Two community jewels are rooted in Lehigh and its College of Education: WLVT-PBS39 and Northampton Community College.

In the 1960s, John Cartwright, professor of administration, joined Provost Glenn J. Christensen and John Stoops (the first dean of the then-School of Education) to establish the legal foundations for an educational television station. On April 8, 1964, Lehigh’s trustees voted to lease the land needed for the Lehigh Valley station atop South Mountain for $1 per year. The station began broadcasting in 1965 with Christensen as founding president. Now known as PBS39, it relocated to the SteelStacks campus in 2011.

Another community-oriented project led to the formation of Northampton County Area Community College, now Northampton Community College. Christensen, Stoops and other educational civic leaders succeeded in establishing a locally chosen board. Financial support came from local governments. Christensen became the first board chairman in 1966 and held the position until 1977.