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Dedication ceremonies for Keefe Hall, Lafayette College’s new $7 million, 40,000 square-foot student residence, will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, October 22, in the building’s Commons Room in the east wing.
The residence hall is named for Harry V. Keefe Jr. of Greenwich, Conn., founder and chairman of the investment banking firm of Keefe Managers, Inc., of New York City, in recognition of his major gift of undisclosed amount to the Lafayette Leadership Campaign, the largest campaign in Lafayette’s history and one of the most ambitious fundraising efforts ever undertaken by an undergraduate institution of Lafayette’s size.
Keefe is one of three major new campaign-funded construction projects totaling nearly $60 million that are transforming the Lafayette campus, along with the Hugel Hall of Science and the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center. Keefe has a capacity of 117 students in seven separate units, or “houses,” that provide a friendly living-learning environment where students who share special academic or cocurricular interests can reside together in a close-knit atmosphere.
There are currently five special-interest living groups in Keefe that were proposed by the students themselves. They are “From Our Neighborhood to Yours,” with a theme of community outreach; a German and French House; the Brothers of Lafayette, an organization of black students promoting unity through campus and community activities; “CC Corner,” which includes members of the a capella singing groups Cadence and the Chorduroys, and “Dry Surfers,” a substance-free, computer-intensive group.
A sixth house in Keefe Hall provides first-year students with a substance-free living environment and special programming focusing on wellness issues. Each living group has a lounge and kitchen area. There are two seminar rooms, many study areas, and a spacious commons overlooking the city of Easton that is an outstanding venue for a variety of activities. There is also an apartment for a faculty resident.
Lafayette awarded Keefe the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1985, citing his “gifts of keen analysis and concise expression.” These qualities served him well both as a leader in investment banking and as a Lafayette trustee from 1980 to 1990. A member of the board’s financial policy committee, he was also vice chair of the board from 1986 to 1990, when he became a trustee emeritus.
Keefe is the parent of a Lafayette graduate, Harry V. Keefe III ’83. He has been closely involved with Lafayette, assisting with the Parents Fund and making a number of generous gifts, including a major contribution toward the extensive renovation of the second floor of Hogg Hall for use by the Career Services Office. He has also provided generous support for major improvements in the appearance of the Admissions Office in Markle Hall. In 1987 he was inducted into Lafayette’s Société d’Honneur, reserved for the College’s most honored benefactors.
Keefe is a graduate of Amherst College, with additional study at Boston University’s Graduate School of Business Administration. Amherst awarded him an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1978. Keefe has also served as a trustee of Wheaton College in Massachusetts.