The twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle for racial justice have converged in recent months to place American institutions, both public and private, under tremendous stress. Western's Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education felt it would be very timely to get perspectives from some people who have been engaged with these issues in public life since the 1960s. The Western community has two long-standing members, one a Republican, one a Democrat, who have been involved in civil rights issues for their entire adult lives.

Western Libraries is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 - 2020 Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award.  Three awards are given annually to Western Washington University undergraduate students in recognition of their excellence and originality in creating research papers for courses taught across the colleges based on significant inquiry using library resources and collections. 

On board the R/V Atlantis in late February, Assistant Professor of Biology Shawn Arellano and five Western undergraduate students spent the last couple weeks of Winter quarter cruising around the Gulf of Mexico researching deep sea larvae and other marine creatures. 

Two lucky undergraduates from Western also had the opportunity to go on a deep-sea dive in one of the most famous submersibles in the world, DSV Alvin. 

Following two decades as Western Washington University’s Vice President of University Advancement and President and CEO of the WWU Foundation, Stephanie Bowers has announced her retirement effective summer 2021.