Since the Middle Ages, universities have been not just buildings for academic classes, but villages of intellectual discussion and schools of character and virtue. We believe that learning is enhanced by the sense of community which develops when students live and study on campus. The Core Curriculum contributes powerfully to this sense of community, as students are able to share their intellectual ferment and push their common classroom experience to new heights by discussing, exploring, and arguing (without quarrelling), in the spaces beyond the classroom. Living on campus contributes to the intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual growth of the individual student and the community as a whole. Therefore, the University strongly wishes that all students live on campus and contribute to this fruitful, powerful continuity between intellectual and residential life.
The University currently requires matriculated undergraduate students who have fewer than 90 credit hours, or who are under the age of 21 before the first day of classes in August to live on campus. Students who fall under this residency requirement must actually reside on campus.
Starting with the freshman class of 2024-25, this requirement will change: all undergraduate students will be required to live on campus for the first six semesters of their undergraduate career. (A Fall or Spring semester in Rome will count as one of these six semesters, but summer Rome will not count.)
Married students, veterans, and commuter students living with their parents or legal guardians at home within 50 miles of campus are exempt from this policy.
The University of Dallas has eight undergraduate residence halls and a set of on-campus Student Apartments. There are seven “traditional-style” halls, used largely for new students but also for some sophomores and upperclassmen: Madonna, Catherine, Theresa, O’Connell, Gregory, Jerome, and Augustine. These two-floor halls feature interaction among the community by having common hallways and common bathroom and shower facilities on each floor, lounge/TV areas with a full kitchen, and a laundry room with washers and dryers. The halls are directly supervised by Residence Assistants and Residence Coordinators. They vary in size from 48 to 96 residents. Each has a standard twin-sized bed, sink with storage space underneath, a medicine cabinet, and limited book shelving. Each resident has a desk, closet, and storage space. Freshmen are placed in traditional halls, with some sophomores and upperclassmen living in these halls as well, especially in Augustine Hall. Madonna Hall features a sand volleyball court, and the East Quad has three fire pits at Groundhog Park. Catherine Hall, completely renovated in 2021, shares some space with the Music Department offices and rehearsal rooms. The space between Gregory and Jerome has a community garden that residents may use, and soon will have its own fire pit.
Clark Hall is a suite-style residence with three styles of rooms: a single, a double, or a triple. Triples have three bedrooms with a common living space, while students in doubles will share the same bedroom. All Clark Hall rooms have their own sinks, bathrooms, and showers. Clark Hall is occupied by sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Clark features a modern lounge with a full kitchen and has a beautiful courtyard space with a grill, fire pit, and bocce court. Clark is divided by sex by floor: the first and third floors are male students, and the second and fourth floors are female students. Clark triples tend to fill very quickly with upperclassmen and thus are very difficult to secure; it is often wiser to apply for a double than risk getting denied for a triple.
The on-campus Student Apartments are reserved for upperclassmen (that is, juniors and seniors), as a wonderful transition to postgraduate adult life, and they fill very rapidly. There are one-bedroom apartments for two residents, and two-bedroom apartments for four residents. Each apartment has a full kitchen and bath. Apartment residents pay their own electrical bill, but other utilities (water, internet) are covered by the university. The Director of Residence Life supervises the Student Apartments.
Only complete groups of qualifying upperclassmen will be considered for the student apartments during Housing Registration Week each Spring for the following academic year.
Ready to find out more about residence hall life at UD? We've provided some links to give you as complete a picture as possible about our residence hall system.