Fall 2012

October’s annual Fall Family Open House includes a variety of events to illustrate student life on campus – and it’s a great chance to reconnect with students a month after classes start.

Plus, you'll get a chance to hear from Jeffrey Brown, senior correspondent of PBS Newshour, on “Election 2012-Where We Stand in the U.S.”

Other weekend highlights include:

• A Wine & Cheese Reception in the Western Gallery, with a raffle to benefit student scholarships.
• Dead Parrots Society, Western's award-winning student improv comedy group.
• A tour of Western's Outdoor Sculpture Collection.
• Campus presentations such as "Safe on Mars" by Brad Snowder, an Astronomy faculty member who was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover, and Tim Costello, Western's director of the Center for Service-Learning, on Western's global service-learning program in Gashora, Rwanda.

From the Business Ettiquette Dinner to the Spring Career Fair, Western's Career Services Center holds several events for students preparing for life after graduation.

Nate Panelo, newly appointed coordinator of the Ethnic Student Center, advises 13 campus clubs that explore cultural identities -- and create a sense of community among members.

“You find that a lot of students say, ‘If it wasn’t for the ESC, I wouldn’t be the person I am now,’” says Panelo, who graduated from Western in 2007. “I know I wouldn’t be back working at this institution today if it weren’t for the ESC.”

Panelists with expertise in science, journalism and bio-ethics will discuss the scientific and ethical issues raised by the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” later this month at Western Washington University, and then again from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Village Books in Fairhaven.

Harrington Field, expected to be completed during the next academic year, will be a fully lighted and fenced, made of artificial turf and sized for regulation soccer and rugby.

Student leaders made the field a top funding priority, recommending that savings from the refinancing of bonds – from the construction of the Wade King Student Recreation Center - to provide base funding for the field construction.

For the fourth year in a row, Western was the top public masters-granting university in the West, according to U.S. News and World Report.

But have you heard of some of these other numbers?

Google's specially equipped camera tricycle visited campus last summer. The results are now online.

As a trustee during the 2012-13 academic year, Meyer will represent all the citizens of Washington, but give a valuable perspective to the board of trustees because of his experience as a Western student.

Meyer, a senior, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Western in Economics/Environmental Studies with minors in Business Administration and Energy Policy.

If what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, then you won’t find many people stronger than Tony Dominguez, who has faced hardships that not only killed his dreams but nearly killed him.