Summer 2008

The 2,700 freshmen and 900 transfer students expected to come to Western are an ethnically diverse, globally minded, community-service-oriented group.

By WWU President Bruce Shepard

First, from an incoming president to the parents of our incoming students, a warm, warm, Western Washington University welcome. I trust you share the same pride I do in that special affiliation.

Here are some connections and insiders' tips to help you get started.

From quarterly newsletters to emergency text messages, there are more ways then ever to stay in touch with Western.

The college years can seem like sailing our Northwest waters: Expect some fog and take joy in the sunny days.

WWU families donated more than $215,000 during the Parent Annual Giving Campaign this year, enhancing the budgets of the Career Services Center and other important programs.

You provide crucial support to your students, whether financially, emotionally or as a sounding board for future plans.

They make it look easy, but their blisters and their sacrifices say otherwise.

See how a few WWU parents made the most of the last weeks of summer before their students moved to Bellingham.

Here’s how a few Western parents fill those boxes.

Here are some tips to help families far away – and maybe not so far – stay in touch with their students.

Now beginning his term as Associated Students president, Lowe, 22, is passionate about politics and civic engagement. He hopes to go to law school after he graduates.

Serving on the University’s governing body is a way to give back, Higgins wrote in her application.

The Mildred M. Bain Scholarship will be awarded to students preparing to be teachers, based on need and academic performance.

A small group of Western Washington University professors traveled to Kenya this summer to develop a different kind of “study abroad” course.

Transitions, Western’s summer orientation, advising and registration program for transfer students, drew more than 650 students and parents to campus in July 2008.

Mark your calendars and plan to visit.

The Battle in Seattle, the annual football game between arch rivals Western Washington University and Central Washington University, will be held Oct. 11, 2008 at Qwest Field in Seattle.