ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Muhlenberg College students, officials and alumni on Friday celebrated as workers installed the final structural beam on its Seegers Union expansion.
More than 50 people joined for the “topping-out” ceremony at the student union that will face Chew Street.
A crane also hoisted a pine tree and American flag over the building as part of a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.
“This expansion will be our new front door for our neighbors [and] friends.”Muhlenberg President Kathleen Harring
“This expansion will be our new front door for our neighbors [and] friends,” President Kathleen Harring said.
It will offer students a place to collaborate and “make critical connections to the world,” Harring said, calling the facility “the physical embodiment of our values.”
The project will expand Seegers Union by more than 35,000 square feet. The new facility will include a welcome center and space for student career planning, counseling and alumni engagement, as well as a rentable 5,600-square-foot event space.
Officials broke ground in September 2024; the expanded student union is expected to be ready during the 2026-27 school year.
'That perfect first impression'
It’s to be named the Fahy Gateway Pavilion after Cathleen and Gerry Fahy, who played on the Mules football team from 1975-1978.
They gave $7.5 million to the college’s Boundless capital campaign, which exceeded its $125 million goal.
New facilities are critical to attract top-tier students and “produce responsible, impactful leaders that are so needed today."Donor Gerry Fahy
The Seegers Union expansion is set to cost about $12 million. The Boundless campaign also funded the $5 million Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, a three-story facility with more than 20,000 square feet of space for programming that opened in 2023.
Fahy said he and his wife, Cathleen, see the Seegers Union expansion as “a unique opportunity to impact generations” of Muhlenberg students and alumni.
New facilities are critical to attract top-tier students and “produce responsible, impactful leaders that are so needed today,” he said.
The Fahys said they hope the buildings named in their honor “create that perfect first impression” for prospective students.
About $44 million from the Boundless campaign will support student financial aid, $31 million will go to the Muhlenberg Annual Fund and $21 million will fund 10 endowed professorships, according to the campaign's website.
