This past fall, the campus community was welcomed back to a new Haupert Union Building. Learn more about this student center designed to support wellness, community, and belonging.
By Jodi Duckett; Photos by Nick Chismar ’20, Spring 2026
They were delighted, shocked, giddy, mesmerized.
When students poured into the rebuilt Haupert Union Building on October 8, 2025, they zipped from floor to floor, chattering excitedly, eyes darting all around as they saw the inside of their stunning new student center for the first time after 18 months of construction.
They bounded up the stairway, peeked around corners, and checked out beautifully designed and furnished study and lounge areas, meeting rooms, and outdoor terraces. Many quickly settled in, claiming a spot to relax, study, or watch the bustle—on sectional sofas or plush chairs, in booths, or in one of a seemingly endless assortment of nooks and crannies.
“I feel like a kid at Christmas. It’s incredible,” says Katelyn Donovan ’26, president of United Student Government. “Seeing the difference between the HUB I knew and this new HUB is crazy. It’s everything I imagined and more.”
Students were particularly excited by some of the more novel features—the sleek phone booths for private calls on the fourth floor, the moss wall of the third-floor Mindfulness Suite, and the Steinway piano begging to be played on the fourth floor.
That Wednesday last fall was a day when President Bryon Grigsby ’90 P’22, P’26, P’29 said Moravian took a giant leap into its future.
“When we embarked on this project, we set out not to simply build a new student center, but to reimagine what student life could be,” Grigsby says. “The HUB is a building designed for the whole student—a place where wellness, career preparation, community, and belonging all converge. It is the beginning of a new chapter of student life at Moravian.”
Students gather in the HUB’s new Mindfulness Suite.
Creating a New HUB
Discussion about a new HUB began in January 2020. The two-story building at Monocacy and West Locust Streets, in the heart of Moravian’s North Campus, no longer met the needs of the growing university. Moravian has a robust student life, and there wasn’t enough room for meetings or events, or for hanging out and building relationships. Student services such as health and counseling, veterans’ affairs, and student life were scattered around campus.
By that March, a committee of university leaders and students began formal meetings. Earl Swensson Associates (ESa) of Nashville was hired as the architect. ESa was the architect for Moravian’s last major capital project—construction of the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences, known as the Sally. The 57,000-square-foot building on Main Street, which opened in 2017, houses the nursing department and other undergraduate science programs.
At first, Moravian contemplated renovation of the existing HUB but decided it didn’t make sense, says Amber Donato, Moravian’s associate director of project management.
“The conclusion was to tear down and build new because the HUB had been added to and renovated so many times, and not necessarily in an orderly fashion. The infrastructure had gotten old,” says Donato.
The design process was fluid, with input from leadership, staff, and students, and supercharged by creative thinking. The goal was to create a space that would serve every aspect of student life—both at this moment and for the many generations of students to come.
“The focus on student wellness was the driving force behind every phase of the design,” says ESa Senior Design Manager Phillip Powers.
The HUB shut down in January 2024. Only the dining facilities—the Blue & Grey Café and the Star Campus Restaurant—remained open, with access through outside entrances. Students made the best of the situation—studying or getting together at the library, at the Sally, or in the Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex, where the main floor was temporarily turned into a lounge and meeting area.
The HUB is a building designed for the whole student—a place where wellness, career preparation, community, and belonging all converge. It is the beginning of a new chapter of student life at Moravian.”
—President Bryon Grigsby ’90 P’22, P’26, P’29
The HUB during construction
Warfel Construction, based near Lancaster, gutted the HUB’s first floor, demolished the second floor, and built new second, third, and fourth floors directly on the foundation of the original building.
Students could watch the construction on a livestream camera and received updates through email, social media, and student government. Students even had a say in the choice of furniture. Samples were set up in the library for them to try out.
The project has a price tag of roughly $45 million, says Mark Reed, Moravian University’s vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer. To date, Moravian has raised $7.5 million toward the cost of the HUB as part of the Lighting the Way Campaign, says Jill Anderson, vice president for development and alumni engagement. The campaign, she says, has grown to a $100 million effort, concluding on June 30, that includes philanthropic support for scholarships, experiential learning opportunities, leading-edge technology, and state-of-the-art learning spaces.
Looking down the central stairway of the new HUB.
Students chat in the hallway on the main floor of the new HUB.
The Steinway piano on the fourth floor was brought over from the original HUB.
The Result
The new HUB is a modern, 82,000-square-foot building that blends traditional and contemporary elements inside and out. It stands out, yet blends in.
The exterior is defined by glass, some floor to ceiling, and local stone, with angled roofs in a Pennsylvania barn style, paying homage to the area’s history. Steel overhangs and details are a nod to Bethlehem Steel. The design is similar to that of the Sally building.
The interior features a spectacular array of offices, lounges, and study spaces in every configuration, equipped for functionality and comfort. There are meeting rooms big and small; study areas with both high-top tables for a dozen people and private areas for a few or only one. Everywhere you look, there are places to sit and gather.
Everything—from the upholstery to the carpets to the walls and creative lighting fixtures—is in shades of Moravian blue and grey. Large terraces overlook John Makuvek Field and Reeves Library.
