Muhlenberg Breaks Ground on Seegers Union Expansion
The new facilities will include a welcome center; resources for student career planning and counseling, alumni engagement and student clubs and organizations; classrooms; and a large event space available for public rental.By: Meghan Kita Wednesday, September 25, 2024 08:46 AM
A ceremonial groundbreaking for the Seegers Union expansion was held during Alumni Weekend. Photos by Marco CalderonOn Saturday afternoon, members of the Muhlenberg and Lehigh Valley communities gathered under a tent along Chew Street on the site of what will soon be a more than 35,000-square-foot expansion of the J. Conrad and Hazel J. Seegers Union. The ceremonial groundbreaking took place alongside ground that was already very much broken; the excavation phase of the project began this summer.
As President Kathleen Harring noted in her remarks, this expansion is Seegers Union’s fourth since it was built in 1963. The three-story expansion will include a welcome center right along Chew Street, an upgraded Career Center, a hub for admissions and alumni affairs, classrooms, and a 5,600-square-foot event space on the top floor with floor-to-ceiling windows.
“For all the advances in technology — all the Zoom, Teams and Google Meets in the world — there is no better way to understand the diversity of the human experience or to learn how to express ideas with clarity and grace than to gather, in one place, and do it together,” Harring said. “We know that a liberal arts education is a contact sport. This new space allows us to make even more contact.”
Next, Muhlenberg Trustee Bruce Bird ’77, chair of the Capital Projects, Infrastructure and Technology Committee, introduced one of the principal supporters of the Seegers expansion, Gerald P. Fahy ’79. Fahy and his wife, Cathleen, made a $7.5 million gift to support two major capital projects: the now completed Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation and the Seegers expansion and enhancement.
Fahy spoke of the importance of the Career Center being part of the College’s future “front door,” showing prospective students, community members and other campus visitors that Muhlenberg is well equipped to guide students as they consider the question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
“There is no better way to understand the diversity of the human experience or to learn how to express ideas with clarity and grace than to gather, in one place, and do it together. We know that a liberal arts education is a contact sport. This new space allows us to make even more contact.”
—President Kathleen Harring
Vish Dsouza ’26, president of the Student Government Association, then shared what Seegers means to students today, describing it as “the heartbeat of our campus” and as “a cornerstone of my time here.”
Wielding the ceremonial shovels were Executive Director of Alumni Affairs Brad Ludwig, Director of Seegers Union & Student Experience Ellen Lentine, Dsouza, Harring, Fahy, Bird and Vice President for Advancement Rebekkah Brown ’99.
State Representative Mike Schlossberg ’05 and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk joined the Muhlenberg community at the groundbreaking.
