtue Dinner, complete with good food and speakers. Every Friday afternoon, Stanford also sends a group Griffins to the South Bend Center for the Homeless, to engage in community service.
I am lucky enough to say that some of my best friends have come from Stanford Hall. I know that the men of the dorm are just as much of a family as any other campus residence hall.