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The original article is available here: HUB–Robeson Center

Resources and Citations

General Information

*General USA outline

PSU's union building celebrates 50th birthday

The Temporary Union Building was constructed from recycled material, taken from a USO club located in Lebannon, Pennsylvania. The TUB had a ballroom, soda fountain, and lounge.

The HUB opened without significant ceremony on 17 February, 1955.

Private donations and a student fee of $10 helped secure the funds for the building's construction.

Penn State's THON was first held in the HUB-Robeson Center's Alumni Hall in 1973.

The University estimated in 2005 that more than 30,000 students move through the building each day.

Penn State: An Illustrated History, Ch8

Students complained to the University administration that they lacked a student facility, and a Board of Trustees formed a special committee to investigate the idea.

The Trustees decided against funding it, as they were concerned it would be caught paying only interest on the investment.

The TUB was assembled on Shortlidge Road beside the location of an infirmary.

The TUB was unable to meet student demand from its original creation, and other campus recreational areas continued to be pulled into service to meet student needs.

The TUB opened in October of 1947.

Chapter 9

In the late 1940s, students began to again pressure the administration for expanded student facilities.

A "Student Union Committe" was formed by acting University President James Milholland.

The committe developed provisional plans for a new student union building.

The Board of Trustees approved a plan to charge students $7.50 per semester in 1950–51 and $10.00 each semester afterwards to construct the building at Holmes Field on Pollock Road.

Construction of the HUB was delayed by a scarcity of resources by the Korean War.

The construction of the building began in January of 1953.

The building was formally dedicated on 22 February, 1955, the University's 100th anniversary.

The building housed a new Post office, which opened the same day and granted to school designation as "University Park".

The building's modern styling contrasted with many of the existing buildings on campus.

Ch11

The protest march occurred only several days after Jerry Rubin, head of the Youth International Party (Yippies), had visited Penn State at the invitation of SDS. Enshrouded in a cape fashioned from a Vietcong flag, Rubin spoke to an overflow crowd of two thousand students in the HUB Ballroom. He mentioned the "battle reports" that he had been receiving in recent days. At the University of Wisconsin, several buildings were occupied, and protesters had become so violent that the National Guard had been summoned. At the University of Pittsburgh, about thirty radical students had taken control of the school's computation center. "At Penn State, students have seized the administration building-when are we going to hear that?" Rubin shouted. Although he did not directly. incite such action, his implication was clear. "If I am setting something off," he told his audience, "you'll know what to do. You'll know what action to take."

Ch13

The rate of expansion at Penn State slowed, but growth did not stop. Total full-time enrollment on all campuses climbed from 35,764 in 1969-70 to 49,360 in 1973-74, as Penn State rose from the thirteenth to the eleventh largest institution of higher education in the country. At University Park, millions of dollars continued to be spent for new buildings, including the Milton S. Eisenhower Auditorium, the Liberal Arts Tower, the Agricultural Administration Building, the Museum of Art, and major additions to the HUB. No new Commonwealth Campuses were begun, but existing facilities were upgraded. More prominent than growth during the 1970s, however, were the important changes that occurred at almost every level of the institution, from the board of trustees on down.

Ch14

Many clubs and associations were organized purely along lines of recreational interests, such as the Penn State Outing Club, with divisions dedicated to bicycling, hiking, sailing, mountaineering, and canoeing; the Monty Python Society, composed of devotees of a peculiar brand of British humor; the Penn State Model Railroad Club, with a permanent layout in the HUB subbasement; Eco-Action, which sponsored materials recycling and other environmental projects; and the Thespians, carrying on a theatrical tradition begun in 1897.

The Free University co-sponsored an extremely popular social event of the 1970s, Gentle Thursday. Gentle Thursday was proclaimed each spring and was supposed to be a "day of sharing," when students could show concern about each other and forget about academic pressures and campus politics. Crowds on the HUB and Old Main lawns listened to live bands, enjoyed food and friends, viewed films, and otherwise relaxed. Unfortunately, Gentle Thursday also became a day of self-indulgence, highlighted by numerous drug- and alcohol-related problems. Those excesses and the widespread truancy found in the local secondary schools on Gentle Thursday caused the event's demise in 1980.

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Major renovations: 1973, 1983, 1993.

Though the rebuilt Old Main contained a student lounge and office space for student organizations, administrative offices pushed students out and the facility lacked larger spaces for social events.

The TUB would eventually become the Walnut Building.

The Black Cultural Center was created in 1972 and located in the Walnut Building.

In 1986 the name was updated to the "Paul Robeson Cultural Center".

The Spring concert "Movin' On" was started in the late 1980s and began on the HUB lawn.

The 1993 renovation added 91,000 square feet of space.

Board announces new trustees, approves governance reforms and on-campus projects

The Board of Trustees approved renovations that includes an increase 54,800 square feet and renovations of 52,000 square feet at a cost of $44.6 million on 3 May 2013.

