The Hetzel Union Building, better known as the HUB, is the student union on Penn State’s University Park campus. It is named for Ralph Dorn Hetzel, the president of Penn State during the initial planning of the building.
A student union was initially the idea of Dean Arthur Warnock in the 1920s as home for extracurricular activities. The Penn State Student Union was created as an umbrella organization for student activities. Old Main, constructed in 1930, had served as the union facility with study lounges, office space for student organizations, a snack bar, and windows for securing tickets for student activities. However, as the administration expanded after World War II, new students soon lost all their space there.
A new building for the student union was proposed for construction, but the $4 million cost was unaffordable. An interim solution was the Temporary Union Building or TUB, a former USO Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The TUB sat behind Ritenour Building and provided office space, a snack bar, and a ballroom.
Simultaneously, in the late 1940s, student leaders suggested Penn State levy a fee on students to underwrite the cost of a new student union building. The university administration did not the like idea, but students continued lobbying for a building. In 1950, trustees approved a special levy for the union to be built across Pollock Road from Osmond Laboratory, and above Holmes Field, the home of women’s athletic and recreational sports, now the HUB lawn.
The Korean War delayed the beginning of construction, but a groundbreaking was held in January 1953. The formal dedication took place on February 22, 1955, the university’s 100th birthday. Designed in a more modern architectural style compared to other campus buildings, the HUB housed a ballroom, lecture hall, dining room, study lounges, game rooms, and office space for student organizations.
For many years, the U.S. Post office for the campus shared the HUB basement with the student-run Used Book Exchange, the predecessor to the campus bookstore. The “University Park” post office was later moved to the nearby McAllister Building. The HUB Ballroom was also the initial home of the Penn State Dance Marathon in 1973.
The HUB has hosted many prominent authors, politicians, and entertainers over its history. It also has been a rallying spot for various student protests, including anti-war protests in the 1960s and the 2001 “Village” sit-in, protesting what its leaders called the unequal treatment of African American students and the racial climate on campus.
On September 17, 1996, a State College resident, Jillian Robbins, shot and killed one student and injured a second on the HUB lawn before being disarmed by another student, Brendon Malovrh. Robbins was sentenced to 30-60 years at Muncy State Prison for murder and attempted murder.
Since opening, the HUB has been renovated several times. The campus bookstore was created in a major 1970s expansion. In 1997, the Paul Robeson Cultural Center was added, named for the celebrated singer, actor, and prominent civil rights activist. The most recent renovation, completed in 2015, added about 55,000 square feet of space for additional seating, restaurants, meeting space, multipurpose rooms, as well as an expanded bookstore.
James Nowicki
Sources:
Bezilla, Michael. Penn State: An Illustrated History. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1985.
“Hub-Robeson Center.” Penn State Student Affairs. Accessed May 30, 2025. https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub.
Harbeson, Hough, Livingston, and Larson. Hetzel Union Building. Penn State University Libraries: Digital Collections: Hetzel Union Building. Penn State University Libraries. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://digital.libraries.psu.edu/digital/collection/psuimages/id/417/rec/1.
“Hetzel Union Building.” State College, PA, n.d. Accessed May 31, 2025.
“Our History.” THON.org – For The Kids, November 5, 2024. https://thon.org/who-we-are/we-are-thon/history/.
Rubin, Anjelica. “ A Look Back at the Village | Death Threats, Racial Violence Shock Community.” The Daily Collegian. April 28, 2022.
“Trustees Approve Plans, Contracts for Hub-Robeson Center Addition, Renovation.” Penn State University, May 3, 2013. https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/trustees-approve-plans-contracts-hub-robeson-center-addition-renovation.
Wittich, Keightley. “Sniper Kills Student on HUB Lawn.” The Daily Collegian. September 18, 1996.
First Published: June 13, 2025
Last Modified: September 1, 2025