Kirn Residence, also known as New Dorm, invites all of campus to party in an ancient style at Toga Party Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9-11 p.m. in Penny’s.

“We always move all the furniture out so that there’s room for people to dance, listen to music, and have snacks,” said senior Nora Shipp, Kirn’s head resident assistant. “We invite all of campus to it, so we love seeing people from all around. And we especially wanted to reach out to the freshmen women and have it be a fun way for them to get to know an upperclassmen dorm a little bit better.”

But Shipp said there’s more to Toga Party than simply the party.

“There’s a competition component where the men of campus can have the opportunity to compete to become the sweetheart,” Shipp said. “In the past, sort of like Mr. Hillsdale, one guy was voted by the residents to become the sweetheart.”

Sophomore Katie Joyce, an RA in Kirn, said the dorm is changing the way the competition works. 

“This year, instead of one person as our dorm sweetheart, we’re doing a whole dorm, which I think is nice because it’s not just one guy singled out. I think it’ll freak guys out less, and it gives this kind of sense of competition for your dorm and not just for yourself,” Joyce said. 

Last year, junior James Joski won the competition. This year, Shipp said three students from each male residence will represent their dorm, and one of them must be an upperclassman. 

“We have three rounds, testing mind, body, and soul. Very Hillsdale,” Shipp said. “In the past there have been things like strike a statue pose or pickup lines or testing on naming Disney princesses. It’s been fun, silly things for a light-hearted competition.”

Kirn residents will vote on the competition’s winners, and one dorm will be chosen as its 2026-2027 sweetheart. 

“There aren’t necessarily a lot of criteria for what’s required of the sweetheart,” Shipp said. “In the past, the sweetheart typically shows up to our campus-wide events to support the dorm, and brings us snacks from time to time. Again, we don’t want it to feel like a bunch of criteria that they would have to fulfill, but just a way to build campus culture. We would be interested in potentially baking cookies for our sweetheart, so it’s a reciprocal relationship.”

Whether or not students participate in the sweetheart competition, Joyce said they should come for the food and live music from a Theta Epsilon band. Senior Nick Rutkoski, Niedfeldt’s house director, will emcee the competition, and one of Kirn’s RAs, Ashley Luke, is making homemade cupcakes.

“We have some really great snacks. We’re going to have Shirley Temple mocktails and popcorn, and it’ll just be a party,” Joyce said. “I’m excited for people to come and get dressed up in togas.”

Shipp said she’s gotten a lot of questions about how necessary it is to wear a toga to the party.

“It’s more fun if everyone’s wearing a toga, to be honest,” she said. “But if it’s a barrier to people coming, we’d rather you come, even if you’re not wearing a toga.”