The women of McIntyre Residence volunteered more hours during homecoming week than any women’s dorm in Hillsdale College’s homecoming history.
Fifty-one McIntyre residents logged 217 volunteer hours in one week, averaging 4.27 hours per person compared to 2.75 hours in 2024, and McIntyre placed second in the homecoming volunteer hours competition, beating all other women’s dorms. In past years, McIntyre recommended residents complete two volunteer hours, according to sophomore and McIntyre resident assistant Maggie Phillips. This year, it was a requirement.
“We just made it an expectation that if you’re on the mock rock team, it’s a commitment you’ve made to two hours,” Phillips said. “Then we made it easy for them to get two hours by giving them opportunities.”
Many residents volunteered above and beyond the requirement, with several residents completing more than seven hours. Head resident assistant Mercy Franzonello logged 18 hours, volunteering in Buddy Olympics, the Red Cross blood drive, and A Few Good Men.
Phillips led the drive for volunteer hours, and said providing more volunteer opportunities increased participation.
“Communication with them was the biggest thing,” Phillips said. “I spent one to two hours every day communicating and texting and finding opportunities.”
Phillips said the dorm had a chat on GroupMe called ‘Volunteering Is Fun’ where residents sent photos of volunteer activities they did throughout the week.
“Anytime any of the girls are volunteering, we tell them to send a selfie of them volunteering with the caption ‘Volunteering Is Fun,’” Phillips said. “The whole week we had pictures of girls all over campus and all over Hillsdale sending in ‘Volunteering Is Fun’ pictures, which is really cute.”
Silfer said she felt motivated to spend time volunteering.
“There were a lot of reasons,” Silfer said. “I mean, volunteering is good, so there’s that. But also, there was a really nice community aspect with all the girls doing something together. It’s not like you were just doing something for yourself. Then there was also the pressure from Maggie Phillips. She was making sure we did our fair share, which we love her for.”
Freshman Emma Davis said the residents inspired each other to volunteer more.
“All the girls I was with were super motivated and had a lot of commitment,” Davis said. “They weren’t just like, ‘Oh, get our two hours in and make the RA’s happy.’ We were all pushing for more.”
Phillips attributed the spike in volunteer hours to the residents.
“This year’s special,” Phillips said. “They’ve been so welcoming to people. This year they’re self-starters. They just take the initiative.”
Silfer said volunteer projects not only strengthened relationships in McIntyre, but helped bond the college community.
“The fact that everybody around campus was doing it together really helped create a community,” Silfer said. “Everybody’s pumped up getting their homecoming hours. We’re working against each other, but working with each other at the same time.”
Residents often volunteered because they wanted to do something fun with their friends, according to Davis. She donated blood, did yard cleanup, and helped with Buddy Olympics for her volunteer hours.
“Get out there and go do it,” Davis said. “Work as hard as you can. Choose things that you want to do, not simply because of the hours. You can think of it as helping kids or providing for people and having fun.”
