Formerly located at 223 W. Packer Avenue, Lehigh’s ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) house served as home to 13 men and women who are members of the Steel Battalion, Lehigh’s ROTC program. The house provided students who shared the goal of becoming an officer in the Army the opportunity to live together in an environment that promoted service to the nation, academic excellence, and fitness. The ROTC now operates out of Jordan Hall on the Mountaintop Campus.

Lehigh’s ROTC program, one of the first in the country, began in September 1919 under the direction of President Henry Drinker, who supported the notion of military instruction even before the National Defense Act of 1916 established ROTC. The university initially required all physically qualified students to complete the basic ROTC course to graduate. The program became voluntary in 1961. 

Today, the Steel Battalion is consistently rated among the best ROTC programs in the country.