Lehigh University, Bethlehem

The story of Lehigh University begins in the ashes of the Civil War and the aspirational educational hopes of a rags-to-riches industrialist. Lehigh welcomes filmmakers to tell their stories on its campuses. Here filmmakers will find a university steeped in history, alive with learning, and connected to its Bethlehem communities just as founder Asa Packer envisioned more than 160 years ago. Packer was born in 1805 of poor means and innate building, business, and leadership skills. Starting out as a carpenter and farmer, Packer set his business sights on transportation, building a canal boat enterprise he later leveraged into a railroad empire and stints in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and U.S. Congress. In 1865, the year the U.S. Civil War ended, Packer determined to give back to his community. He donated a hefty sum to create an institution of higher learning for the “intellectual and moral improvement” of the young men of the Lehigh Valley. Lehigh University has lived up to Packer’s American Dream by educating scores of men and later women in such fields as business, engineering, politics, the arts, education and space exploration. Today, Lehigh is a world-renowned university that still retains its sense of history and community. • Lehigh’s main urban south Bethlehem campus has magnificent stone buildings, arches, wall sculptures and spires; a lush quad and mature trees for gathering and outdoor learning; modern buildings, classrooms, and labs; and the magnificent Linderman Library, which looks like it came straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. • Lehigh’s Mountaintop campus, which sits on South Mountain, includes many of the university’s cutting-edge research and experiential facilities. • The Goodman Campus houses its sports facilities. Come be inspired.