Coppee Hall

A Rich Past

Henry Coppee was the first president of Lehigh. Born in 1821, he was an engineer, West Point graduate, Mexican War captain, and man of letters. He taught at West Point and the University of Pennsylvania.

He was working as an editor of a military publication and writing a biography of U.S. Grant when he was tapped by Asa Packer to lead his new university.

The Brown and White said of Coppee, "In a town of coal and iron, of railroads, mills and banks, he represented culture, literature, ideas; if he had not been here from the start, this place would be other than it is. Nobody else among us has stood or will stand for these things as he did."

Built in 1883, 20 years after the founding of the university, the building now known as Coppee Hall was simply the University gymnasium. A handsome building in the 19th Century American Eclectic style, the building evokes different memories for each generation of alumni.

For 31 years, Coppee Hall remained the University gymnasium. Basketball was played on the hardwood of the third floor. With the opening of Taylor Gym in 1914, Lehigh President Henry S. Drinker '71 declared Coppee the new home of the Department of Arts and Science. The building was named in honor of Lehigh's first president and professor of the arts, Dr. Henry Coppee, it housed the History, Government, International Relations and Religion departments.

The College of Arts and Sciences remained in Coppee Hall for most of the 1900s. But as the College expanded, a new building, Maginnes Hall, was constructed. Many Arts & Sciences departments moved there, although Modern Foreign Languages, Theater, and the Learning Center continued to use Coppee classrooms.

The tradition of journalism at Lehigh began not long after the construction of Coppee Hall, with the publication of the campus newspaper, The Brown and White, in 1894. Journalism classes were offered in 1928, and the program has flourished ever since, winning national and international recognition for its tradition of teaching and commitment to professional practice and real-world experience.

The Journalism & Communication department moved to the basement of the University Center in the mid-1900s, when the department had two faculty members and a dozen majors. Over the next decades, the department continued to experience tremendous growth. By the end of the century, the department was enrolling 175 students in its major and minor programs and employing five full-time professors as well as professional adjuncts.

A Rich Future

In 2000, a fund raising campaign was undertaken to renovate Coppee Hall, built in 1882, the third oldest building on the campus. The building was the university's original gymnasium and also once housed the College of Arts & Sciences. Thanks to the support of loyal alumni and friends, more than $3.5 million was raised, the building was completely renovated and the department moved into the Weinstock Center for Journalism at Coppee Hall in 2003.

The renovation of Coppee Hall accommodates the dramatic growth in the university's Journalism & Communication program. It allows Lehigh to combine the classic beauty of the building with the latest in modern communication technology. The renovation also allows for the continued growth of the award-winning newspaper, The Brown & White, and the Epitome yearbook. Both publications provide opportunities to hundreds of students each semester.

Coppee Hall, a classic building, with beautiful spaces, continues to educate generations of Lehigh students.