There are flat-screen TVs everywhere—40 in all—including one on the fourth floor that’s so large you can see what’s on it from the athletic field. A prominent central stairway, accented by subtle Moravian Star imagery, connects it all.
“Now everybody has a place,” says Nicole Loyd, executive vice president for university life, chief operating officer, and dean of students. That includes Loyd herself, who gave up her office years ago and moves from building to building to stay connected to the Moravian community. The HUB, however, has always been her base. “I haven’t stopped smiling since I could get back in the HUB, because I’m in the center of the community again,” she says.
Ava Ferentinos ’27, vice president of student engagement for United Student Government (USG), and Emily Alonge ’27, executive president of USG (from left)
President Bryon Grigsby ’90, P’22, P’26, P’29 addresses the crowd during a community open house at the HUB this past fall.
Bethlehem Major J. William Reynolds ’03 and Grigsby during the community open house
A Place for Everything and Everyone
From bottom to top, the HUB was designed with intention.
“Every single corner of this building is to nurture relationships, community, belonging, and purpose,” says Grigsby.
On the first floor is the Wellness Center, which brings together Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services. Rosemarie Williams, director of operations and outreach for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), says the model is the same, but having services in close proximity to where students spend much of their time is a game changer. “It normalizes the use of services,” she says. There is more space, and the design—with neutral colors, comfortable chairs, and dimmable lights—makes the experience more calming.
The Wellness Center was a critical part of the HUB, serving physically and philosophically as the building’s foundation—and the foundation of student success. The center has a separate entrance so it is accessible, yet private.
The second floor is the main entrance and the heart of the HUB’s hustle and bustle. You can’t miss the M. Gibson and Barbara F. Loyd Information Desk, funded by Loyd to honor her parents, who she says represented the welcoming spirit of the new HUB.
In the middle is the impressive Honnie P. Spencer, MD ’90, H’24 Student Lounge, with space for relaxing, engaging with friends, and participating in social events. A two-sided gas fireplace is located in the same spot as the HUB’s original fireplace.
Also on the second floor is the Robert P. Flicker ’71 Leadership Suite, which houses the offices of the busy Moravian Activities Council and United Student Government. For the first time, there’s also a dedicated space for alumni, the Moravian University Alumni Association Multipurpose Room. It will be used for the association’s quarterly meetings but will also be available to students, faculty, and staff for meeting space. The room is next to the Laurie Riley ’82 Center for Career Success, which supports both students and alumni.
Things are a little quieter on the third floor. That’s the home of the MaryAnn Sedlock Art Gallery, as well as a lounge for commuter students; the Student Life Suite—which brings together housing, Greek life, residence life, and disability services and accommodations; the Ray ’81 and Teri McCandless Bishop ’81, P’10 Veteran & Military Services Center; and the Class of 1968 Mo’s Cupboard, a food and resource pantry.
The floor is also home to a luminous multi-faith prayer room, complete with an ablution area for ritual or personal washing, and a Mindfulness Suite, a quiet space for wellness, featuring rocking chairs, felt accent walls, cloud-shaped lights, and a green wall of moss. The room has a biophilic design, says Powers, connecting it to nature in materials, lighting, air quality, and access to the outdoors.
The fourth floor is the home of the expansive Conference Center, with space for hundreds, something Moravian has not had before. In the past, events often tied up space in Johnston Hall or had to be held off-site.
The Conference Center is intended for all Moravian constituencies—students, leadership, staff, and the community. The first big event the facility hosted was the annual Societies Dinner on November 7, when Moravian thanked more than 350 of its most loyal donors.
Then, on November 12, community leaders explored the space at the open house, where Grigsby talked about the partnership and connection between Moravian and the greater Lehigh Valley region.
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds ’03, whose father was a professor of political science, said he practically grew up at Moravian.
“One of the amazing things about Moravian is they teach you about how to be every single type of person, and to do that, you need to be able to meet people and meet different types of people,” he said.
The HUB’s fourth floor is also the location of a stately boardroom, appropriately designed for the weighty decisions of the Board of Trustees and other college organizations.
The focus on wellness at the HUB—from the variety of spaces to the abundant lighting, to accommodations for every type of student, to the facilities for staff—has earned the building precertification from the International WELL Building Institute, a globally recognized organization that evaluates buildings based on how they promote human health and well-being.
When certified by the end of the year, the HUB will be the first WELL-certified building in the Lehigh Valley, one of just 13 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one of just two higher education facilities.
One of the gathering spaces on the main floor of the HUB
A student takes a break near the fireplace.
A view of the fourth-floor boardroom
Getting Into It
When the HUB reopened, some students had never experienced college life with a student center and were very grateful. “It was rubble when I got here,” said Gabriella Maynard ’28, marveling at the cool third-floor spaces on opening day.
At the Community Open House, Emily Alonge ’27, United Student Government executive vice president, commented, “The new HUB has completely changed the way it feels to be a Moravian student. Before, there was a disconnect. Now, everything and everyone can come together here. It reminds us that Moravian cares about us as whole people, not just as students.”
Those interested in contributing toward the Moravian student experience, including facilities such as the HUB, may do so at moravian.edu/lightingtheway.
Students gather on a terrace overlooking John Makuvek Field.
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