Introduction
During the 1935-1936 academic year, student and faculty organizations brought a request to President Lotus Delta Coffman with the hope of securing a new building for a co-educational union on the Minneapolis campus. Coffman appointed a survey committee to visit unions at other Midwestern state universities. The committee determined that several universities had superior unions. Coffman was a major supporter of the new union and insisted that the building needed to be large enough to meet the university’s needs. The university received federal funding in September 1938, right around the time that Coffman died at the age of 63. Coffman thus did not live to see the union that bore his name. Construction for Coffman Memorial Union began in January, 1939 and was completed in time for fall classes in 1940.
This online exhibition tells the story of student life at Coffman Memorial Union dating back to its inception. Since it first opened, Coffman has been a central gathering place for students at the U. While the average student’s daily life has changed dramatically since 1940, certain aspects of student life have remained constant. Students continue to need places to gather for social activities, to relax between classes, to grab a bite to eat, and to meet with student groups.
Design
Coffman Memorial Union was constructed to meet the needs of approximately 15,000 students, along with faculty and alumni. The first brochure for Coffman included, “an imaginary trip through the building,” and the Minnesota Daily dedicated an issue on October 4, 1940 to introducing the new union. Coffman was designed by Clarence Johnston, Jr., whose father Clarence Johnston, Sr. had designed many buildings on campus. Clarence Johnson, Jr. chose a late Art Deco style known as Streamline Moderne, which could be seen particularly on the interior of the building. Two of the main attractions of the building, the Main Ballroom (now the Great Hall) and the two-story Main Lounge exemplified this style.
In 1941, Bradley L. Morison wrote an accurately titled article “The clubhouse on the campus” for The Saturday Evening Post. Morison described the two story lounge: “The main lounge facing the front entrance is two stories high, and is done in autumnal tones of brown, beige and gold, with English-oak walls.” Time magazine made the exaggerated claim that Coffman, “rivaled the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” While comparing the union to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world is quite a stretch, Coffman certainly was luxurious.
Renovation
By 1970, there were around three times as many students as there had been in 1940, making Coffman Memorial Union quite overcrowded. Coffman’s first major renovation was completed in 1976 and provided 25,000 additional square feet of space through glass that was added to the front and back of the building. The glass caused the building to heat up like a greenhouse in summer and leak heat in the winter. The redesign also greatly altered Coffman’s aesthetic, making it almost unrecognizable from the building you see today. The main color scheme was changed to bright magenta, blue, yellow, orange, purple, and green, and the terrazzo floors were covered up. Some members of the university community were infuriated with elimination of the building’s Art Deco aesthetic.
On June 2, 1999, an article in the Minnesota Daily stated: “The Coffman Memorial Union of the 1990s. . . is not a pretty picture.” The lack of modern features and the building's overall design had driven down traffic over the years. Coffman was closed from Monday November 15, 1999 until Tuesday, January 21, 2003 for a major renovation that removed most of the traces of the previous renovation. The redesign honored the building’s intended aesthetic, but included modern features such as air conditioning and wi-fi. Many of the original elements, such as terrazzo floors, fireplaces and light fixtures, reconnect the building with its roots. The redesign brought students back through Coffman’s doors.
Student Advisory Board
The Student Advisory Board, formerly known as the Board of Governors*, was formed in 1908 to review and approve policies in Coffman Memorial Union. Although the Minnesota Union had opened to women in 1934, the Board was made up solely of men from its formation in 1908 until 1940. That spring, prior to the opening of the union, a new Board was established. Originally, the Board also included committees that organized a wide range of events, but today SUA's Student Events and Entertainment team holds this responsibility. Over the years, event committees have worked to provide activities that reflected students’ interests.
The union was not established just to provide entertainment for its own sake. From the administration’s perspective, one of the Board's most important functions was in providing activities that guided students in their personal development. According to the 1942 Gopher yearbook: “Believing that ‘social graces’ are as important as academic training, students work on manners, conversation, charm.” For example, from the 1940s to the early 1960s, a committee known as Charm, INC. organized style shows and lectures, with the goal of teaching students how to dress and behave. These activities were meant to be engaging as well as educational.
There were numerous committees over the years covering a range of programming, from movies to bridge instruction. Major special events such as Homecoming, “Sno Week,” and the Stardust dance had separate committees, as well. Like today, the Union brought in big name performers, such as Duke Ellington for the 1955 Stardust. The goal was to have activities that would be of interest to everyone, although one committee member was quoted in the 1953 Gopher yearbook stating: “The committees can’t help students who frequent the library.”
*The Board of Governors voted to change its name to the Student Advisory Board in February 2025.
War and Protests
During the United States’ involvement in World War II, the demographics of the students served in Coffman Memorial Union changed drastically. For the first time in the university’s history, there were more women than men attending the U. An article in the 1945 Gopher stated that: “Women, women, and more women became the main theme of Union activities this year.” However, Coffman was not just the center of student life, but also a meeting place for many servicemen in training. Servicemen were even given representation on Coffman’s Board of Governors (BOG). After the war ended in 1945, an influx of men changed the U’s student population, as the G.I. Bill funded college attendance for veterans.
