Gulley Hall is named after Emmett Gulley. He was a president of George Fox University when it was still known as Pacific College. Emmett Gulley took up the college presidency following Mr. Pennington’s resignation from the role. Mr. Gulley was an alumnus of Pacific College class of 1917, who returned as a professor in 1928 and took up the presidency in 1941 through 1948. In the years he was not working at the school Mr. Gulley spent time as a missionary in Mexico and working in refugee camps in Cuba.
Construction on the building was finished in 1996, and for the first decade of its life, it was known simply as University Hall. At the same time as the neighboring Le Shana Hall was dedicated in 2006, University Hall was renamed Coffin Hall to honor Coffin’s legacy at George Fox. In 2017, Coffin Hall was renamed Gulley Hall in honor of President Gulley.
Today, the three-story building serves as housing for 124 first-year students and includes a large basement for bike storage.