Marquette University built Coughlin Hall, located behind Cudahy Hall on Wisconsin and 13th Street, in 1977. Originally, the facility was intended to house disciplines in the humanities, but it has gone on to hold various functions throughout the years. The building is named after Briggs and Stratton executive Charles L. Coughlin.
The University invested over a million dollars into building the three-story facility for faculty and administrative offices. The building originally housed the Departments of English, History, Philosophy, and Theology. It was also the headquarters for the Honors Program.
Charles L. Coughlin is the namesake for the facility. He was born in South Dakota and moved to Milwaukee in 1910, where he spent his life and career with Briggs and Stratton, a local, Milwaukee based company that produces small gasoline engines. At Briggs and Stratton, he served as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. Throughout his life, he financially endowed Marquette and provided support in any way that he could. Furthermore, he served on the Board of Governors and was even awarded an honorary degree from the Law School. He was known for a deep love of poetry and philosophy as well as a deep sense of morality—which made the building designation for the Humanities fitting.
In 2013, the English, Philosophy, and Theology departments moved to Marquette Hall, and History moved to Sensenbrenner hall. Coughlin was substantially renovated and became home to the Office of Student Educational Services, which hosts and organizes peer tutoring as well as the Urban Scholars programs, which pairs local high school students with an undergraduate student as their tutors. The building also houses the Educational Opportunity Program, which assists first-generation college students.