Millor Hall has been around for 40 years. Throughout that time, different generations of JCU students and faculty have tried to determine its true  pronunciation.

Sitting in class one afternoon, I overheard the students next to me talking about their living situation. They either currently or previously lived in Millor Hall. Whenever the name of the building was said, they pronounced it Mill-OR Hall, the same as what I have heard throughout my time here from the students, tour guides and even the RAs. However, the next morning when I am in a different class, the professor refers to the hall as Mill-ER Hall. 

This discrepancy got my gears turning, so I went on an investigation to get an official answer on Millor Hall’s  pronunciation, once and for all.

This search began by reaching out to multiple longtime faculty members but this returned with mixed results. Some, like Carroll News Adviser John McMurray, suggested that the -OR pronunciation seemed right. However others, such as longtime communications lecturer Dr. Joe Miller, stated that the -ER pronunciation was the correct one. Dr. Miller also gave me a list of various Jesuits and alumni to reach out to in an attempt to find an answer. The Carroll News did reach out to the Office of Alumni Relations regarding this story, but did not receive a response.

At this point, the search was seeming to begin to stall out, but with one last suggestion from Dr. Miller, I was able to reach out to Laurene DiCillo ’87, the archive associate for the Grasselli Library. She was able to find a copy of The Carroll News from April 21st, 1982, which ran a story about the dedication of the then South Hall, soon to become Millor Hall. At the end of the story, the reporter sourced a quote from a previous interview with Fr. Millor, which included the pronunciation of his name. 

At long last, the answer to this age old question. According to Fr. Millor himself, the answer is Mill-ER. 

As Fr. Millor explained “They call me Mil-lore, and I tolerate it but I don’t like it.” He continued. “Pronounce it Miller. After all, if your name is Taylor, you don’t want to be called Tay-lore, do you?” 

I will happily admit when I am wrong, but now I wonder if the quest was truly worth it. Millor Hall is slated for demolition in order to make room for the new Fieldhouse, and in a few years, many may never know it even  existed. As for those of us that have memories of Millor Hall, those memories may be filled with a slight mispronunciation, and that’s okay.