Hong Hall's History1954
The construction of North Hall is finished, along with one other dormitory, South Hall (today known as Hinderlie Hall). North
and South Halls are the first dormitories, North Hall intended to house 120 male students. Until now, students have lived in
Old Main (today known as Harstad Hall) or boarded with Parkland families.
Spring 1966
North Hall is renamed to Hong Hall to honor Nils Joseph Hong.
Hong was born February 7, 1866 in Coon Prairie, Wisconsin. He attended Willmar seminary and received his baccalaureate degree in Classics from Luther College, Iowa in 1895. He taught at Willmar Seminary 1895-1897 and then traveled west to Pacific Lutheran Academy. He taught English, Latin, Greek and German for one year. When Harstad left for Alaska, Hong became the school's third president and served from 1898 until 1918. He remained a professor until his retirement in 1938, teaching at least 12 subjects, primarily literature, languages, and grammar. Hong was very sensitive and intellectual and brought substance and form to PLA. (Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) was renamed to Pacific Lutheran Academy (PLA) in 1898, reopened as Pacific Lutheran College (PLC) after having merged with Columbia College in Everett in 1920, and then became Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) again in 1960.) Fall 2004Hong Hall becomes Hong International Hall. French, German, Norwegian and Chinese each have one wing, and Spanish takes up a floor. The decision to open the International Hall came after testing the idea with the Chinese House, a wing that was located in Hinderlie Hall the year before. It should reinforce what students are learning about different languages and cultures.
"The study of language is different from any other discipline. You really need to use the language outside the classroom if
you’re going to have any level of expertise." - Tom Huelsbeck,
Director of Residential Life
Hong was chosen because of its central location on campus and the amount of common space in the building for classes, seminars, study rooms, lounges and kitchens. Former Hong residents were relocated to other halls. Today (2008)Hong Hall can house up to 102 students, about 15-22 students living on each of the six wings, of which five are language wings and one is the International Honors wing. Floor dimensions of resident's rooms are 12'x14'8'' and windows are 9'5''x4'.For more information, look at the rest of this website. :-) Back to top |