By Jessie Hethcoat
In 1959, Holy Cross Hall and the new University Commons dining hall finished construction and opened for student use. Holy Cross Hall, which was renamed Kenna Hall in 1973 after the late UP President the Rev. Howard J. Kenna C.S.C., was opened as an all boys dormitory.
On Wednesday, March 28, 1962 at 6:15 p.m., Holy Cross Hall experienced its first and only riot to date.
Residents of Holy Cross Hall securely roped the doors shut from the inside. They appeared on the roof with water balloons and firecrackers. A few signs appeared in the windows, and students turned on loud music and locked their doors and the entrances to the Holy Cross Hall, all while the University priests were gathered in another building for prayer.
An ambulance and fire truck arrived to the scene, but by that time, there had already been a meeting assembled to discuss the students' complaints.
These included a proposed change in the head resident (now referred to as hall director) system, parking fines and complaints about the counseling by hall chaplains.
The Kenna basement used to house the offices for student publications, like The Beacon, The Log and the Directory. Presently, the Kenna basement houses the Air Force and ROTC offices. And thankfully, Kenna is still equipped with an atomic bomb shelter in its basement.
On Feb. 12, 1971, a fire destroyed one student's room in Kenna. There were no injuries, but the room was gutted and considerable damage was done to the first floor corridors surrounding it.
The firemen investigators suspect that the fire was from a lamp that was left on for several days.
In the fall of 1983, female full-time undergraduates at UP outnumbered the men for the first time in history, creating a housing crunch.
The only female dormitory at this time was Villa Maria, which was opened in 1956 as the first residence hall for women, which has the capacity of 170 students.
Dean of Students Guy Sievert announced in the winter of 1984 for that for the 1984-1985 academic year, Kenna Hall would be converted into a women's dormitory and Villa Maria would become all male. This would result in the gain of 50 extra beds for on campus women.
Kenna went back to being all-male in 1987 after the conversion of the all-female Mehling Hall. After Shipstad, Kenna became the second co-ed dormitory in 1988 after much anticipation and excitement.
Katie Cashman, current hall director of Kenna, is the first female hall director since Laurie DeMatteis in the 1995-1996 academic year. With her second consecutive year as hall director, Cashman's fun-loving attitude tends to set the tone for Kenna events.
Freshman Andrew Hudak had an enjoyable experience his first year at UP and in Kenna.
"I met some of my best friends here, and I am really glad that is was in a place that fosters such a great community," Hudak said.
The week's festivities celebrating Kenna's anniversary included a beach themed Monday. This was complete with "Weekend at Bernie's" playing behind the front desk on a projector and snacks. From 7 to 8 p.m. there was a community sauna hour. Then, at 9 p.m., Kenna hosted a Root-beer float social.
Sophomore roommates Alissa Robertson-Witt and Loan Duong won the Roommate Games Tuesday night. In a game-show style game, roommates were asked questions about each other. Each of the roommates wrote down their answers, and if one roommate's answer was incorrect, the team of roommates received a strike.
Once a team received three strikes, they were eliminated from the game. The last team standing won bragging rights and a spot in the Kenna Krapper weekly newsletter that can be found in Kenna restrooms.
Kenna held three legged races, crutches races, relay races and wheelchair races on Wednesday. Later that night at 7 p.m. there was a Kenna game night in the basement.
Tonight, Kenna will be holding a hall dinner with a slide show and videos of the Kenya Shave your Head? event.
There will also be a birthday cake for Kenna at 5:30 p.m. in the basement.
On Friday, Kenna will hold its last dance of the year. Just like its first dance, it will be lit with black lights and attendees are encouraged to wear white. The fee is $1, and it will be held at 9 p.m. in the basement.
"Kenna is an awesome community, and if I could go back and re-do my housing application I would choose Kenna again," freshman Megan Drouhard said. "I love the laid-back atmosphere and sincerely good people that live here."
