<p>I just got back from Frosh-O orientation, and heard loads of references to Zahm as some sort of bad boy dorm. Also, some materials my son received prior to the school year implied the same thing. What's up with Zahm? When I was a student 1980-84, Zahm had a rep as being the dorm of cool engineers who found time to have a little fun. What went wrong? How can a dorm with randomly assigned residents gain such a reputation? I'd love to hear from students on this one!</p>
<p>Zahm was the dorm which used to be for freshmen because of its inconvenient location. As a result, the Zahmbies, as they're called, had a wilder streak than the typical ND student. </p>
<p>They don't really have a bad reputation; they're just known to be a little wilder than other kids at ND. Still, compared to most frats at other schools, Zahmbies are on the tame side. </p>
<p>It's one of the funnest dorms to be in, my friends say.</p>
<p>From the residence hall page at ND.edu:</p>
<p>"Zahm's reputation as the dorm with the most raucous students began in the days when upperclassmen with the highest grade-point averages got first pick of dorms. Zahm had the least desirable campus location, next to the freshman residence halls, so the least-accomplished students tended to end up there."</p>
<p>random factoid: Regis Philbin lived in Zahm</p>
<p>My son does not live in Zahm, but I have heard Zahm is an <em>extremely</em> fun dorm.</p>
<p><<random factoid:="" regis="" philbin="" lived="" in="" zahm="">></random></p>
<p>Could this be part of the problem? <g></g></p>
<p>I'm assuming someone told you about the bun run. If not, avoid LaFortune around finals. Lol.</p>
<p>I've only heard about the Bun Run through legend, although I was on campus after the time the tradition was supposed to have started. How on earth could I have missed it?</p>
<p>Zahm must have earned its rep in the more recent past--maybe once they moved guys out of the towers, Flanner and Grace, now office buildings. (Nothing like stuffing 550 guys each into a pair of 11-story high rises to push the edge on decadence.) In the early '80's, Zahm didn't have a rep... Kind of interesting that it does now, given that students can't choose dorms anymore, but are assigned...</p>
<p>lol Tricias! Last year, my daughter went to LaFortune to get a snack at the time of the bun run. She had no idea what was going on and why so many people were there. She went in to get her snack and the Zahm guys came running through. Her report of the event was priceless! From everything she's told us, I would agree that most of the students see Zahm as docmom said, a group of fun guys that do silly things. Also, the first time you are in the basement of Zahm, you have to kiss the moose. There are always lots of funny Zahm stories. :)</p>
<p>They sell pizza (they call it 'Za) in the basement... it's amazing!</p>