Subsection on PRCC

*Robeson Center offers culture, academics Words

Original Article

Pennsylvania State University HUB–Robeson Center
The Hub
North Plaza Area
Former names	Hetzel Union Building
General information
Type	Student union
Location	University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
Opened	1955
Renovated	1973, 1983, 1997

The first floor of the HUB.

Interior space of several HUB floors.

The HUB–Robeson Center, commonly referred to as the "HUB" is the student union building centrally located on the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University. It was originally built in 1953 and had major renovations done in 1973 and 1983. The most recent round of expansions and renovations was begun in May 1997, adding 91,000 square feet (8,500 m²) to the existing 154,000-square-foot (14,300 m²) building. The building was originally named the Hetzel Union Building for Depression-era President of Penn State Ralph Dorn Hetzel.

Eateries

On the ground floor is "Union Street", a collection of eateries that provide an alternative to the on-campus dining halls. There is also a set of aquariums (donated by the Class of 1999) and a pool hall/arcade ("The Corner Pocket") on the ground floor. Next to the aquarium is the home of The Lion 90.7FM, Penn State's only student-run radio station, which moved to the HUB on April 24, 2003. On the upper floors are lounges, dedicated study spaces, an auditorium, and the HUB-Robeson Galleries; in addition, many of Penn State's student-run groups have offices on the upper floors, such as UPAC, NRT, and the Penn State Thespians. The HUB is directly connected to the on-campus Penn State Bookstore (run by Barnes & Noble) as well as the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

The following eateries can be found in the HUB:

• The Wild Cactus (originally Casa Ortega until September, 2007)
• Chat's (cafe)
• Chick-fil-A
• Higher Ground (coffee shop)
• HUB Subs (formerly Joegies)
• Mixed Greens
• Panda Express
• Piccalilli's
• Sbarro
• Starbucks

The Union St. Grill (aka Union Street Burger Company) was closed on November 19 and replaced in January 2007 by:

• Nathan's Famous
• Arthur Treacher's
• Kenny Rogers Roasters (Only open on weekends to avoid competing with Chick-fil-A)
• Burger King (Opened January 2012 - replacing Nathan's Famous and Arthur Treacher's.)

The lawn in front of the HUB, commonly called the "HUB Lawn" features a gazebo and is popular with students playing frisbee and sunbathing.

1996 Shooting

The lawn was the site of the 1996 shooting that resulted in the death of Melanie Spalla, a 21 year-old undergraduate journalism student from Altoona. The perpetrator of the shooting, Jillian Robbins, was a 19 year-old non-student resident of State College. At approximately 9:30 AM on September 17, Robbins was positioned outdoors at the northwest corner of the HUB Lawn, where the HUB pool room now stands. She fired five shots in the general direction of College Avenue using a 7 mm Mauser rifle. Nicholas Mensah, a 22 year-old student from Ghana, was also wounded in the shooting, but was not killed.

Of the five bullets fired, two struck victims, one was recovered at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, and another on the eighth floor of Penn Tower Apartments. The fifth was found on the ground. On their paths, two of the bullets grazed two students' book bags.

At that morning hour, during the middle of a class period, there were few students on the lawn, and police managed to identify only 15 witnesses. One of these witnesses, student Brendon Malovrh, is credited with wrestling the gun away from Robbins just after she loaded a second clip. In response, she pulled out a knife and attempted to stab Malovrh. When Malovrh dodged out of the way, Robbins accidentally stabbed herself in the thigh, after which Malovrh used his belt to try to stop her bleeding. Robbins was arrested at the scene, and Mensah and Robbins were taken to Centre Community Hospital for treatment following the shooting.

Following her arrest, Robbins spent six months in Norristown State Hospital, an in-patient psychiatric hospital that treats both voluntary and court-committed patients. Robbins never offered a reason for her actions, but did say that she had intended to kill herself that day. She later plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

The Village (2001)

In 2001, the HUB was the site of a 9-day student sit-in demonstration called "The Village". The Village began as a community response to death threats received by African American students at the University. In support of better diversity programs at Penn State, more than forty student groups participated along with many other students and community members.

Occupy Penn State (2011)

In 2011, the HUB saw another student demonstration which paralleled the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations happening concurrently. The demonstration lasted nearly 5 weeks and included many core occupants remaining in the HUB during its entire duration. During its five weeks Occupy Penn State brought student's attention to pressing issues in today's society including, but not limited to, financial inequalities, tuition, corruption, social injustice, and more. After the onset of the Jerry Sandusky Scandal and the subsequent firing of President Graham Spanier, the Occupy Penn State movement decided it was best to disband. Occupy Penn State still has members having active roles across campus and the community, however they have since vacated the HUB as a whole.

References

Category:Pennsylvania State University Category:Student activity centers in the United States Category:School buildings completed in 1955 Category:Buildings and structures in Centre County, Pennsylvania