During the 1960s, a later generation of students also used Coffman as a site for staging protests against segregation, U.S. involvement in the Cuban missile crisis, and the Vietnam War. The first Vietnam War protest at the U took place in February, 1965 in front of Coffman. Protests against the Vietnam War continued into the 1970s. Starting in May, 1970, students all over the nation protested President Nixon’s expansion of the war into Cambodia. Students occupied Coffman Memorial Union 24 hours a day until June. The largest protests occurred in May, 1972, with 6,000 people gathered in front of Coffman. In the last 40 years, students have continued to hold protests at Coffman, but not at the same scale as the Vietnam War protests. For example, in 2006 students marched in protest of the Iraq War.
Gathering and Protesting
Coffman Memorial Union has served as a central gathering place to fight for social change, to come together during difficult times, and to see important speakers. Prior to the Vietnam War, students protested segregation in front of Coffman. The Civil Rights Movement, which had begun in the 1950s, led groups of students to push for change at the University of Minnesota and across the country. For example, in October, 1963 members of Students for Integration protested the arrest of the group’s founder Zev Aelony, a freedom fighter who had graduated from the U. The Afro American Action Committee (now BSU), which originally met in Coffman, was founded in 1969 in the wake of Martin Luther King’s untimely death. Students have continued to fight for civil rights over the years. In 2014, 500 students gathered in front of Coffman to take a stand against police brutality after the death of Michael Brown.
In 1963, students gathered Coffman to watch news of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The next year, the traveling John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library Exhibit was presented in the Great Hall at the University of Minnesota. Sixty-two thousand people visited the exhibition in the four days it was in Coffman’s Great Hall. Speakers have also drawn large crowds over the years. Four thousand students crowded into the Great Hall to hear the Christian evangelist Billy Graham speak in 1961. Jesse Jackson drew a crowd of 1000 when he spoke in front of Coffman in 1988. Students with a range of opinions have gathered both inside and in front of Coffman many times and will continue to do so.
Cultural Centers
Today, Coffman Memorial Union provides individual spaces on the second floor to nine cultural centers along with multi-use spaces that are available to all student groups. The first four groups (understood as cultural) represented a particular ethnic group or culture, although the groups worked together. Both the International Relations Bureau and the YWCA were granted space in CMU in 1940. However, they were not categorized as cultural centers until the 1990s, at which point they were known as the Minnesota International Students Association (MISA) and the University Young Women (now the Feminist Student Activist Collective). Other cultural groups, such as the precursor to the Black Student Union, did meet in Coffman, but they did not have permanent office space.
According to an article published in the Minnesota Daily on April 26, 1989: “After 12 years of occupying shabby rooms, run-down buildings and confined space, three university cultural centers may have finally found their niche.” The article goes onto say that the African, Asian-American and Mi Gente student cultural centers were to be allocated space in Coffman. The American Indian Student Cultural Center remained in Jones Hall. Soon after, The Disabled Student Cultural Center and the precursor to the Queer Student Cultural Center also were provided with private space in Coffman. In 1999 the American Indian Student Cultural Center and the newly-formed Al-Madinah both requested space in Coffman, which they were granted when the renovation was completed in 2003. In 2013, the second floor was renovated with input from students representing the cultural centers. For a variety of reasons, some students protested the redesign, and while these issues are still not resolved, the spaces are heavily utilized by students.
Arts in Coffman
An emphasis on art has been part of Coffman Memorial Union from the beginning, as the third floor originally held a music and arts room. Throughout the years, different spaces have been used for rotating exhibits, which have been run by student committees. According to the 1955-1956 Board of Governors (BOG) minutes, the committee usually obtained exhibits from local galleries, but occasionally included outside shows. The following year, several student artists requested to exhibit their art in Coffman, which became common practice. Today, the Building Art team puts out a call for artists and students on the committee curate the exhibits, some of which include student work.
Coffman has also always provided students with different ways to listen to music. When Coffman opened, students could play piano on one of the building’s 15 or 16 pianos, check out records from the record lending library, attend music listening hours, or dance to live music. Famous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw played in the ballroom. The Gopher Hole— now known as the Whole Music Club—opened in 1962. The Whole Coffeehouse began operating out of the Gopher Hole on weekend evenings in 1968. Folk musicians often embraced progressive values and many were blacklisted from playing at larger venues and instead played at smaller venues, such as coffeehouses. Over the years The Whole evolved with students interests. Many well-known musicians and bands have played at the Whole including Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt, The Replacements, They Might be Giants, Green Day, and Brother Ali, to name just a few.
Student Life
Some aspects of Coffman Memorial Union are the same today as they were in 1940, but others are very different. Students have always been able to come to Coffman Memorial Union to meet with friends, play games, grab a bite to eat, and attend major social functions. Unsurprisingly, the social activities at Coffman reflect students’ interests, available technology, and cultural norms. While pinball machines are no longer available, students can still play billiards or bowl, and enjoy trivia nights. Students used to watch television crammed into a room with a small black and white TV, while today they are more likely to surf the internet on their phones. In the mid-twentieth century, dances with live music were common in the Main Ballroom (now the Great Hall). Over time regular dances fell out of popularity, and today’s major events may or may not even take place within Coffman’s grounds. Because Coffman was built for a much smaller student body, today’s large scale events are hosted at on-campus venues that accommodate many students. Still, Coffman continues to serve a similar purpose in student’s lives, however much the particularities of their lives have changed.
