Western Washington University

Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a private school of teaching for women founded in 1886. The university adopted its present name in 1977.

WWU offers bachelor's and master's degrees and a few doctorates. In 2022^[update], there were 14,747 students, 13,801 of whom were undergraduate students, and 664 full-time faculty. Its athletic teams are known as the Vikings, and compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The main campus is on 215 acres in Bellingham. WWU also operates a marine center in Anacortes and academic locations in Everett and the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. WWU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

In 1886, WWU was established as the Northwest Normal School, a teachers' school predominantly for women although men also enrolled, by Phoebe Judson in Lynden, Washington. The school later moved to Bellingham (then "New Whatcom"). Governor John McGraw signed legislation establishing the New Whatcom Normal School on February 24, 1893. In 1895, construction began on a permanent school building, now known as Old Main, the current administration building. Designed by prominent Seattle architects Warren Skillings and James Corner, it was completed by early 1897 but could not open to students until funds were secured to install heating, lighting, and do general grounds maintenance, which were not included in the original contract. The first official class entered in 1899, composed of 88 students.

The institution that is now Western Washington University underwent several name changes. The name changed to State Normal School at Whatcom in 1901 to reflect New Whatcom's name change; in 1904 to Washington State Normal School at Bellingham, when the townships of Whatcom and Fairhaven joined; and in 1937 to Western Washington College of Education, when it became a four-year college. In 1961 it became Western Washington State College and in 1977 the school gained university status and adopted its present name.

The 1960s was a period of especially rapid growth for Western, as its enrollment increased from 3,000 students to over 10,000 during the decade. In 1967, the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies was founded, with non-traditional education methods that served as a model for Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In 1969, the College of the Environment, the nation's first dedicated environmental science college, was founded, continuing Western's trend toward "cluster" colleges. That same year, on a spring afternoon, students gained headlines by blocking Interstate 5 to protest the Vietnam War. Also in 1969, the College of Ethnic Studies was established. After being met with significant resistance, it was dismantled in 1978.

Since this period, the College of Arts and Sciences was founded (1973) and divided into the College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the College of Science & Engineering (2003); the College of Fine and Performing Arts was formed from several art departments (1975); and the College of Business and Economics was established (1976).

Today, WWU has a student body of over 16,000 students. The university is Washington's third largest, after Washington State University and the University of Washington.